Photo: Affordable Electric Transport for Spring and Summer (Getty Images) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
A car is good, but it is not enough for a big city. RBC-Ukraine Auto journalists offer several options for compact transport for short trips – for example, from home to a supermarket or to a parking lot.
Read about modern electric transport for short trips in the RBC-Ukraine article.
A car is not always suitable for a big city dweller. Even if it is the most modern and convenient model, there are situations when using a car simply does not make sense – sometimes it is further to walk to the parking lot than to the destination. For such cases, it is convenient to have something compact and something that can be kept at home on the balcony or under the stairs in the entrance.
Electric bicycle
A properly selected electric bicycle will serve its owner no worse than, say, a more respectable electric scooter. An electric bicycle does not require physical effort from the driver, it is relatively inexpensive and does not require a driver's license. An important advantage of the bicycle is its large wheels, which are not afraid of large bumps. In fact, if you choose a folding electric bicycle for easy transportation in the trunk, its wheels may turn out to be very small.
And the bike can be used not only for short trips on family business, but also for Sunday walks. And then the ability to continue moving using pedals will come in handy if the battery power is low. There are also disadvantages: relatively limited mileage without recharging (about 20 – 30 km), low speed (safe – up to 25 – 30 km / h), no space for a passenger.
Pay attention to another financial advantage: you can buy an electric bicycle in two stages: first, buy the pedal bicycle itself, and then, having saved up some more money, buy an electric drive kit for it. A ready-made electric bicycle costs 600 – 900 euros in Ukraine, and a kit for additional equipment of a regular bicycle (motor wheel and battery with electronics) – from 300 euros.
Electric scooter
If you don't take into account extreme race cars like gyrowheels and gyroboards, an electric scooter is the most compact electric transport. And you can really carry it with you in the trunk, so that in the evening you can return home from the parking lot not on foot, but on wheels – albeit miniature ones. True, for this you will have to choose a folding modification that will fit in your trunk. The disadvantages are visible to the naked eye: a small power reserve, no trunk with minimal load capacity, the risk of falling on uneven surfaces and generally low suitability for low-quality asphalt.
Prices for more or less reliable electric scooters start from approximately 280 euros. However, when choosing, it is worth choosing a model with large wheels, at least 12-inch, but these cost 100 – 150 euros more.
Electric bike CityCoco
Conceptually, it is a hybrid of a scooter and a scooter, which is characterized by the ability to sit while moving (including two people), the ability to maintain a relatively high speed (up to 50 km / h) for a fairly decent distance (30 – 50 km). Compared to a classic electric scooter, the CityCoco type is more compact, especially if you choose the version with folding steering wheel, and is closer to being able to fit into a freight elevator of a multi-story building, a pickup truck or a large SUV.
But considering the weight of the CityCoco (around 35 – 55 kg), these cargo operations will be close to extreme. The disadvantages against the electric scooter are the worse protection of the rider from road dirt and the less comfortable suspension, even when it does have springs. Such electric bikes on “dumiks” are a little cheaper than classic electric scooters in plastic lining, but much more expensive than battery scooters and bikes – from 1200 euros.
In brief
When planning to buy one of the vehicles described here, keep in mind that they are all largely sports equipment. That is, each trip on them will be associated with at least minimal, but extreme. And if you are not sure that this will please you with daily use, find a way to arrange a test drive in real operating conditions. For example, such individual electric transport can often be rented in large parks or similar recreation areas. Just when choosing a test sample, consider the configuration – namely the presence or absence of spring suspension of the wheels and their diameter.
Materials from Autocentre and Motor were used in preparing this article .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported why pedestrians are not always right.