# The Rise of the Electric Scooter

**URL:** <https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016>\
**Category:** blog\
**Created:** [September 12, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016 "2019-09-12T07:28:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/75 "2023-03-18T18:45:40Z")

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The NYFD found that those (at least the vast majority) of the fires were caused by cheaply manufactured batteries. They were not UL listed - tested and deemed safe. It appears a manufacturer was making cheap knock-offs and that was the end result - short circuits and explosions/fires. Modifications and cheap parts were also part of the problem.

[https://electrek.co/2023/03/07/nyc-banning-electric-bikes-without-ul-batteries-fires/](https://electrek.co/2023/03/07/nyc-banning-electric-bikes-without-ul-batteries-fires/)

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**Author:** ![Roland3141592](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v2/letter/r/22d042/32.png) [@Roland3141592](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/Roland3141592)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/76 "2023-06-05T00:13:18Z")

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Major success factor sure is the Lithium battery technology, but let us not forget some other relevant breakthrough technologies here: super magnets for motors with higher power density, new transistor technology like IGBT, GaN, SiC for more efficient and compact drives. Non-tech success factor / driver is e.g. the climate crisis.

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/77 "2023-06-05T04:26:14Z")

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I have seen a few **electric scooters** go my my house. I live on a hill leading to the river where a town park is. But what I mostly see are **electric bicycles.** From my casual observation I’d say it’s probably 4 bike to 1 scooter. But then again, I’m not sitting on my porch all day. Sure are a lot quieter than motorcycles & street legal dirt bikes.  
🙉

A couple of kids from around the corner have **electric skateboards.** They use them going up our hill instead of walking up it - 4-1/2 blocks uphill.

Something I’ve recently seen are mini-bikes. After almost 55 years are these are making a come-back? Two kids a few blocks over are riding them down to the river park & boat launch. Just wish they’d stay off the streets with those.

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**Author:** ![JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/jimpas/32/76163_2.png) [@JimPas](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/JimPas)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/78 "2023-06-22T02:22:54Z")

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Now there’s an enclosed electric “scooter” that seems more like an enclosed golf cart. It was nice to see it has a heater & defroster for cold weather (like where I am). I wonder how it does in a light snow. Hopefully they sell studded tires as well. This would beat walking up to see my granddaughters or going to my daughter’s house to let her dogs out. Or… I could just take the car. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Stanley](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/peter_stanley/32/78079_2.png) [@Peter\_Stanley](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/Peter_Stanley)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/79 "2023-07-05T02:17:49Z")

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on your e scooter blog, you ignored zappy’s greatest coding horror of all: the human factor. Zappy’s upper managment was only in it for the money. read all about it … somewhere. o read the damning article in 2005, but i will find it.

Lead cars could have been good in the right application, esp when parallel with capacitor banks, and to this day end users struggle to competently manage lithium.

> **[Hype Machine: Searching for ZAP's Fleet of No-Show Green Cars](https://www.wired.com/2008/03/ff-zapped/)**
>
> Illustration: Jason Lee In September 2006, Ehab Youssef, an intellectual property lawyer in San Jose, California, was shopping for a new car. With gas prices surging above $3 a gallon and headlines warning of a disappearing ice cap, Youssef and his...

i cant read the artcle. idk why wired would scrub or paywall back issue.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/codinghorror/32/36371_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:47am UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/80 "2023-07-06T03:47:01Z")

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Great nuance and thanks for sharing it – makes sense in context, the batteries were just too primitive to support electric vehicles at that time. We needed Lithium-Ion to get the power up and weight down.

That’s also why the next big battery tech upgrade is going to be quite transformative to the world IMO.

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**Author:** ![lalan45](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/user_avatar/discourse.codinghorror.com/lalan45/32/79293_2.png) [@lalan45](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/u/lalan45)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://discourse.codinghorror.com/t/the-rise-of-the-electric-scooter/7016/85 "2025-12-22T18:19:16Z")

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You’re basically right—the biggest driver of falling EV prices is battery cost coming down. Over the last decade, battery pack prices have dropped a lot due to better chemistry, higher energy density, and massive scaling of production. There _are_ some savings in manufacturing and design too (fewer parts, simpler drivetrains), but batteries are the main reason prices can fall meaningfully.

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