The e-Scooter is Micromobility Distilled to Perfection

I first experienced the modern electric scooter when I rented a Bird scooter in Santa Monica, California back in 2018 or so. The scooter sharing concept was just hitting the streets (literally) and I thought it was an awesome way to cover a few miles. But really, I think my love for the stand-up two wheelers began with the GoPed.

For those that don't know, the GoPed is a series of gas (and a few electric) powered scooters beginning in the 1980's. In Southern California, they seemed to be especially popular in the 90's and 2000's. My brother and his neighborhood friends had them around that time period and would modify the engines and chassis for higher performance. They were pretty rad. I never owned my own, but I had an engine-less kick version called a KnowPed which I still miss to this day (maybe I should buy one?).

Useful little vehicle

During my college internship, I had a particularly nasty commute from Santa Cruz to Redwood City, California. For those of you familiar with the Bay Area, you know this is pretty rough. I am saving the full commuting story for another article, but I broke the commute up into several stages that saved me from daily insanity: drive to the Diridon CalTrain station in San Jose, take the train up to Redwood City, and ride my Segway/Ninebot electric scooter from the station to the office complex at Pacific Shores. For me, that summer cemented the practicality of these micro machines as genuinely useful vehicles.

Technology in motion

Current battery technology allows my Segway Max to go between 20-40 miles of range on a full charge while only weighing 40 pounds. That 20-40 miles is dependent on which mode you're in; realistically, I stay in the "Sport" mode which allows a 19mph top speed and this limits the range to 20 miles on the nose. There are many other models on the market that allow much higher speeds and larger battery capacity, but this is at the expense of weight and cost (and safety).

It's really impressive when you consider the energy density required to carry an average adult 20 miles. This will only improve; in fact, there will likely be some significant battery tech breakthroughs over the next decade or so, as billions and billions of dollars are poured into its research for EV's, smartphones, laptops, medical devices, etc. This will allow these tiny vehicles to be lighter, go farther, go faster, etc.

Fad, or something more?

I believe these micromobility vehicles are here to stay. If you live in an urban area, they are hard to beat for quick trips to the grocery store, a beer run, or to a friends house. Throw on a backpack with a large open compartment and you have yourself a little trunk. I would love to figure out some kind of canopy for weather proofing, but I will typically just throw on a rain coat if it is raining. I am excited to see where these little PEV's, or personal electric vehicles, evolve to.