{"id":2489,"date":"2021-01-10T13:21:02","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T13:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2021-01-30T08:23:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T08:23:40","slug":"buy-or-rent-an-electric-scooter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/buy-or-rent-an-electric-scooter\/","title":{"rendered":"Buy or Rent an Electric Scooter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Buying<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When this question comes to you: should I rent or buy an electric scooter<\/strong>? Suppose that you have a great experience riding on a Bird or Lime electric scooter. If not, you might have enough curiosity about renting an e scooter<\/strong> or buying your own electric scooter<\/strong>, after seeing so many people ride a cool and stylish motorized two-wheeled conveyance.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the scooter sharing startups like Bird and Lime, you can now find a lot of electric scooters left and right in the cities, after a rapid growth in the past two or three years. This kind of scooter renting service does not only redefine the last mile of transportation but also provides more convenience for those short commutes. Now you don\u2019t need to walk for the last to get to the office with sweaty clothes, nor drive your car to workplaces that are only 4-5 miles away from your home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the electric scooters take micro mobility to a new level and involve more and more people to join this fashionable \u201cMore Green\u201d lifestyle. It\u2019s more than fun to ride a scooter, especially for adults, who need a small and compact electric-powered device for commutes. Why do people choose electric scooters for commuting?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electric Scooters vs Other Ways to Commute<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a matter of fact, cars are still the most common way for US people to commute. According to a survey from Statista<\/a>, driving their own car to commute from home and work still takes up to 86 percent of all the means of transportation. Next is public transportation of 10 percent. The third is bicycles that take 5 percent popularity. The scootering does not even have its name on the top list. However, this doesn\u2019t mean there are few people riding scooters for commutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, the increasing number of people riding a dockless scooter for commuting indicates the scooters\u2019 popularity in the cities. Individuals are starting to ditch their car commutes and switch to electric rideables. A blog post on Medium<\/a> from a typical short-distance commuter wrote down his own thinking and action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People choose to ride on an electric scooter for several reasons, such as for saving the earth by reducing their carbon footprint, and for saving the cost to buy and maintain a car. Below is a picture from GOTRAX<\/a>, a well-known brand to sell electric-powered small vehicles. This image shows the cost of driving a car, taking public transportation, and riding a scooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cost<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The company has a standpoint to have a positive attitude to electric scooters, obviously, they\u2019re the manufacturer and absolutely want to persuade as many people as possible to buy an electric scooter over a car, or even rent a scooter. Actually, both rental scooters and owning a scooter have advantages and disadvantages. You may check the comparison between these two options, and think it twice before the final decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renting electric scooter services<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bird and Lime are the two better-known startups that provide scooter rental service. You may have found a few black Bird scooters and green Lime scooters walking down the streets. If you have tried to ride on them, you\u2019ll find that they both need $1 for unlocking, and charge over ten cents to ride per minute. Here are the cost and key factors you may want to know before renting a Bird or Lime scooter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bird<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the price to rent an electric scooter for riding<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Take 5 miles short commute for example – lots of people living not far from home to office would prefer walking, biking or scootering to commute, we\u2019ll count the cost of renting a Bird or Lime scooter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlock<\/td>$1<\/td><\/tr>
Speed<\/td>15 mph<\/td><\/tr>
Distance<\/td>5 miles<\/td><\/tr>
Time<\/td>20 minutes plus the stops and crosses about 10 minutes =~30 minutes<\/td><\/tr>
Cost per minute<\/td>$0.15<\/td><\/tr>
Total cost per commute<\/td>=$1+$0.15*30=$5.5 <\/td><\/tr>
