Ever since reading How to Live Well Without Owning A Car I’ve been scheming a way to if not get rid of, at least cut down on using mine seeing as cars emit greenhouse gases, use fossil fuels, and make us inactive while costing thousands of dollars a year to insure and maintain. Enter the electric scooter.

Way less vehicle than a car, but more substantial than a bike, the scooter is already a brilliant answer to traveling to not so faraway places without needing a special driver’s license. Even more efficient (and often cheaper) is the electric variety.

Electric scooters have everything you want when getting around—wheels, a motor and a compartment to carry stuff. And as someone who took a test drive on the back of one last week, I can vouch for their giant fun factor. But the best part is they don’t use gas.

You can plug one into a charging station or a wall outlet at home and for a charge good for a forty-mile drive, you’ll only spend nine cents. That’s right, nine cents per charge. And, if you outfit it with a portable solar charger, each charge will be absolutely free, compliments of the sun.

So far, electric scooters aren’t nearly as “I died and woke up in Roman Holiday”as Vespas, but the Condor model is definitely getting there.

Zane over at Greenbike in Culver City is the electric scooter guru in town who can sell you one and tell you everything you ever wanted to know about it first.

Greenbike

www.thegreenbike.org

Categories:  Tuesday--Green Living