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Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

adam.zeloof.xyz

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Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#2

Post by rich_sasha »

Crikey, 250W motor... they are handy and certainly better than everyone driving a car everywhere, but somehow the combination of power and low barrier to entry invites a particular type of road (and pavement) assholery I could really do without. At least in my locale.

Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#3

Post by stephen_g »

rich_sasha wrote: post #2

Crikey, 250W motor... they are handy and certainly better than everyone driving a car everywhere, but somehow the combination of power and low barrier to entry invites a particular type of road (and pavement) assholery I could really do without. At least in my locale.

I’ve got a Xiaomi Mi Scooter Pro 2, which is not super beefy, but it does peak up to 600W. You actually do need it for hills, I still don’t make it up some without kicking. It is speed limited to 25 km/h generally but some of these bigger ones that are much less “consumer” you see going 50-60 which is crazy (and illegal here).

Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#5

Post by gnopgnip »

yokoprime wrote: post #4

Are electric scooters still a west coast thing in the US?

Yes you can still rent them in San Francisco and Oakland, but less than there were a few years ago.

Electric scooters are limited to 15mph, you can get a speeding ticket for exceeding 15mph even going downhill. And they aren't really safe to ride faster, they can't stop quickly. You need a drivers license. You are required to ride in the street or bike lane, not on the sidewalks or paths shared with pedestrians. Technically you can't make left turns in the road either, you need to ride straight across in the bike lane or road then stop and walk through crosswalk. Also not allowed to ride in a crosswalk at all, but many of these rules are not strictly enforced.

Compared to ebikes where the motor can provide power up to 28mph with pedal assist, up to 20mph with throttle only. No drivers license needed. Ebikes can legally use many multi use paths shared with pedestrians. No problems making left turns in traffic. No need to walk in crosswalks because you can ride on the road/bike lane. It isn't surprising they aren't as popular.

Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#6

Post by tintedfireglass »

Here in bangalore after fuel prices shot up everyone is buying electric scooters and bikes left and right. I used to only occasionally finding electric vehicles but these days I see a lot of them and none of them are cars. E-bikes, e-scooters, E-trikes, E-buses, E-minivans but no electric cars

Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#7

Post by gabereiser »

tintedfireglass wrote: post #6

Here in bangalore after fuel prices shot up everyone is buying electric scooters and bikes left and right. I used to only occasionally finding electric vehicles but these days I see a lot of them and none of them are cars. E-bikes, e-scooters, E-trikes, E-buses, E-minivans but no electric cars

Curious to see how this trend plays out. If gas prices ebb would the sale of pev’s go down? Would they stay the same? Or has this opened peoples eyes to the fact that, while not yet optimal, electric vehicles are pretty good at most errands. Solar charging is getting better. Batteries are getting better. Electric motors are getting better.

I don’t think we have reached the tipping point yet here in the states on electric vehicles but it seems it’s heading that way. Ford spun off their e-vehicle devision. GMC, others, and committed to making electric cars and trucks. I feel there’s this tidal wave revolution going on in transportation. Supported by the energy sector. The biggest hurtle is big oil trying to corner solar through legislation to tax the power of the sun. :( but I do think as more people have and use electric modes of transportation that more people will want to join them and thus, tipping the scales.

Where I am, people love their OneWheels and electric bikes. I myself have tasted pavement on my OneWheel pev. RadBikes and others make electric cargo bikes that are like tanks. It’s really cool to see this unfold within the last few years.

Re: Electric Scooter Revival (2019)

#9

Post by patrickk »

Nice project! The unknown wires everywhere brought back memories. I did a similar project, hacking an escooter to add Bluetooth functionality in order to control it via a smartphone app:

https://ampedcycling.com/e-scooter-hacks-remove-the-speed-li...

It allows you to increase the top speed among other functions.

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