Cost per day<\/td>$11<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you commute 20 days every month, meaning that it costs you up to $220 every month or over $2600 every year to rent a scooter for commuting. This is a conservatively estimated cost, just giving you an approximate image of renting an electric scooter to go to or from work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the largest scooter-sharing companies – Bird, had started another monthly subscription. You only need to pay $25, the Bird will give you one scooter with a charger and a lock so that you can ride the scooter anytime anywhere. This is a more economic option to rent an electric scooter, you just need to pay about $300 to use a shared electric scooter. Bird released this service to help the riders build the habit to ride a scooter and encourage them to ride as many times as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the pros and cons of renting a scooter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a cost-effective<\/strong> method to rent a Lime or Bird scooter, without any doubt. No matter what\u2019s your objective, commuting between home and office, touring around the cities, or just for fun, rental scooters can be a very great choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s convenient<\/strong>. The fierce competition between the two scooter sharing unicorns – Bird and Lime, make them deploy more and more scooters in the cities. So you can easily find a scooter from the two companies on the streets. Just with a smartphone, you effortlessly unlock a scooter using an app, ride away and leave it virtually anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s less troublesome<\/strong>. You don\u2019t need to worry about charging the scooter when it runs out of the battery, nor the maintenance if the scooter\u2019s tires or components have any issues. You don\u2019t need to have a place to store the scooter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the rental scooters are designed with standard and unified features, not customizable for different people\u2019s needs. For example, the Bird or Lime scooters go at a speed around 15 miles per hour, which is street-legal in urban areas of most cities. The weight limit of shared e scooters is the same, around 220 pounds, which is not appealing for heavy adults over 250 lbs or 300 lbs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are not able to ride a rental scooter immediately when you walk out of your home or leave your office, but need to hunt around with an app chasing the nearest scooter. If you live or work in a place where a couple of individuals use shared electric scooters as you, it\u2019s a pain to find one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about buying your own electric scooter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many well-known scooter brands on the market, the Razor, Xiaomi, Glion Dolly, Segway, GOTRAX, and more. They provide multiple choices of different price ranges for different requirements, so most e scooters are affordable or even cheap. They\u2019re also cost-effective in the long-term, as the scooter\u2019s battery lasts at least for one or two years usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the price to buy an electric scooter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are many cheap electric scooters under $500 you can find online, especially when there are special promotions like Christmas seasons. If you have Amazon Prime, Prime Day might also be a good choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few electric scooters are priced under $300, but it doesn\u2019t mean none. GOTRAX GXL V2 is one of the most popular inexpensive electric scooters for buying. Swagtron Swagger 5 T High Speed Electric Scooter is another ideal option, and it allows for a faster riding speed up to 18 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can afford $200 more, there are more selections available, like the Xiaomi M365, Hiboy S2, Macwheel MX1, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the benefits of buying scooters?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The best point of buying an electric scooter is that you can get one with customized specifications, even if they’re designed from manufacturers. There are kinds of electric scooters with different specs for choice: fast speed electric scooters<\/a>, e scooters with a higher weight limit for heavy riders<\/a>, or portable scooters with folding<\/a> design for easy carrying and storage, or self-balancing personal transporters<\/a>, or off-road scooters<\/a> for all terrains riding. If you prefer to sit on a scooter, there are seated versions. Some seats are even removable no matter if you want to sit or stand up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can ride on the scooter anytime when you want to be able to go around the community or to meet with friends in a coffee shop, but not to walk to find a scooter near you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your choice?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to rental and ownership, it is clear that one type of e-scooter will be more appropriate for some users than the other, depending on their needs and daily riding habits. Dockless rental electric scooters may be ideal for the touristic exploration of cities, whereas regular commuters will prefer having a personally owned vehicle at hand which is permanently at their disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in terms of sustainability, urban clutter, safety, and reliability, owning an electric scooter is demonstrably superior to rental scooters and that is exactly why there are many manufacturers who decided to develop their e-scooter as a durable, high-quality vehicle that you can own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When this question comes to you: should I rent or buy an electric scooter? Suppose that you have a great experience riding on a Bird or Lime electric scooter. If not, you might have enough curiosity about renting an e scooter or buying your own electric scooter, after seeing so many people ride a cool […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioogadgets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}