Electric scooters are a surprisingly effective means of getting from A to B. Cheaper than a car or a motorbike, easier than a bicycle or roller-blades, they fill a need and they fill it well.

Essentially, scooters are mini-motorcycles with smaller engines. Historically, they have been petrol-powered, but the new generation of electric scooters has brought many advantages. Electric scooters are much less noisy than any other kind of motorcycle, and they require no fuel apart from being plugged in to the mains electricity. They don’t pollute, and generally need far less maintenance.

Of course, the real reason that many people ride electric scooters is that they are cheap, and you often don’t need a driving license to use one. These are such big upsides that people feel able to ignore the low speeds and distances that scooters can manage, seeing the scooter as a superior form of bicycle instead of an inferior form of motorbike. They are especially popular in Asia, where people have long travelled by bike in much greater numbers than in the rest of the world.

Scooters are often considered to be safer than motorbikes, as they don’t go as fast and don’t have so many moving parts exposed, and your feet can be safely tucked inside the bike. While they used to be considered quite dorky for this reason, modern scooters are often more than a match for motorbikes in terms of design and style. Still, scooter riders can feel unusual and excluded, and for this reason there are many scooter clubs around for scooter owners to join and meet each other. These clubs often hold events like races and cross-country rides, and are generally much more active than you would expect. While many will have retro or classic scooters, you will be more than welcome with a modern one, so why not go along?