Over the past decade, scooters have advanced significantly. What was once a token toy that tourists rode along the beachfront, is now a viable electric vehicle that's fast and powerful and that can enhance your day-to-day life.
There are many uses and benefits of investing in and utilising an electric scooter. Electric scooters can serve many purposes: from white knuckle off-road adventures and top-speed riding to commuting and leisurely cruising.
In this guide, we look into the benefits of using an electric scooter to commute. Some advantages of taking this route include no petrol bills, avoiding traffic, having fun and commuting in an eco friendly way. Below, we look into each benefit in more detail, as well as recommend some electric scooters that are perfect for commuting.
TRAFFIC ADVANTAGES
For many, the daily commute spent in back-to-back traffic can be frustrating to say the least. Depending on where you are in the world, peak hour traffic can add a significant amount of time on the daily journey - sometimes it can even take three to four times the amount of time the journey would take without traffic. This is where commuter scooters come in and can reduce travel time remarkably.
In many areas, there are scooter commute paths where traffic can be avoided. So, instead of spending your mornings, or evenings, stuck in gridlock, scooter commuters can enjoy a scenic journey to or from work.
Scooters are also advantageous in comparison to cars because of their ability to swiftly weave through traffic. While electric scooters aren't allowed on all roads in Australia, some states allow for e-scooters to be driven on main roads that are a certain speed limit. To ensure that you can legally ride on a specific road, you should check with your local department of transport. Like motorbikes, scooters are small so they can make their way through traffic where cars can't.
Furthermore, if you leave in the inner city - or want to get around the CBD in your work breaks - electric scooters are a great option. They make it easy to get around crowded downtown areas.
NO PETROL OR PARKING BILLS
Did you know that the average Australian who works in a city location spends around 14 hours a year just looking for a car park? And that they drive approximately an extra 560 kilometres per year at around 40km/h to find parking spots? Not only does this use up a significant amount of time, but it also means petrol is burnt during this driving time.
Commuter scooters are great in this respect, they're very portable, so you won't need to spend any extra time looking for a parking spot. In fact, most models you can even quickly fold up and bring inside your place of work. Plus, of course, commuter scooters don't take any petrol at all - completely wiping up petrol costs, not just for the parking looking time, but for driving time altogether.
Rather than using petrol, a commuter scooter is charged up. When looking for a good commuting scooter, it's a good idea to check out their charge time and charge range. The best commuter scooters will have a short charge time and a long driving range for a full charge. At iScoot we consider a commuter scooter that has a range of 60-70km to be in the excellent range.
THEY'RE ECO FRIENDLY
A commuter scooter is powered by an electric battery - so there are no emissions that are created, which helps you to reduce your carbon footprint.
While all vehicles that are powered by any type of gas produce emissions, studies have actually found that some gas scooters emit more unhealthy and damaging types of chemicals than many petrol-fuelled cars.
The emission reduction is far from small, too. On average, a passenger vehicle emits 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year - and a commuter scooter produces zero.
Plus, it's not only the lack of fossil fuels that make a commuter scooter more eco-friendly than other fuel using passenger vehicles. The production of an electric scooter is much more environmentally friendly than the production of a car or other motor vehicle. Because of its size, there is significantly fewer materials and machinery required in order to build an electric scooter.
If you're primarily looking for a commuter scooter that's very environmentally friendly, then we recommend finding one with a durable battery, a long riding range and with a high quality motor - so that it will last the distance.
ULTIMATE CONVENIENCE
Not every electric scooter is foldable - however, the majority of commuting scooters are. When looking for a scooter that will be primarily used for commuting, you'll probably want to seek out this feature. Foldable scooters are very convenient when used for commuting because once you arrive at your destination, you can easily fold up the scooter and bring it inside with you.
Another advantage of a foldable scooter is the options you have when it comes to leisure riding. A foldable commuter scooter can easily be popped in the car and be driven to wherever you'd like to ride - like a scenic road or beautiful park.
But, electric scooters aren't just convenient in the sense that they're portable. Riding an electric scooter will mean that you no longer need to keep your eyes peeled for a petrol station, waste precious time waiting to fill up your car -or ensure you're at a petrol station before it closes. Instead, electric scooters allow you the ultimate convenience of being able to refuel their charge at home - or other locations, as long as you have available electricity. Electric scooters just need to be plugged in and charged for a certain amount of time, and then they're ready to go again!
AFFORDABLE MAINTENANCE
Practically anyone who's owned a car before knows that fixing a broken part can be very expensive - even more so if the body is damaged too. In many cases, the replacement of a single car part can cost much more than the entire price of a scooter.
On the other hand, electric scooters have fairly cheap repair and maintenance fees in comparison. Usually, the most expensive problem you may face is replacing a battery. This will hardly ever cost upwards of $1000, and usually will cost much, much less. Other fixes on electric scooters are relatively cheap too. For example, a standard new scooter tyre will cost around $40-$50. When you compare that to the cost of a new standard car tyre, which sits around $500-$600, you can see how much cheaper an electric scooter really is.
