Throughout history, humankind has evolved and prospered by asking the biggest questions. How can we make fire? What’s on that island over there? What if we stay here for a while and grow crops? Why do apples fall from trees?
Now comes another zinger: should I get an e-scooter? As with any of life’s great questions, even in this age of circular social media certainty that ours is the One True View, common sense demands we should examine both sides of the debate. Here, in squabbling-twin articles, Move Electric’s Gary Parkinson examines the pros and cons.
Remember, Jedi, your decision is always your own - but if you want to take an all-encompassing view, don't forget to also read our article E-scooters: 10 reasons why you shouldn't buy one, and take particular note of the legalities of using one on public land.
10 reasons you SHOULD buy an e-scooter
Many are the reasons for joining revolutions. Listed below are some of the strongest cases for joining the e-scooter caravanserai. Whether you nod along enthusiastically or pull each point to pieces is up to you.
1. They’re green
Not as in the colour – although some are, like the very verdant Lime e-scooters available to hire in London and Milton Keynes. No, the big idea with e-scooters is that they tempt us out of our gas-guzzling, planet-throttling cars and into the open air, powered by this 'electricity' thing that everyone’s so excited about.
The International Energy Agency notes that 24% of carbon emissions come from transport, so we should all do what we can to chip away at that. Lime’s chief exec, Wayne Ting, says: “The average scooter or e-bike ride is less than 5% of the carbon footprint of a car ride.” No bad thing.
2. They’re fun
Remember fun? In this plague-blighted, economically uncertain, conversationally fractious age, it can be hard to recall a time when we did things that sparked joy (and no, we don’t include folding laundry).
But hopping aboard an e-scooter, hitting the 'Go' button and whizzing along with the wind in your hair is an instant hit of exhilaration, a small victory over the mundane everyday, two defiant fingers in the face of misery. The worries of the workaday world evaporate as you nimbly nip towards your destination, an accelerating escape bubble in which Zooming is replaced by zooming. And frankly we’re all for that.
3. They’re faster than walking
Now, this might seem like a combination of barrel-scraping and obvious-stating, but it is the very raison d’être of the e-scooter. True, some early adopters might wish to appear cutting-edge, or to (literally) stand out from the crowd, perhaps with an artfully sculpted hairdo à la mode. But for most of us, we’re trying to get somewhere, and the e-scooter’s nippability is its main sales point.
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I'm absolutely astounded that a motoring magazine can think of let alone publish an article like this. It is an INSTANT six points on your driving license if you take one of these illegal contraptions anywhere on a road OR pavement. What were you thinking in publishing this?!
They are illegal to use on both the pavement and the road,under UK law. So what is the point?
So that huffpost woman got a job at Autocar rather than heading up BBC news?
Because that's the level of this moronic piece of bilge.