Is it time to change the way we look at scooters?

Ditch your car, your bike, public transport. The scooter is back and she’s nothing like you remember.

You might’ve seen grown adults getting around on electric scooters. This isn’t news – it’s been happening (quietly) for the past few years, and it’s growing.

Are we comfortable with this?

If you’re anything like this blogger, your memories of swinging a scooter into your ankle (at speed) are all too vivid. There’s a reason they were left in the past, surely.

But it’s time we stopped thinking about scooters as the erratic, indiscriminately dangerous kids’ toys of old. Scooters have grown up. They’ve humbled. They’ve taken out a home loan and drink aperitifs with their neighbours.

We went to Raine HQ to speak to co-founder Marc about the Raine One. It’s the electric scooter they designed to be safer, more affordable and more comfortable than the other options they’ve seen on the market.

So, once they get past the naysayers (such as me, before I started writing this), what do the guys at Raine reckon will change your mind about scooters?

1. They’re affordable – once you’ve bought one, that’s pretty much it. Raine co-founder Marc Alexander designed the Raine scooter to avoid the need for servicing. The folding system (the bit that clicks it into place when you pack it up) even tightens over time, instead of the other way around. Neat, huh?
2. They’re faster than a bike, and won’t give you that sweaty-on-arrival feeling (bonus points for smugly describing any headwind as a ‘breeze’ to nearby cyclists).
3. They’re easy to bring on the train or chuck in the car. And if you’re a forgetful traveller, the Raine One’s built-in charger was practically made for you.
4. Forget about congestion. Even fast cars aren’t fast in gridlock.
5. You’ll skip the sardine-time you spend on packed out public transport. Live in a place where cancellations, delays, train fares, and ticket inspectors are only folklore of a bygone era.
6. Scooters are a green option. Sure, you still need to use electricity to charge one, but according to the guys at Raine, you can get up to 40km of riding out of around 22¢ of electricity.
7. For some people, it’s a bit of a life changer. Think truck drivers who need to park outside of town, but still somehow get in for a bite to eat or place to rest. Or people without a car or reliable public transport nearby who’ll have a better way of getting where they need to be.

The guys at Raine reckon it’s the little things that make their scooter extra special. Like a wide deck that means you can stand however you like (just note that we award exactly zero points to anyone that tries it backwards). And when you take your finger off the accelerator (yep, finger), your brakes will jump into action straight away. It’s called single-control riding, designed to make moving between speeding up and slowing down as simple as possible.

Our takeaway? We’re going to try to stop thinking of scooters as that rascal from primary school that used to fire spit balls at Mr. Grey. Like us, they’ve grown up a little too.

If you want to know more about the Raine One, head to raine.co.