Furthermore, servicing a car is expensive. A car should generally be serviced every six months, or every 10,000kms (whichever comes sooner). Considering that a service in Australia costs around $250 for a minor service or $400 for a logbook service, this cost adds up significantly. Over a ten year period, the average Australian will spend around $8,000 on a bi-annual logbook service alone. In contrast, when you buy a scooter from iScoot you automatically get lifetime free servicing*, saving you a large amount of money.
Of course, it practically goes without saying that the outright cost of buying a new electric scooter is much, much cheaper than buying a new car. The price of commuter scooters do vary a lot and depend on the features you require. However, there is a large range of commuter scooters that are available for around $1500 that are packed full of great features. Whereas, the cheapest new car in Australia starts at around $15,000.
*The retail price of your new commuter scooter must be $1499 or more.
THEY'RE FUN!
Of course, the fun factor of zipping around on an electric scooter is hard to look past. A commuter scooter can zoom you through the most scenic places without even having to break a sweat. Some commuter scooters can double as a leisure vehicle, as well as a tool to get to and from work as a comfortable ride.
If you're looking to do more than just commute on your scooter - there's a huge range of options you can pick to enhance your time on the vehicle. Some electric scooters can ride at white knuckle inducing speeds of 100km/h or more. Plus, many have off-roading features built in to allow you to tackle even the most rugged terrains.
Variations that are built for commuting and adventuring will have high-speed capabilities, the ability to safely climb steep landscapes and be packed with features to enhance your riding experience, like thick tyres with good grip and state-of-the-art brakes. Some advanced electric scooters even have smart capabilities - allowing your scooter to sync with your smartphone or device - and have LCD displays that show different aspects of your ride.
COMMUTING COST OF A CAR VERSUS COST OF A COMMUTER SCOOTER
OUTRIGHT
As we touched on above, the outright price of buying a brand new scooter is much cheaper than the outright cost of buying a brand new car. In Australia, the cheapest new car that you can get will cost you around $15,000 - this includes brands and models like a manual Honda Jazz, a manual Mitsubishi Mirage and a manual Suzuki Baleno GL.
In contrast, we sell feature-packed adult commuter scooters for as little as $999. Scooters that have all the trimmings - like advanced motors and long-lasting batteries - will sit around the $1500-2000 mark. If you're looking for an advanced electric scooter that can handle off-road terrain and has state of the art features, the cost will be around $3,299. Our most expensive and premium scooter, the Dualtron Storm UP, costs $6350 - almost a third of the cost of the cheapest new car.
PETROL
As their name implies, electric scooters require absolutely no petrol - and run on electricity through the use of a rechargeable battery.
On average, a single-car owner in Australia spends about $150 a month on petrol. Over the course of the year, this adds up to $1800. When you calculate this over a ten year period it comes to $21,600 - way more than the cost of a state-of-the-art electric scooter itself.
Of course, the electricity price of recharging a commuter scooter should be kept in mind when making the cost comparison. The price of charging an electric scooter will vary on a few factors, like the electricity costs in your state, how much you drive your scooter and the size of the battery and motor. However, the average cost of charging a scooter is around 10 cents for a full charge. Even if your scooter is charged three times a week, this only equates to $15.60 a year, or $156 over a ten year period. This means the running cost of an electric scooter for ten years is not even 1% of the cost of putting petrol in a car over a ten year period.
MAINTENANCE
This is something we also touched on above but is interesting to look at in-depth in comparison. Cars are large vehicles that often break down and need adequate servicing. It's recommended that cars should be serviced in Australia every six months. To ensure that your scooter is running at its best, it's a good idea to get a service done on it as well.
It's recommended that scooters are serviced every 3 months, depending on a number of factors, with the most important one being how long the daily ride is. If you're paying for this check-up it will usually cost $88 per hour for a General Service. On average, a General Service for an electric scooter can take an hour. In comparison, a car costs $250 for a minor service or $400 for a logbook service. Over a ten-year period, a bi-annual log book cost will add up to $8,000. Whereas a 3-month check-up on an electric scooter equates to about $3,520 over a ten-year period. However, someone who rides 5-10kms each day, versus someone who rides 30-40kms daily, may not need to bring their scooter in every 3 months, so this cost could be significantly lower for the former.
While this cost is significantly less than the cost of servicing a car - if you buy your electric scooter from iScoot it will be reduced even more. In fact, you won't pay anything at all. We offer a free lifetime servicing of your electric scooter that's bought new from us, given that the retail price was $1,499 or more.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Honestly, when it comes to electric scooters it's very hard to go past a Dualtron. The scooter brand consistently released high-quality scooters with impressive features and the Dualtron Mini 17.5ah is no exception. The long range on this scooter, paired with its durable battery and robust motor makes it the best electric scooter when it comes to commuting.
When it comes to commuter scooters, their braking system, motor and battery are all important components. This Dualtron Mini 17.5ah commuter scooter excels in all of these categories. The powerful MAX 1450W BLDC motor ensures a smooth ride and the 52V 17.5 AH LG will allow longer rides than other models. Though the Dualtron Mini 17.5ah has a slightly bigger price tag than some of the other commuter scooters, it delivers in value - this adult scooter is extremely well made, uses good quality materials and is ultra-durable - meaning the average person will have it for a very long time. It is a great purchase.
In regards to commuter scooters, we award the best scooter to Dualtron Mini 17.5ah.
