The Rise of the Electric Scooter • Hacker News Board

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#81

Post by petre » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

mips_avatar wrote: post #39

I recently bought a Boosted rev and have been using it for my 1.8 miles commute. I strongly disagree with the author's 15mph limit. I think 25 mph is a more reasonable limit, otherwise you have cars aggressively trying to pass you on roads. At 24 mph (my scooters max speed), the cars on my commute (25mph speed limit), still try to pass me sometimes but it's a lot safer.

25 mph if you wear a helmet, register your vehice, get mandatory insurance and a driver's license or a drivng legislation certificate. Otherwise no. E-bikes are assisted up to 25 mph, why would e-scooters be any different? At least in Europe, if you have an e-bike that is assisted up to 25 mph or over 250 Wh continous rated power, you have to register it as a moped, wear s helmet, get insurance, pay vehicle ownership taxes in order to operate it on public roads.

There are already too many irresponsible e-scooter riders on the roads who ride the wrong way on one way streets, cross mounted at pedestrian crossings, ride on sidewalks, ignore red lights, stop signs etc.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#82

Post by buckhx » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

lacker wrote: post #49

How steep of a hill can you get up with these things? My street is pretty hilly and I would hate to shell out for a cool device that I have to lug the last two blocks to my house.

I take mine over the Williamsburg bridge (3-4% grade) to work every day. I can generally get two commutes on one battery charge, but the speed degrades with lower battery levels so I try to keep charged. If you're on lower battery over a hill, kick-pushing a bit helps a lot.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#83

Post by ocdtrekkie » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

kennywinker wrote: post #75

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #43

As a suburban dweller who doesn't go into the city much, it's still surreal to hear so many stories about the electric scooter craze, to know its happening thirty or forty miles away... And I've literally never seen it. I do feel its a good companion to public transit in theory, though it still lacks everything I want from you know, just having a car: Somewhere to put stuff. I never commute light enough to live off a…

It's possible you'd have to change some of your patterns to ever make something other than a car work. E.g. leave some of your stuff at your workplace, grocery shop more often with smaller loads. Etc. Bicycles can also carry quite a bit with a nice box on the back, and electric pedal assist cargo bikes can carry even more.

I wonder where the cost savings (and carbon savings) would really wash out with those lifestyle changes though. Like not shopping in bulk, having to spend both the time and travel to the grocery store more. Having to have some things duplicated at work and home which I otherwise wouldn't.

Presumably many people evade carrying stuff home from the store by having everything delivered by Amazon, but that brings a whole host of other problems too.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#84

Post by buckhx » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

taylorlapeyre wrote: post #44

I wish they didn't look so silly to ride. I know that scooters will slowly become more ubiquitous and, as a result, will be considered more normal and less goofy to ride. But for now, it just kinda looks goofy to a lot of people.

To each their own. IDGAF.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#85

Post by crimsonalucard » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

tick_tock_tick wrote: post #59

shafyy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been biking for 2 years in SF and disagree that it's impractical for short trips. Why do you think that?

You have the deal with the bike afterwords. Go for brunch in the mission and your friends are going back to the outer sunset with a scooter just fold it up and put it in the car with a bike either hope it's there when you get back, bike all the way, or go home then head over alone.

Get a brompton.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#86

Post by telchar » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

AstralStorm wrote: post #25

TulliusCicero wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with disabilities can't use stairs, should we stop building those too? It's okay to support a mode that only most of the population can use. There are still other modes, just like with stairs and elevators/ramps.

That's explicitly not what I meant. I meant that disabled people cannot use either. The scooters solve no problems bicycles already do not, not exactly even portability yet. They create problems of litter on sidewalks, trash generation due to damage (where rental bikes are typically fixable if damaged) and issues of safety as they're much less visible and people tend to not use the bell...

Plenty of disabled people can use scooters. Not all disabilities involve a wheelchair. Some people are just severely restricted on top speed, or distance, range of motion, or other factors. Scooters can make perfect sense for some people with disabilities who may not be able to ride bikes.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#87

Post by com2kid » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:48 PM UTC

I am amused this is still a topic of discussion in America.

Visit China sometime, electric motor scooters (larger than the kids versions we have here[1]) and motorbikes are everywhere, the large majority of small vehicles on the road there are now electric.

It is super nice, the streets are far cleaner and quieter than just a few years ago.

One huge benefit China has is an existing infrastructure for smaller vehicles, there is either a grade separation or a fence that differentiates small vehicles from larger ones.

On narrow urban streets speeds are lower so the separation is not needed. This is actually a great example of how making streets smaller can increase throughput, if bikes + electric bikes + motor scooters + cars all share the same road, more traffic can fit on the street once people who would be in individual occupancy cars feel comfortable moving to more space efficient forms of transportation.

Meanwhile in America we paint a tiny narrow bike lane on the road and pretend the white line is going to stop accidents.

Bonus: Electric motorbikes / motor scooters can have canopies on top, helping alleviate some of the weather issues.

[1] https://wiztem.en.made-in-china.com/product/hygJHVvFMlcN/Chi...

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#88

Post by mips_avatar » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

djrogers wrote: post #52

mips_avatar wrote: post #39

I recently bought a Boosted rev and have been using it for my 1.8 miles commute. I strongly disagree with the author's 15mph limit. I think 25 mph is a more reasonable limit, otherwise you have cars aggressively trying to pass you on roads. At 24 mph (my scooters max speed), the cars on my commute (25mph speed limit), still try to pass me sometimes but it's a lot safer.

At 25MPH, a tiny crack or lip in the concrete would equal a very expensive faceplant. And it's not really even a matter of skill or reflexes - the tiny wheels of the current electric scooters are just not capable of handling imperfections at speed.

That's why you need bigger better wheels. I agree that going above 15 on a Xiaomi scooter is terrifying, but on the Boosted Rev, it's smooth as butter.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#89

Post by Steltek » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:49 PM UTC

s_y_n_t_a_x wrote: post #66

Steltek wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the safety issue is cars. Take away cars and you take away 99.9% of transportation's ~40,0000 annual fatalities.

Scooters have no regulation and constant misuse. Yes cars are dangerous, but that's not what we're talking about, and you can't remove them, unless you plan to relocate everyone to urban areas, revamp public transportation in urban areas (which can't seem to be done, see California train), and figure out how to stock stores without trucks.

You can't talk about scooter safety without talking about how scooter users are dying. You need to wade past scores of dead people killed by a driver to find one or two unfortunate people who wrapped themselves around trees. Automobiles are so far and away the most lethal element on the road that there's no point in talking about anything else.

I refuse to talk about cracking pavement or helmet laws before we talk about why drivers feel entitled to go double the speed limit, text and drive, or be "just a little" drunk. How many people have coworkers that take work calls on their way into work? I know a lot of people who brag about their callous disregard for other people's safety. It's a sick disease.

Re: The Rise of the Electric Scooter

#90

Post by com2kid » Thu, Sep 12, 2019, 6:50 PM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #70

Perhaps it's because I have a motorcycle, but every time I come across the word "scooter" what comes to mind is a Vespa-like vehicle. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter#Vehicles * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_scooter * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_(motorcycle) I'm curious about the etymology for each type, and how both ended up using the same word.

It is super confusing, motor scooter vs motorized scooter, and now there are electric motor scooters vs electric motorized scooters.

I'm really not sure how that later one works out grammatically!