If theyâre not allowed on roads and paths at the moment why would that change ? Surely itâs deemed too dangerous and therefore should only be allowed on private land
Theyâll be no good in the winter either as Iâve read theyâre not designed for watery weather
I see in the link above theyâre only trialling rentals
They only need to be legalised because of some antiquated law that doesnât include them. Electric bikes that travel the same speed are already legal.
They are not allowed on pavements because they are classed as a motor vehicle. They are not allowed on roads because they do not fit within a permitted definition of vehicle (i.e. lights, mot etc).
That said, a scooter going (max) 12.5 mph on a road? yelp
In London the police have pretty much given up on them anyway. Rush hour in London is a sea of bikes and electric scooters. Iâm glad though they wonât be allowed on pavements, they should be treated like bikes, as they go similar speeds (and a limit of 12mph-15mph as per the guidance) sounds pretty sensible.
Yeah about 12mph sounds sensible
Quite pricey though still, however Iâve only checked on the âpure electricâ website . Decent ones starting about ÂŁ700. They do have lots on the website and you can answer a few questions and theyâll tell you which they recommend
Iâm sure theyâll be popular in big cities
Iâd rather stick to the push bike anyway as I like to keep in shape and do as much activity as possible
Some are definitely quite a bit less, Iâve bought the Xiaomi one which seems to be the one I most commonly see. It definitely wonât be a bike replacement for me, I will still cycle for fun, this will hopefully be more of a tube replacement (on sunny days!)
ÂŁ700 for an electric scooter wouldnât take long to break even, assuming that itâs replacing a bus journey to and from work every day (based off London bus pricing).
Iâve seen tons of Xiaomi M365âs here in Birmingham over the last year as well 
And quite a few in London around Bank/Moorgate/Farringdon when I was interviewing for Sphere (I had 4 rounds of interview before the pandemic started).
UK is really late in this regard. I rode them around LA and Memphis over a year ago, and theyâre in most European major cities already - Paris and Berlin seem to be particular hotspots.
Itâll be interesting to see which companies get picked for the UK trials. It seems like Lime and Bird definitely will be - Lime already have their bike infrastructure here, and Bird have been running trials in Olympic Park in London for about a year.
But, when I was in LA, I also saw a few Lyft and Uber scooters. Lyft donât operate here, so I doubt thatâll change, but Uber ones seem likely. Then, youâve additionally got the companies who are actually based in Europe - they typically donât have as much capital as the likes of Lime and Bird, but they have proximity advantage. Thatâs companies like Voi, Circ and Tier.
Voi have actually hired Birdâs former UK manager, which is an interesting move. That puts them at a significant advantage to other European startups who might want to launch here. I canât imagine every single company getting a license, especially not in the trial period.
Uber is unlikely to lunch in UK since they sold their Jump operation to Lime, so I am assuming they will support Lime.
Bird, Lime, Voi and Tier are the names that have been flouted around as participants in the trial.
From my hire experience around the globe, I like the Bolt (the ones in LA/Usain Boltâs ones, not the Polish Taxi one, both called bolt, but one is yellow, one is green) the best and then Uberâs. Bolt ones are super heavy and bulky (I think the model is called Chariot) but that actually felt really nice as it was giving you extra stability, especially on big LA slopes⌠I believe the Jumps I liked used Segways ones in DC.
Was tempted to try out Tier in Copenhagen, but couldnât in the end⌠(also a bit bigger model than the competitors).
Ah, I didnât know that. That gives Lime a good advantage if Uber link to Lime within their app.
Does seem like Bird, Lime, Voi and Tier are likely.
Not quite.
Electric scooters are classed at motor vehicles and are subject to lots of legislation. Some can reach speeds far in excess of electric bikes. The electric scooters are known as PLEVs. Personal Light Electric Vehicles.
Electric bikes are different. They need to conform to certain requirements such as max speed of 15.5mph, have pedals, be under a certain max power output and more. These are EAPCs - Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles.
Yeah, as I said, antiquated legislation that wasnât intended for these type of scooters that mostly travel at 12 - 15mph max. There are plenty of electric bikes that can travel much faster than 15mph, but they are rightly limited.
The good thing about the vast majority of electric scooters is that any new legislation around speed limits etc can be enforced via a firmware update.
Good article today from Sifted.
I donât think Iâve ever quite understood the hardware speed restriction.
I have a car, and Iâm not aloud to go faster than 70mph, and yet my car lets me.
My car is not limited to 70mph.
If I, on an e-scooter/onewheel go at 20mph, as opposed to 15, my personal injury risk goes up, and I may cause minor injury to another pedestrian
If I go faster than 70mph, the risk of someone else dying greatly increases
Furthermore, often, higher top speeds allow more torque/acceleration, which can be the difference between successfully and unsuccessfully crossing a road.
And trust me, cars hurt
Coincidentally, I nearly got wiped out by a scooterist bowling along a pavement at about 20mph in London this morning.
Iâd much rather get hit by a scooter at 20mph than a car
Iâd prefer to have neither on the pavement.
At that speed, the potential for injury is more than âminorâ.
A âserious injury RTCâ is defined where fractures or broken bones occur. Quite likely at that speed.
The issue is not only speed but the current lack of legal framework for these machines and users not abiding by the Highway Code.
Lots of things need defining if these are to be successfully legalised.