Scooter vs E-bike...

 

 

It's a discussion happening currently on my favorite scooter forum, mostly because the sales trend with new scooter sales has been in a steady decline for years.  Well, here in the US.  The US gets fewer scooter options from manufacturers than the rest of the world.  Is it because we believe "bigger is better" with our two-wheel conveyances?  Not really, because motorcycle sales trends have been down, as well.

Compare that to the sales of e-bikes: which are in a strong growth trend.  In 2016, only 2% of bicycle sales were for e-bikes.  That percentage had risen to over 18% in 2023.  And currently, e-bike sales are on the increase, while pedal-only bicycle sales are down.

It seems that Americans have discovered e-bikes.

For our personal perspective, we bought our e-bikes in 2014.  We bought our first scooters the year before that.  And we had been riding motorcycles for nearly 40 years before that.  We enjoy two-wheel conveyances.

This trip to California was eye-opening regarding two-wheel conveyances.  Oceanside is a beach town (where we were staying); we saw a lot of people on bicycles, most of those being e-bikes.  In 5 days there, we saw one scooter.  Motorcycles were more obvious to us, since California allows "filtering" - what some people call "lane splitting."  So, it isn't unusual when a motorcyclist pulls between you and the car in the next lane at a stoplight.  Yes, that's legal there.  And certainly gets riders through traffic more efficiently than having to wait behind a long line of stopped cars.

But why not more scooters?  Personally, I think most Americans don't understand how practical a scooter can be... they just look at them as "a less capable motorcycle."  When we got those first scoots in 2013, I thought to myself, "Why didn't someone tell me about these sooner?"  Fun to get around on; easy to pull away from traffic at a stoplight; decent storage since most scooters have under-seat carrying capacity.  And, no shifting - twist and go.  But, you still need a motorcycle license and insurance.

Enter the e-bikes.  In most localities, no license necessary, no insurance required, no safety requirements like helmet laws in many states.  Anyone with the money can buy an e-bike... and you can twist the throttle and be doing 25 mph on your first ride.  Or 30 mph on a Class 3 e-bike.  The downside (and it is a big one): e-bike accidents are on the increase.  Rapidly.  Single vehicle, and especially collisions with cars.  My take is that is a combination of irresponsible behavior on e-bikes and people in cars "not seeing" e-bike riders.  Head injuries for e-bike riders are soaring... a bicycle helmet designed to be used in a 7 mph bicycle crash doesn't provide enough protection in a 30 mph crash.

Of course, the ideal would be to not crash - not on a bicycle, an e-bike, a scooter, or a motorcycle.  Here's an interesting take: e-bike sales are increasing faster for the under-25 crowd and for the over-50 crowd.  And both of those groups seem to be preferring an e-bike that has throttle capability.  Twist & go.  Sound familiar?  That's the same phrase I used for a scooter advantage.  Why should people by a scooter, when an e-bike can be had less expensively, no license, easier parking, the opportunity to ride on bicycle paths/trails, and the fact that you can pick up an e-bike and carry it into your house or apartment?

Does that mean that an e-bike is equal to (or better than) a scooter in real world use?  Not in my opinion; different use cases.  But the fact is, young people are using e-bikes to... get around.  And what happens when you put a two-wheel conveyance in the hands of an adolescent?  Yeah, some of them are going to go into "hooligan mode."  Communities are demanding laws to deal with this behavior: banning e-bikes for those under a certain age; not allowing e-bikes in street traffic or on bicycle paths.

It isn't the conveyance - it is the people using it.  And parents thinking that an e-bike will get their teenager out of the house (and out of their hair).  It's that whole "no supervision" thing at play.  Yesterday, while driving in California, we saw a group of about 10 young males on e-bikes cross a highway (against a red light, while turn lanes had a green arrow) - they took off fast (e-bikes offer immediate torque), about half of them doing wheelies across the highway.  From the vantage point of the RoadTrek, I could see the disdain on other drivers' faces.

When we ride our e-bikes (not as frequently here in Arizona as when we lived in Texas, due to the traffic), we are always pedaling, and not riding by throttle only.  I once had another scooter rider ask me what the range was on my e-bike if only using the throttle (not pedaling) - I couldn't answer that, because... I am always pedaling, using pedal-assist.

So, back to the question: are e-bike sales hurting scooter sales?  Yeah, I think so.  But, they are NOT equally capable.  I can go to the grocery store with my scoot and put a couple bags of groceries under the seat; can't do that on an e-bike.  The surface streets around our home have 45 mph speed limits - no issue with the scoots, but you would be a road hazard on an e-bike.  And, that speed disparity can be dangerous for the slow-moving vehicle in urban traffic.

It would have been nice to have our e-bikes on this latest trip - they would have been perfect in that beach town.  The bicycle rack we have would interfere with getting in the back doors of the van (where our electric cable and hose for city water are located) open.  So, we need to figure out a good option.  At some point. 

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Further confusing things: there are e-bikes with and without pedals.  I would consider an e-bike without pedals as more of an electric scooter.  Many of these look more like a motorcycle frame...

 Some of these are "set at the factory" to go no faster than 20 mph, making them questionably legal on a bike path.  It is simple (literally punch in a code) to disable that 20 mph maximum feature, allowing some of these to hit speeds well over 30 mph (up to 50 mph).  Fast enough to be dangerous in the hands of an adolescent who has no training and questionable judgement.  Can you imagine a kid riding one of these at 50 mph on a bike path where someone is walking with their small grandchild??  Or, through traffic where the rider has no idea about traffic laws?

There are a lot of options out there that call themselves an "e-bike."  That's intentional so they can ride the wave of popularity.  And, you have parents buying these for kids... parents who don't know the difference, but the kids do.  "But, Mom, I want that one that looks like a motorcycle!"  

I looked at one online model that will go "up to 65 mph, weight dependent," that gives you a "cheat code": IN THE CASE WHERE YOU ARE IN POLICE TROUBLE AND NEED TO RESET THE CLASS 2 SPEED SETTINGS, PRESS THE POWER BUTTON 3 TIMES QUICKLY. IT’S YOUR CHEAT CODE.  That previous is a direct quote.

Literally they are telling you how to do this "cheat" so when your kid is stopped by the police, they can quickly set the bike as a Class 2, 20 mph bike, when the police check it... "That wasn't me going that fast - this bike will only do 20 mph tops."

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These "e-bikes" that can go over 30 mph are not inexpensive - you're looking at $2500 and up (some are double that); when running at the potential higher speed, range suffers.  You might be lucky to get 30 miles out of the battery at that speed. 

Range on an actual internal combustion engine scooter (like my Suzuki Burgman 200 or Joan's Xmax) will be well over 150 miles, and then it will take less than 5 minutes to top off the fuel tank.  So, riding around the neighborhood or on a bike path/trail (where a "motorized" conveyance isn't allowed), an e-bike is my choice.  Mixing it up with traffic or taking out on a twisty road: give me my scooter or motorcycle.  

My e-bike is a fat tire bike that does fine on what I would call "mild trails."