You care about the environment and are you interested in modern technologies. You love exploring new places and social interaction. You love the passion and freedom on cycling.
Last-mile vehicles come in many different shapes, styles, and forms, ranging from electric skateboards and minibikes, Pedelec, e-bike, e-scooter, moped, motorbike, citycoco, all these are all 2 wheeled electric vehicles, I know the definitions, but what’s the difference besides shapes? Power, mileage, speed, legislation, riding style and price. So without further ado, let’s get into what these personal electric vehicle (PEV) are and which ride best fits your lifestyle?
As crowded high ways and blocked streets, terrible pollution (smog & noise) become increasing concerns for cities and act as catalysts for the use of scooters and electric bikes. As an alternative to car, riding through nature or in the city with the pedelec or moped is easily accessible, it is not surprising that micromobility (light and flexible personal electric vehicles) is gaining more popularity on streets year over year. Comfort, sustainability, ease of handling and parking without forgetting the economy, that are major reasons to bet on them and reasons why cyclist turns out less stress and less chances of being involved in a road rage incident.
Electric bikes and moped scooters have become increasingly popular as a convenient means of transportation over short distance trips for a reason. Commuters are realizing how much faster and easier it is to get on an electric moped scooter or e-bike than sit through dreaded rush hour traffic or rely on public transportation.
But which of the types of urban electric mobility is better for you: electric scooters or electric bikes, moped scooters or motorbikes?
Electric scooter: Also referred to as motorized kick scooter or city e-scooter. The draft for a Small Electric Vehicle Ordinance (eKFV) describes an escooter accordingly as an "electrically powered vehicle without a seat and a self-balancing vehicle". Like Xiaomi folding scooter, Ninebot
Electric bikes: Ride at the push of a button or gas handle even without pedal assistance. From a legal point of view, such an e-bike would be on a par with a light moped.
Pedelec or S-Pedelec: Short for "Pedal Electric Cycle" is an e-bike in which the rider has to pedal, so that the electric motor is active to assist. According to this definition, almost all e-bikes sold today should actually be called "pedelecs". In parlance, however, the term "e-bike" has gained more acceptance than "pedelec". If the pedal assistance is provided up to 25 km/h, pedelecs are legally regarded as bicycles and do not require approval. The motor power of a pedelec must not exceed 250 watts.
Electric Moped or moped scooter: The term “moped” is derived from the two words “motor” and “pedal”. Look like normal scooters (such as a Vespa) and always have a seat. In the USA often require a driver’s license and insurance and some form of registration.
Citycoco: A fat tire electric scooter, combination of a moped and Harley Chopper, City Coco scooter is two-wheeled electric or trike scooter that max speeds up to 45 km/h and requires EEC COC in Europe, a step-through frame and unlike a moped, have no pedals. City coco fat tire scooters resemble motorcycles more closely than mopeds and electric bicycles.
Electric motorcycle: Simply an electric scooter or motorcycle is powered by electricity instead of gasoline.
No limit on speed or horsepower. License, registration and insurance required to be operated on roads (helmets in many states)
To operate these machines, you must:
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Survey, the average commuter drives 16 miles to work each way 2021, with a daily commute totaling nearly an hour round trip (32 miles); The increase of about 2.6 minutes between 2008 and 2021 represents an increase of about 10% over 14 years.
Like any other vehicle, speed matters. Personal electric vehicles are solving last mile problems and replacing car trips, major cities are moving away from car-centric infrastructure, and city planners are adding bike lanes and zero-emission zones to urban areas.
Whether you're daily commuting to work and fitness or weekend touring for a school break, electric bikes and scooters are the trendiest new way to get around while the weather is warm.
The first thing to consider besides cost for daily commuting is to get riding position right and comfortable. While if you asked people which is the best personal electric vehicle to them, you might get vary answers. Some ebikes or mopeds have a step-through type design, while others have a step-over design. Some people might find riding an electric bike challenging. For others, standing and balancing on a scooter or skateboard could be too difficult to ride.
The “Standard” or “upright” riding position is generally considered as being the most comfortable one on average across all shapes and sizes of riders because it's a neutral one. Of course, standing isn’t going to be as comfortable as sitting, so small folding e-scooters might be lower on the list for this type of person.
Tires are your connection to the road and influence ride quality directly, also relates to traction, range, and braking performance of your electric vehicles, bigger tire offers increased stability and comfort, that is the point of fat tire bike, easy to ride and balance, the key to fat biking comfort is warm head, feet, and hands—focus on these contact points and you'll be ready for miles of riding. And shock-absorbent tires that smooth out road vibrations makes your journeys even more comfortable without feeling fatigued.
Personal vehicles are aiming to solve the last mile problems, providing fast, flexible, easy and economical solutions for short distance trip. Easy folding scooters or electric bikes allow them to fold up quickly and compact for easy transport and storage when needed to take the e-mobility on buses and trains.
The City E-Scooter and folding electric bike can be easily folded up and taken in hand or put into a trunk, and some of the battery can be removed and charged separately, making it more convenient to charge at home or office.
No matter which routes and terrain you want to use your motorized vehicles for, always highlights the importance of safety over the cost when considering to buy a motor vehicle.
Bikers are, on average, more likely to take higher risks. Motorcyclists tend to ride bikes for fun and social acceptance (real mature, right?), whereas scooters are generally used for commuting and to save money on gas. This is reflected in a larger percentage of scooters going down during weekdays compared to bikes that throw off their riders at night and over weekends.
There is no proof that electric scooters are safer than ebikes, but studies show that scooters are less likely than motorcycles to be involved in a single-vehicle accident. Means moped scooters are less likely to crash alone (i.e. no other vehicle involved) than motorcycles. Motorcycle also prang more frequent as a result of the rider doing something fancy or stupid moves.
In most cases, moped riders are worse than escooter fans, but not as bad as bikers. More traffic violations and injuries were recorded on mopeds in developing countries.
Some of the higher end models of electric folding scooters for adult riders cost upwards of $400 with an electric motor battery 7.8ah and a speed of up to 15 mph, range at 35km.
Generally, electric bikes will range in cost from a low of $800 to over $6000. Not many quality ebikes can be had for under $1200, with most mainstream ebikes costing between $1500 – $4000
Yamaha just launched a low-cost Vespa-style electric moped scooter Nov 6, 2020 — With a launch price of around US$2,280, the e-Vino is certainly lower-priced than most urban electric scooters.
Citycoco fat tire scooter 2000W powerful brushless motor, 18*9.5 Inch Fat Tire, 45 km/h High Speed which make it street legal with COC/EEC. Their prices vary between $1200 and $3500. The average price of a fat tire electric scooter sits at $1,800. However, these prices vary considerably depending on the motor power and battery capacity.
And in case you were wondering about electric motorcycle, the Livewire comes at a price of about $30 000 in the United States. But we know the Livewire is top of the top when it comes to electric motorcycles and maybe motorcycles in general.
No personal electric vehicle is designed to meet every possible transportation need when considering local terrain (power), route distance(battery range), and user preferences or age (style & safety), use it for daily commuting (maintenance), or fitness riding on weekend (speed is less importance).
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