Are Scooters Better for the Environment?
You invested in a scooter as a cost effective and fun way to get around your city, and you’re pretty sure that it’s a better choice for the environment than gas-guzzling cars, but is your scooter really a more environmentally friendly choice?
Eco-Friendly Travel and Consumerism
Scooters produce less carbon pollution than cars because they are smaller and burn less gas. Most scooters do produce slightly higher concentrations of other pollutants that cause smog, but because they produce much less exhaust the total release for these pollutants is also lower. So what’s the takeaway here? Scooters emit more pollution, but they help the planet overall by adding less to greenhouse gas buildup.
Scooters are less resource intensive than cars, they take less energy to operate, and they’re smaller and lighter than cars, so they do less damage to roads and you can pack a lot more of them onto streets and parking lots. While there are other more eco-friendly ways to travel and commute like taking a bus, or riding a bike, using a scooter vs a car is a choice you can feel good about!
Micromobility is the practice of using lightweight vehicles, primarily electric bicycles or scooters, for short distance transportation. Environmental benefits of owning a scooter have become even more apparent during the COVID-19 crisis, during which we have seen a historic drop in carbon emissions due to lockdowns, travel restrictions, and work-from-home orders. As micromobility continues to gain traction, more people are going to turn to eco-friendly solutions and cities will start to make them more available to the masses via scooter rentals.
Should I Buy an Electric Scooter?
While the scooters themselves are electric and thus carbon free, what many fail to realize is a life cycle analysis of their vehicle. For a truly eco-conscious decision, it’s worthwhile to consider all of the emissions associated with each aspect of a scooter’s life cycle, the production of the materials, like the lithium-ion battery, the manufacturing process and shipping from the country of origin.
A scooter like almost any product, is not without its carbon footprint. Emissions are created manufacturing the scooter, as well as through the generation of electricity necessary to power it, but don’t feel overly guilty about this, choosing a scooter, especially an electric one, is still an eco-friendly choice as they are much smaller, lighter, and therefore greener than their motor vehicle cousins.
Known for its coat of candy-colored paint and its sleek, streamlined design, the Vespa scooter is an undeniably iconic vehicle. The newest addition to the Vespa lineup is their much anticipated electric model, the Elettrica which is available in a 30 or 45 mph option. Vespa has always claimed to be “not just a scooter, but a way of life,” and with its recent focus on designs that are environmentally friendly, it’s a way of life we can all get behind. So cheers to zipping around town on your scooter, with a smile on your face and a feel-good sense of eco-friendly travel and consumerism in your heart.
Interested in learning more about Vespas or taking one out for a test ride? Be sure to check out our inventory, including the Elettrica.