Electric scooters can be a convenient and fun way to get around. PIC: Scooter Hut
A few years ago, electric scooters were futuristic devices you might occasionally see in a sci-fi movie, rather than real objects that regularly cruised past you on city footpaths.
But 36 months or so is a long time in the world of micromobility ridership and – when it comes to e-scooters – it seems we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
The US experience offers a clue to what is happening here. There, e-scooter ridership increased from 38.5 million in 2018 to 88.5 million in 2019.
Australian retailers report similar sales momentum.
Yes, e-scooters may help get kids off their computers and phones for a while, but it seems that adults are equally enthusiastic. For grey nomads, of course, the big plus is the portability.
When space in – and on – the van is at a premium, modes of transport don’t come much more ‘mini’ than this.
For travellers who might be looking for an easy and speedy way to get into town from the free camp a couple of kilometres away, who want to explore down a dusty track, cruise a lengthy boardwalk, or just hop on and take off for the fun of it, the e-scooter is something that should certainly appear on their ‘give-it-a-look’ radar.
For now, the major drawback is that some states and territories don’t allow them to be used other than on private land, but the industry is hopeful that will soon change.
One major Australian player, Scooter Hut says there is a massive push for federal government to look into nationwide laws to allow e-scooters to be used in all states.
“Most people just think of the rental scooters, as seen in major cities,” said a Scooter Hut spokesperson “But private ownership of electric scooters has seen huge growth over the last 12 months as more Australians see their ease of use and versatility.”
The most common type of electric scooters are the lightweight commuter ones which are perfect for zipping around urban areas, but there are also larger high-performance models which have off-road capability. In even better news for long-term caravanners and motorhomers, most scooters fold down easily for portability and storage, and some of the smaller models are as light as 12.5 kilograms.
The battery size obviously determines the distance a scooter can travel without re-charging and this can vary from about 25 kilometres all the way to a massive 150 kilometres.
Charging the scooter is generally as simple as plugging in the included power adaptor. Most have a minimum input of 110V so can also be used on an inverter.
There is a whole range of different e-scooters out there so, depending on what their likely use for it is to be, grey nomads can pay anything from a few hundred dollars to several thousand.
