Do elektrosamokat can become vehicles of the future and change the urban environment

What is elektrosamokaty and where they came from

The easiest way to describe these devices as the scooters that travel by themselves thanks to the electric motor and the battery.

Modern elektrosamokaty can reach speeds of about 30 km / h, and a battery charge lasts an average of 30-50 km. Manage simple: you turn one of the handles - scooter accelerates, push the brake lever - the device slows down.

Scooters, which travel by themselves for the first time createdAutoped in the US as early as 1915. However, they run on gasoline. The first electric scooters began appearingThe Man Behind the Scooter Revolution in the early 2000s, their company produced Razor.

Since the mid-2010s, this form of transport began to gain popularity due to a convenient, fast and easy models of scooters from manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Segway. At the end of 2017 opened in the USSanta Monica Selects Bird, Jump, Lime and Lyft for Shared Mobility Pilot the first rental service elektrosamokatov, and six months later these companies appeared in Russia. Elektrosamokatah started talking about how the future of transport and see in it great potential.

What good elektrosamokaty

First of all the fact that they are not cars. Cars pollute the environment, destroyOne 20th century mistake made cities horrible, congested, lonely places to live urban space, creating congestion and in general has long been obsolete as a form of transport.

Elektrosamokaty let you move around the city 5-6 times faster than walking. However, they do not emit harmful substances, take up very little space, even when parked, and almost demand money for services (if the charging device from a home outlet, then it will cost only a few rubles).

Ubiquitous elektrosamokatov brings the city for it. To many people they are replacingElectric Scooters And Micro-Mobility: Here's Everything You Need To Know cars, because of what the reduced exhaust emissions and makes room, which was previously occupied by parked cars. Scooters users get to work faster, so that they become more free time.

Elektrosamokaty safer and easier to use than many other vehicles, including longboards, giroskutery and segways. A scooter can use anyone: it is necessary only to stand and hold on to the steering wheel. Plus, even if such a vehicle suddenly refuses to motor or battery sits down, he does not turn into a meaningless heap of iron. On it you can drive, pushing foot - and even get physical activity.

What is wrong with this kind of transport

One of the main disadvantages elektrosamokata - that it is virtually impossible to use in less than ideal weather conditions. Snow, cold, forced to wear a lot of clothes, and even a heavy rain make this useless traffic. Therefore, for example, in the cities of Russia services of short-term rental of these devices do not work in the late autumn and winter.

Another drawback - the human factor. In 2018, thanks to services rental elektrosamokatov US swept many citiesScooting Toward Confrontation "Samokatnaya epidemic." Thousands of devices have appeared on the streets of Santa Monica, San Francisco and Los Angeles from almost anywhere.

Cities and their residents were not ready for it. Inexperience and because of the lack of bicycle paths in many places users scooters often got into an accident involving a car or themselves to run into pedestrians. People parked gadgets right in the middle of the street, many devices have been stolen or broken.

A year later, the situation has improvedElectric scooter fleets to double in San Francisco through the intervention of the city administration. But the fact remains: scooters run by people who sometimes behave unsafe - deliberately or accidentally. By themselves do not pose danger device, except that occasionally break right during the ride, but it is a rarity. In San Francisco, several tens of thousands of visits per month is not more than 50 endsElectric Scooter Statistics pitiable because of the broken scooter.

Where to get elektrosamokat

The easiest way to get to use elektrosamokat - rental service. Abroad, it is companies like Lime and Bird, in Russia - "Delisamokat», YouDrive Lite, Samocat Sharing, UrentBike and others.

The main advantages of these solutions - low cost and convenience. To go on a trip, just download the application you need to register and to find your nearest station or a scooter for their extradition. And the prices in Russia - 5 rubles per minute up to 250 rubles per hour.

However, judging by reviews, Users are not happy with the local rental services. The main problem - an insufficient amount scooters. Still many difficulties with registration and payment, often mistakenly application to withdraw money for the trip, and the push-station refuse to work. Few have any applications rated above two and a half stars out of five.

Scooter is locked in the rack when you try to pass it, and the trip is not completed, and the money continued to be written off. The trip ended just 30 minutes after I put him into the station. I had to twice to call tech support, that money no longer be charged. Upset and demand satisfaction.

Mikhail Amosov, a user Samocat Sharing

So if you plan to ride a scooter on a regular basis, it makes sense to buy their own device for 20-30 thousand rubles. Compared with the rental services it will pay for itself after a few months of daily use.

Will the situation in the cities elektrosamokaty

At first glance, it seems almost perfect elektrosamokat public transport. He is easy, fast, convenient, cheap, non-polluting, requires almost no maintenance and does not take up much space. But whether he will be able to replace the car for Russians minded trips or somehow affect the appearance of the city in the near future? Unlikely. And that's why:

• Rental elektrosamokatov currently available only in a few cities in Russia, for example, in Moscow, Sochi and Krasnodar, and it is unknown whether it will be somewhere else.
• In most parts of the country to use the scooters can only be for 4-6 months a year.
• Not only in what cities have bicycle paths and ride a scooter on the roads or sidewalks incredibly dangerous. It will adapt infrastructure under elektrosamokatov users and how quickly - the big question.
• Scooter will not help if you need to go somewhere the whole family. Few people want instead of relaxing trip to constantly monitor that children on scooters do not fall into the ditch.

Despite all the advantages of scooters as a transport, they are still nowhere not radically changed the urban environment. Even if the judge on the report of popular foreign rental services, mostly all the benefits of the devices is to ensure that people in 20-30% of cases of useBrisbane's First Million Scooter Rides Are Changing Urban Mobility In Queensland instead of their cars to get to work, university or a meeting place with friends.

In urban areas, where the temperature drops below zero (Sochi, Krasnodar, anapa and so on), these devices may eventually trigger some urban landscape changes. People will be easier to travel for short distances, and cars on the roads will be a little less, as well as emissions into the atmosphere. But the revolution of urban transport elektrosamokaty, is not likely to produce - at least in Russia.

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