[user-x]

Can I just mention I find it very strange that there are hip techy Silicon Valley startups that invest their time in these scooters, when from a pure engineering perspective these things are doomed to be unsafe. COG is very high above the ground, which makes keeping balance more difficult. Wheels are close to the COG in the horizontal direction, making it easier to fall forward over the steering handle. Wheel radius is small causing the scooter to get stuck behind all pits in the road and stuff like that. I mean sure it’s fun to ride these things but please tell me this is not the Technology Age’s means of transportation. Apart from that I found this article to be quite sensational. I’m missing the cold hard statistics proving these things are actually dangerous, which do not (yet) exist as stated in the article itself.

[baroffoos]

Yeah I'm not quite sure why scooters were chosen. ebikes seem better in every way. You can even set them up with throttles so they are no effort. Bike geometry is very stable. I have never fallen off a bike on a road.

[ec109685]

They take way more space than scooters.

[secabeen]

Especially comparing folded scooters to bikes. (Yes, there are foldable bikes, but they're still big). Part of the workflow of shared scooters is picking them up for recharge and re-location, and you can fit a lot more scooters in the back of an SUV than you can bikes.

[tonyedgecombe]

Just swop the batteries on e-bikes then.

[baroffoos]

Thats what I have heard the Chinese companies do, just drive around with a van full of batteries.

[exodust]

I believe the rental scooters can not be folded. They install a collar around that part to prevent them being folded up and stolen. Or perhaps it's just to reduce any risk of them not being unlocked properly from folded position.