Scooters And One Wheels

Proudly owning an e-scooter is a ache. I would fairly preserve renting, pandemic or not.

When I got the wheels, handlebars and frame out of the huge box, I was exhausted. I still had to assemble and then charge the parts of the 39 pound electric scooter before I could start driving.

This was my introduction to owning an e-scooter that would live in my house and would only be driven by me.

Out of the box!

Image: sasha lekach / mashable

A scooter for me.

Image: sashalekach / mashable

At the beginning of the pandemic, smaller two-wheeled (usually electric) vehicles had a moment. Public transportation was practically dead and electric scooter rentals were either temporarily suspended or shunned. The thought was: Better to have your own device free of germs from others. Bicycle sales in the United States rose more than 3,500 percent in May 2020, according to PeopleForBikes.

As our understanding of COVID-19 has expanded, we have found that the risk of getting the deadly disease from surfaces is virtually non-existent, especially with careful hand washing. The CDC updated its guidelines on surface contamination this week.

Now we can finally relax and touch the handlebars that someone else used earlier in the day and I love it. Plus, all scooter rental companies have cleaning protocols in place, and I’m never without hand sanitizer.

Owning your own $ 1,000 e-scooter (like I did with the Apollo City foldable scooter for a few weeks) with fast acceleration of up to 40 km / h and a long-life battery (45 km) is convenient and easy and doesn’t require an app, ownership doesn’t eliminate all problems.

Buying your own e-scooter (or e-bike) is a great one-time investment, but you don’t have to worry about unlocking fees, mileage, timeouts, or riding out of bounds. However, I quickly realized that you had to take care of setup, charging, storage, and maintenance.

“It’s very convenient to go down a flight of stairs and grab one and walk,” Tom Schreiber, co-founder of Perch Mobility, a micro-mobility charging company, told me recently on a phone call. For those interested in high quality premium features, investing in a scooter can be the right move. However, if all you need is something to get you around quickly, sharing can be easier – even during COVID times.

After testing the Apollo scooter for a few weeks, I tried a different seated scooter than the Razor. Again I was reminded how owning a scooter meant having your own space to check the battery level and always looking for parking spaces and barriers. With e-scooter rental, you can get off your ride practically anywhere, as long as it doesn’t block the sidewalk or the street.

When I was picking up a burrito, my scooter came along when I was worried on the street.

A scooter is your responsibility.

Image: sasha lekach / mashable

Set up shop.

Image: sasha lekach / mashable

The Lime, Bird, Scoot, and others scooter shares may be destroyed by sharing, but the fleets are constantly being monitored, updated, and even replaced. If there is a problem with the brakes or the battery, a service person will come out to check it out or take it offline. It pays off for me to pass this responsibility on to the professionals.

Most importantly, when renting, I don’t have to worry about finding space in my hallway to keep and charge the e-scooter. Just squirt out some hand sanitizer and I’m ready to ride.

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