Electric Scooters: Why?

Electric kick scooters have taken the world by storm in many urban areas as a quick and easy way to get around. They are especially popular to rent and use for quick hops around town. This page focuses mostly on the benefits of the scooters, and not their downsides.

Pros

Electric Scooters are:

Compact.
Environmentally friendly.
Easy to use.
Fun.

They take one or more cars off the road, and it's usually faster to get underway than with a car. Many of them are also quite portable, and can be taken with you on public transport, or stowed away under a desk at the office.

I have an Apollo City Pro 2022, and it can climb hills and go all over the urban landscape at consistent speeds. I've put at least 300 km of use on it in just about 30 days of use. In the location I use the scooter, I do not have a car.

Cons

There are some obvious downsides to electric scooters:

Not great at transporting a lot of people or stuff.
Can be dangerous without proper training or regulation.
Require charging.
For serious commuting, an expensive scooter is required.

The cost is a big downside. Batteries are not cheap. They're also not lightweight. A powerful scooter requires a powerful battery, and a powerful scooter is necessary if you want to use it as a serious commuting vehicle over long distances. The scooter I own weighs 33 kg (~72 lbs)! Carrying it up and down 5 flights of stairs from the basement to the apartment is not fun (especially after I broke the handlebar latch).