If you’ve ever sat in traffic and wondered how much gas money you
could save by riding your own electric scooter, this is the video for you.
vs. the cost of driving a car. So you’ll be able to tell how much you would save,
regardless of whether you ride a little or a lot. We’ll also find out how many car miles
you’d need to replace with scooter miles, for the electric scooter to pay for itself
And we’ll cover everything you need to know to get started riding.
But first, I should point out: you don’t even need to give up your car, train, or bus ride to save
money. Adding a scooter to any commute will make it better, faster, and way more fun. Later in this
video, I’ll share how a small change to my own commute saves enough money to pay for a scooter.
Let’s start with the simplest comparison, charging cost vs. gas.
Charging electric scooters turns out to be shockingly cheap.
electric scooters are so efficient, that riding
a scooter is about 200 times cheaper than walking, if you count the cost of
food. And while we definitely aren’t trying to convert anyone from walking to riding scooters…
when time is tight, scooters will get you there five times faster.
But let's get back to cars vs. scooters.
Let’s start with one of the best-selling entry-level scooters, the Hiboy S2.
Fully charged, it will cover 12.7 miles on just Four point four cents worth of electricity.
So one dollar gets you 286 miles.
At the other end of the spectrum are performance scooters, which definitely aren't for the average rider
but say you want to be able to go 61 miles per hour. The World’s fastest production scooter, the
Kaabo Wolf King GT Pro will do that. It will also cover an ESG-certified 55 miles on one charge, and
that electricity will cost you forty-one cents. So here, every dollar still gets you 133 miles.
Typical commute scooters are more like the S2 than the big GT PRO,
so we’ll use the S2’s numbers to calculate how much we save as we go along.
The average car in the US gets 25 miles to the gallon. So with the average US price
for gas currently at four-dollars-and-twenty-five-cents a gallon, a dollar will buy you 5.9 miles.
So in terms of fuel cost, dollar for dollar, a scooter will go 49 times farther
than the average car, but obviously, there’s more to it, including time spent charging/refueling.
So how much money are you going to save?
On average, drivers in the US spend 619 dollars worth of gas per year just for commuting.
Those same commute miles on a scooter would add up to an annual charging cost of just
thirteen…. dollars. Even lower, if you charge your scooter at work
But assuming you charge at home, you’re going to save 606 dollars in gas money
every year, or 16.6 cents for every mile. That’s already enough to buy an
entry-level scooter like the S2, and we haven’t even added in depreciation yet.
The average depreciation and repair cost for cars in the US, is another $1,085 per year,
just for commuting miles. You don’t feel that pain every time you fill up,
but the costs are still real. Our example scooter, on the other hand, costs $180
per year in depreciation and repairs for the same number of miles. So we’ve saved *another*
$905 dollars. If we add that to the $606 dollars we saved on gas, we’re now up
to $1,511 dollars saved per year. But what if you don’t ride that much?
How many car-miles do you need to replace with scooter-miles
just to make the scooter pay for itself? You’re going to need to ride about 1214 miles
to cover the cost of buying the scooter. This may sound like a lot, but throughout a scooter’s
lifespan of about 5 years, that’s only 4.7 miles a week which is less than one mile per workday.
your scooter is paying for itself,
and we haven’t even added in the cost of parking or parking tickets yet.
As I mentioned at the beginning, you also don’t need to completely give up your car or bus,
or train to save money with a scooter. But every car-mile you can replace with a scooter mile,
is going to save you 41.2 cents, so the further you ride, the more you’re going to save.
Because I drive my kids to school and there’s a very large bridge between home and ESG,
I can’t fully replace our family’s car with an electric scooter. However,
when gas prices went up, I made a small change that had a bigger impact than I expected.
I used to park as close to work as possible, but now I park as close to the freeway as I can.
I’ve replaced 3 miles of driving, with 3 miles of scooter riding.
So if we estimate that the scooter lasts 5 years, that’s $1,607 dollars saved. Or
$1,107 after paying for the scooter itself. What makes it even better is that the three-mile
section I’m now covering by scooter is where my car’s gas mileage was absolutely the worst.
Even though I park far from work now, I still get there just as fast, because in traffic,
my average speed on the scooter is a little faster than my average speed in the car.
You may not be able to get away from cars altogether, but if you’re a two-car-family
you might be able to get away with having just one car like we do.
We’ve saved the biggest savings for last, and that’s Parking.
If you ride your scooter straight home to work, of course, parking is free. But you
can also expand your parking options exponentially by adding a scooter to
your car commute. So
you’ll probably find somewhere to park all day for free. This is a big deal, since the average
price of parking in major US cities is $18 dollars a day, or $191 if you pay monthly.
So, now we’ve saved $606 in fuel,
$905 in depreciation, and if you work in a big city, $2,292 in parking.
So, we’ve just used a $500 scooter to save $3,803 a year.
So, if you want to get started, you’re going to need a scooter, and there are a ton of
scooters out there. The quickest way to find exactly the scooter that’s going to fit you
and your commute: is to search the ESG database at electric dash scooter dot guide.
Turn on the filters, put in your specs, and then you can sort by price.
If you see these symbols next to the scooter it means you can click through to see
ESG’s written review or YouTube review for that model. ESG doesn’t sell scooters,
but if you click the dollar sign you can see the best place to buy. We curate
these based on best available prices and customer service.
One of my favorite features is this switch, that displays ESG’s tested performance data.
Here’s why that’s important, especially when it comes to the scooter’s range. This is the
only comparison tool in the world, where every scooter was tested the same way,
and on the same range test course. We rode every scooter from 100% charge until it just stopped
going. What we’ve found is In real-world conditions most scooters only cover 65 to
80% of the manufacturer's claimed range before shutting down. So if you want to know for sure,
that a scooter will have enough range for your commute, this is the place to look.
If you run into a problem you can't figure out, drop a question in the Electric Scooter Guide forum.
More and more people are commuting by electric scooters, and it makes total sense.
Whether it’s a few miles a day, or totally replaces your car,
adding a scooter to your life saves money, saves time,
and more importantly, it can make your commute one of the best parts of your day.
If you're not interested in dropping $500 or more, but still want to see if a scooter is right for you.
You should check out today's sponsor, UNAGI.
Unagi offers the leading monthly subscription in the nation
And anyone in the US can subscribe with zero commitment.
It's nice to have repairs fully covered, and there's also optional coverage for theft, loss or damage at the cheapest rate you'll find anywhere.
I've thoroughly tested more than 90 scooters, and while the UNAGI model one doesn't have the longest range, it's still one of the first scooters I reach for.
because it's well-designed and ultra-portable, but still has dual motors that crush Bay Area hills.
You can get riding with UNAGI for $49 a month, and if you hit the link in the description, and use our discount code.
You can get half off your first month.