Voi scooter hire

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 20:44:50 GMT

Today I tried out an electric scooter for the first time (while my bike is in the shop for repair). This is from the Voi scheme in Bristol, soon to be replaced by Tier, but I assume that I'd have much the same experience with any other provider.

In brief, there was some novelty value, and this was probably my least bad option for getting home today, but I'll be glad to resume cycling.

The e-scooters look like skateboards with a pillar (and handlebars) on the front. I've never been very good at skating, but I had no trouble balancing on this. On a skateboard (or a snowboard), I'd stand with one foot at the front and the other foot sideways at the back. On the scooter, I spent most of my time with both feet next to each other, although that meant that they were sticking slightly over the edge.

There's a "go" button, and you have to hold that down the whole time. You also need to push off on the road (Flintstones style) to get moving. When you want to slow down, you can stop pressing the button and/or use the brakes. I recommend wearing gloves, just to cushion the vibration of the handlebars.

I started out on a side road, and the speed felt comfortable. I then moved onto the main road (with a 40 mph speed limit), at which point the speed dropped, and the scooter had a light for "slow zone". I think this is based on GPS coordinates, but their map is clearly flawed! So, I got off and pushed for a while. A similar thing happened later, where I was travelling slower than walking pace. In fairness, I was nudging the upper weight limit (including my bag). However, the speed was fine elsewhere, so I think it was mainly a geo-fencing issue.

I had a similar problem later, when I stopped at traffic lights, and tried to do another kickstart when the light went green, but the scooter was barely moving. Again, I had to get off and push. I then wheeled it into a car park, at which point it immediately started moving. Maybe it was struggling with a hill start? If so, that's a bit of a design flaw.

In fairness, it was able to handle a fairly steep hill (once it was moving), at roughly the same speed I'd go while cycling, and it was far less effort for me! However, when I got onto the flat again, the scooter continued plodding along, whereas if I was cycling then I'd speed up.

As a more general point, it felt frustrating not to be able to affect the speed (beyond having my thumb jammed down on the button the whole time). On a bike, if I need to speed up then I can exert myself. In a car or a motorbike, I could accelerate. On the scooter, I'm stuck at the fixed speed, which is significantly below the speed limit. In turn, that made me feel more vulnerable than I do while cycling, especially when the scooter would suddenly decide to slow down on a busy road.

There are two ride modes: 20 km/hour (12.5 miles/hour) or 15 km/hour (9.4 miles/hour). As a beginner, I started out on the lower limit. Once I'd been riding for a while, I wanted to increase that, but I couldn't see any setting in the app. I tried pausing and resuming the ride, but that didn't help. I think I'd need to end the ride and then start a new journey, but then I'd have to pay another unlocking fee.

Speaking of fees, I had the scooter for 28 minutes which cost me £5.75. That's £0.99 for the unlocking fee and £0.17 per minute. If I went for a day pass, that would cost £7.99 with no unlock fee and 120 minutes included. So, that would definitely be more cost-effective if I was doing a return trip (e.g. commuting to/from work).

It's worth noting that this journey typically takes me 22 minutes if I'm cycling. Also, that 28 minutes doesn't include the walk to find a scooter or the walk back to my house after parking (roughly 12 mins in total). So, the total journey time was almost doubled. That said, I didn't have to get changed or have a shower afterwards, so that roughly evens out.

One nice feature of the scooter is the indicators. There's a switch next to the left hand grip, so you can press that rather than doing arm signals, and you can see the front indicators flashing next to your hands (so you know when they're on/off). In practical terms, you can't do hand signals, because if you put your right arm out to the side then you'd have to let go of the "Go" button.

You need to have at least a driving licence to hire a scooter, but they accept provisional driving licences. So, in practical terms this is just an age check. When I learned to ride a motorbike, I had to do a 1-day CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) course before I could ride solo with L plates, but there's no equivalent here. Based on that, I can understand why they restrict the speed. However, since I have a full driving licence (including cars and motorbikes), this just feels like a toy.

Looking at the options for 2-wheeled commuting, and going from best to worst, I'd pick:
* "Normal" bicycle
* Electric bicycle
* Motorcycle (electric or fossil fuel)
* Electric scooter

I won't rule out hiring a scooter again, but I'm not going to be a regular rider.

comments

John C. Kirk

Voi scooter hire