Electric bike or scooter – Which is best for you?

You have started to notice electric bikes and scooters are everywhere. They zoom past you like a stealth ninja and you didn’t even see one coming. It looks fun to ride them and you instantly want one. But which one will you buy? Electric bike or scooter?

If you could have both that would definitely be double the fun. But if you are undecided, then this guide presents all the plus and minuses of both electric bike and scooter. Which will hopefully help you decide which one is right for you.

Year 2020 saw an unprecedented 200% rise in demand for electric bikes and scooter. ^_[1] This occurred with some help from pandemic, fundamentally changing the way we commute. But also due to batteries becoming so cheap that electrification of cycles and scooter finally became possible. ^_[2]

Why Electric?

Manual bike or scooter are good, but having electric bike or scooter eliminates most of the legwork that might have discouraged you getting one in first place. Electricity gives superpower to traditional analog bike or scooter and you would feel energy of jolly little kid riding one!

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With electric bike or scooter you can get even further than you ever thought was possible. Climbing a hill would be a piece of cake. And in most cities you can even get to destination faster than a car. Also you wont be sweaty like on traditional bike.

An Electric bikes and scooters are better than cars, trains or buses. And with their folding mechanism, they give a multi-modal option of combining a long train ride or far distance car park, with an electric bike or scooter. Giving you a ‘last-mile’ transport providing best of both worlds.

Why do you need electric bike or scooter?

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Electric bike and scooters serve as a fast and cheap mode of transport and are hell lot of fun. In most cases they can easily replace one-person local car commute. And if you can drive on dedicated cycle paths there are no signals or roundabouts to stop for. You can get from A to B with no worries.

Miami University study concluded that while riders engage in higher intensity exercise using a non-electric bike, the amount of exertion on the electric bike still provided moderate intensity exercise. And are recommended to avoid or reduce risk of serious health conditions.

During pandemic, millions of new people discovered bikes and scooters – whether for exercise or as a means of safe, socially-distanced transport. Cars and public transport will continue to remain vital for future but we must build greener travel habits, for cleaner air and healthier communities.

Electric Bike VS Electric Scooter

For many, the choice of e-bike or e-scooter will be obvious. Need something that fits in the trunk of your car and doesn’t break the bank? Get an Electric Scooter! Want an optional workout? Get an electric bike! But if you’re bit confused on either, the decision can be more complicated.

Choosing between Electric bike or Scooter can be tricky to decide. Which one is the right one for you? So please let me help you decide, breaking down different options below and show you what the advantages and disadvantages of each are.

In above table I have considered features, price and specs of average priced electric bike and scooter. I am well aware that there are exceptional exception where an electric bike costs $80,000 or a scooter capable of reaching 80 mph (121 kph). Those can be your next ones.

Where E bike wins

The first big advantage of electric bike over scooter is that many people find them familiar, stable and comfortable platform to ride on. Compared to scooters, where you’re standing up. On an electric bicycle your centre of gravity is lower. Hrnce stability and safety is better than scooters.

Other advantage of electric bike over scooter is it’s easy to do maintenance yourself or find people that can work on them as they share most of the same components with normal bicycles and that means that most bike shops are happy to work on electric bikes.

Last big advantage of electric bikes is that if the battery ever runs out you can easily pedal it home but with an electric scooter kicking is not going to be very much fun especially if you have to go uphill.

Where E scooter wins

Main advantage of electric scooter is they are cheap. Maybe 3 to 4 times cheaper than electric bikes. Low cost is not only an advantage but it affects the theft and breaking down concerns.

Second advantage of electric scooter is the portability and size. Since they are super light compared to electric bikes and most are foldable that you can carry them like a toolbox. They can be carried indoor in public transport and stowed under without much issue.

Last big advantage of electric scooters is that they provide more zeal than bikes. The pickup speed is more than ebikes and even on hills where ebike may struggle a bit electric scooter just eats it. The sensation and adreline you get on electric scooter is quite addictive and is not same on ebikes.

Electric bike and scooter Law in UK

Where I live in UK, sadly riding electric scooter in public is illegal, except approved rental scheme trail ones. Its because electric scooters are classed as motorized vehicle. But electric bikes don’t fall in this category (at the time of writing this article) as they have pedals to self propel. ^_[3]

Please check rules and regulations of your country before purchasing them. UK needs catching up with rest of the world. One can only buy electric bikes and would not need a licence, registration, tax or insurance for electric bikes if it falls under below rules.

• Must have a maximum power output of 250 watts
• Should not be able to propel more than 15.5 mph

UK aside, the trend of electric bike or scooter is without a doubt going to continue to grow and it will potentially provide a healthy alternative mode of travel to car, bus or train. While also helping to reduce carbon emissions at the same time.

Summary

I don’t know if there is a thing like this, but you maybe a bike person or a scooter person. And to find that out you will have to try out both. Maybe borrow one from friends or try one of those rental shared electric bikes and scooters schemes you seen in cities.

I have tried both and feel a slight disadvantages to E Scooter are the smaller wheel size compared to a bike that can easily rollover obstacles. Its when I tried a Lime scooter I felt the ride quality was jarring compared to own Samebike, possibly due to lack of dual shock absorbers. But there are dual shocks and even dual motor scooters that can slove that issue.

Electric bike ticks most of the checkbox for me but if someone doesn’t have the budget for it might look at electric scooter for option. The type of commuter that will be best served for an electric scooter is someone who really wants that portability and doesn’t want to deal with a big electric bicycle.

Likewise an electric bike would fit for a person who wants something familiar and is OK to store the bike. Maybe wants to carry cargo or another passenger like a child. Both of which are not an option on electric scooter. Or someone who is just stuck in UK transport bureaucracy. Yeah it sucks here.

But I believe future of sustainable transport is not just electric car or buses but mostly such small cheap electrified commuting vehicles. They may be new to fit in our existing transport legislation. But if they save people’s wallet and environment at same time, they are bound to flourish. Whichever you choose im sure its will be great choice.