Does anyone use an e-scooter?

[MrsJimmyPerez]

I’m thinking of buying one and my endless online research is making my head spin, plus I’m sceptical of online reviews, so I’d really appreciate any advice from people with experience of buying/riding one.

Will be for regular journeys of up to 5 miles (and back!), can spend up to around £600, and am really tempted to get one with a seat - though would like it to be foldable and not too heavy to carry on public transport, so a seat might not work?

Does anyone have one and love it, or have bought one and regretted it? Any experiences/advice would be really appreciated. Thank you.

They are practical, fun, cheap to run and eco friendly. The politicians don't know quite how to respond to them.

Not sure that anywhere else in Europe has made escooter illegal, everywhere else people jyst get around on them as an alternative to ebikes

The OP was asking for advice from people who have used them, to help her choose one. She didn't need to say she wasn't in the UK, because she wasn't asking for advice about whether she could legally use them or where she could use them. If she had been, her location would have been relevant, of course.

Best comeback? Hardly. It’s why I asked in the first place - because the default when someone doesn’t give a location is usually ‘what makes you think I live in the UK, that’s such a typical British way of thinking’.

The police do mind them here in this part of the UK - what happens ‘here’ also varies.

Wow that's the biggest dripfeed I've ever seen on MN, talk about missing out the vital point!
Hard for people to give advice on here as most are UK based and so can't ride them legally. You need to ask locally.

If you want accurate advice/info you really should have stated where your location is.

how is their location relevant to which e scooter she is recommended?

Anyway, even if the OP was in the UK, she might not care about the legality. So many people have them and use them with no comeback at all. They’re just quietly accepted. It’s not a drip feed, people are just answering a question she didn’t ask.

Because there’s no point in recommending a brand if it’s not available in X location.

I always thought they were illegal in the UK too , but at least two big city's have them to hire .Portsmouth and Manchester, they are parked outside train stations , shopping centers , and in the heart of the city centre so certainly not for off road only use.

Sorry I can't help @MrsJimmyPerez with a brand or the practical side

Illegal, pffft. They're available for public rental all over London and the police show absolutely zero interest in confiscating them or doing anything whatsoever about the large companies running the rental, much less bother riders. A consensus is developing that riders ride them in the bike lane, so they are out of the way of pedestrians and have a little space from cars.

Xiaomi is popular and gets good reviews. I've been thinking a little about one myself to smooth both ends of my commute.

The OPs location is pretty relevant- not much point in posters from all over the U.K. recommending a brand of escooter which isn't available in a particular Spanish region!

I'm an e-scooter owner/user (and yes, I'm in the UK, I ride illegally, I am aware). I cannot help with the recommendation of a c.£600 scooter as my budget only ran to £300; but I would say that they are remarkably heavy and despite folding for transport, I really wouldn't want to carry mine into a building or onto public transport. But I do love it for my 2.5 mile commute on a dry day.

I'm not sure what brands you can purchase in Andalucia which may impact our ability to give recommendations - I suspect there is a wider choice in countries where scooters have been legalised. I'd check a more local forum for recommendations.

They’re part of 12 months trials that the IK govt is rolling out. Rental scooters are the only legal way to ride escooters and only in certain boroughs. Still illegal on public roads in this part of the UK.

Given that they’re pretty widespread in Spain it might have been easier for the OP to speak to her friends, neighbours, work colleagues, the local shops that sell them, Spanish escooter forums etc etc, rather than a forum in the UK where they’re still illegal on public roads apart from a few pilots in parts of the UK - she would likely only get at most a a handful of recommendations, some of which might not be available to buy there.

Where exactly has she asked for specific brand recommendations?

There are trials in some places.

When I last renewed my driving licence they added the 'Q' category so they are obviously thinking about making them legal. They also have to be insured in the UK.

Thanks for everyone’s responses and sorry for my unintended dripfeed - it must be irritating to have wasted your time answering a question I didn’t ask.

I live in Spain five months of the year and am going over at the end of October. Was planning to buy before I go, though if I wait I could ask locally which, as others have said, might be more sensible. AFAIK most big brands are available in UK and Spain.

I stay in a remote place and think an escooter would be useful for the 8km trip to the nearest town (possibly then bus journeys to other places), also for visiting local(ish) friends.

I think a folding ebike would be double the price for the same quality, also heavier.

It’s great to hear from people who enjoy riding their escooters, thanks @AgentProvocateur @JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue
Brand recommendations are helpful though stuff like battery power, tyre type, whether they feel safe/comfy to ride are the sort of things I was hoping to hear about. And more generally any problems people have had if they’ve bought one.

They're going to be banned in Kent from 1st December I believe.

If you’re going to buy one have been changes to the legislation over there (which you may already know)

www.healthplanspain.com/blog/spain-news/1407-spain-updates-traffic-laws-for-e-scooters-including-large-fines.html

I think the OP just posted this thread to be goady because she knows that MN is a UK-based website and that they are banned in the UK and that people would tell her.

If she'd said "I am based in Spain and am looking for advice about e-scooters as I'd like to get one and they are legal here) she would not have had nearly as much fun seeing all the responses and then saying oh by the way I am in Andalucia.

So childish.

I have no idea about battery or tyre, sorry - I just bought an ElectriQ scooter because (1) the price was right and (2) that model had a slightly heavier maximum weight. I use mine on dry days, on quiet surburban roads, wearing a backpack with reflective strip and also wearing a cycle helmet. I have found that I need gloves from this time of year onwards (UK) as the air flow is quite cold over my hands; and in the summer I still have something covering my forearms. My tyres are holding up well; I got a warranty swapout on the battery as it just stopped working (which seems to be an issue with this brand).

You ask is it safe and comfy to ride. Surprisingly so. I'm in my 50s and don't feel at risk, but then I don't ride on busy roads and I tend to stop and pull over if I feel as though any situation/vehicle could get tricky. I also generally stop and walk as a pedestrian across busy junctions rather than ride with the traffic; it only adds a few seconds but makes me feel safer. Comfy to ride, hmmmm - the suspension on mine is poor, I'd recommend paying more to get better suspension; it's fine on a freshly tarmac'd road but very rough on old roads with chippings.

Anyway, I can't see the point of them. Why not get a (e-)bike instead?

You know this for a fact but you forgot that other places than England exist....?

Christ. Little Englanders

Oh I see you said they are more expensive - well they are, but they are also much better, much safer and more stable. Depending on how hilly it is, you might not need an e-bike.

Christ. Little Englanders

MN is a UK website. The fact that goady and smug ex pats like to use it (usually to tell us how much better everything is overseas) doesn't mean that the vast majority of users are in the UK (or Ireland).

there are loads round here the ones you hire like 'beryl scooters' I think they call them, and well used so if they are illegal how is the council allowed to do that ?people use them on pavements ( there arent many pedestrians round here I have noticed) just curious having read they are illegal