I wouldn't leave any e-bike...or even any half decent regular bike, out of my sight outdoors even if "securely" locked.
But that makes a lot less sense in sense Asian cities in warm climates that have a lot of road congestion. A scooter costs a small fraction of a car, gas or electric, and gets you there faster. I suspect that as EVs become pervasive, most of them will be scooters and ebikes.
Plus, gas scooters are very dirty. The Chinese wouldn't allow gas scooters to proliferate in cities.
I don’t think we have reached the tipping point yet here in the states on electric vehicles but it seems it’s heading that way. Ford spun off their e-vehicle devision. GMC, others, and committed to making electric cars and trucks. I feel there’s this tidal wave revolution going on in transportation. Supported by the energy sector. The biggest hurtle is big oil trying to corner solar through legislation to tax the power of the sun. :( but I do think as more people have and use electric modes of transportation that more people will want to join them and thus, tipping the scales.
Where I am, people love their OneWheels and electric bikes. I myself have tasted pavement on my OneWheel pev. RadBikes and others make electric cargo bikes that are like tanks. It’s really cool to see this unfold within the last few years.
In my (mediterranean) country, prices have been creeping UP over the last 3 years, mostly due to lack of competition and importers somehow cornering the market ;/
Prices are now more expensive than when i bought my first ebike 5 years ago.
Hero : https://heroelectric.in/
This is a standard motorcycle brand diversifying into electric
Aether: https://www.atherenergy.com/
This is a recently funded electric vehicle startup
Basically, around about 2016 (maybe?) the number of electric scooters in San Diego exploded. We had like 6 different companies dumping them by the pallet load, I guess as an availability tactic.
I imagine what they were doing was taking them off the road and into someplace where they looked accessible on the GPS but couldn't actually be accessed, depleting the battery by winding them down, and then deconstructing them enough to get them into Tijuana, where they would be stripped and the brain of the scooter replaced. Apparently, they had a guy in TJ who could basically "de-GPS" the scooters. Then, they would ship them back up and sell them cheaply.
https://ampedcycling.com/e-scooter-hacks-remove-the-speed-li...
It allows you to increase the top speed among other functions.
Electric scooters are limited to 15mph, you can get a speeding ticket for exceeding 15mph even going downhill. And they aren't really safe to ride faster, they can't stop quickly. You need a drivers license. You are required to ride in the street or bike lane, not on the sidewalks or paths shared with pedestrians. Technically you can't make left turns in the road either, you need to ride straight across in the bike lane or road then stop and walk through crosswalk. Also not allowed to ride in a crosswalk at all, but many of these rules are not strictly enforced.
Compared to ebikes where the motor can provide power up to 28mph with pedal assist, up to 20mph with throttle only. No drivers license needed. Ebikes can legally use many multi use paths shared with pedestrians. No problems making left turns in traffic. No need to walk in crosswalks because you can ride on the road/bike lane. It isn't surprising they aren't as popular.
ADDED: Though apparently it's made something of a comeback the past couple of years. https://www.wsj.com/articles/rollerblading-for-grown-ups-is-... (Of course, like many pandemic hobbies who is to say that it will last.)
For reference, 1HP = 735.5W. The worst 50cc you'll find are around 3HP, or above 2100W. Child-class go-karts generally start around 5hp, and the most common engines are the 6.5HP GX200 (or harbor freight's copy).
I don’t mind the power, clearly, only what stupid people do with it.
Were you thinking 250kW maybe?
250w is quite a bit of power for something on the sidewalk or bike lane :)
(Of course, who knows how trustworthy these numbers are? I suspect scooter manufacturers know bigger numbers mean bigger sales, and choose their testing methods accordingly)
[1] https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-france/rig...
For a more precise fraction, it's almost exactly 1/3rd HP (33.9% compared to metric HP, 33.5% compared to imperial).
why do people like to mess up with the scrolling on their website?
it is one of the worst UX ever, stop doing that