Scooter Sales Up as Gas Prices Rise – Electric Scooter

With the Arab Spring turning into a gasoline winter for the Western powers, scooter sales are heating up throughout the United States. “It’s a matter of economics,” says Jim Halinson, a scooter store owner. “More and more of our customers are coming in to ask not about the convenience of scooters, but about the gas mileage they get. They’re concerned about the possibility of $5 per gallon gasoline and our scooter sales are going through the roof because of it.”

A Nationwide Trend

Nationwide, data does seem to support this trend. While full fledged motorcycles are still seen as being the province of men having a mid life crisis or motorcycle enthusiasts, the massive number of scooter sales would seem to indicate that even ordinary Americans are considering the mini bikes to be viable alternatives to their gas guzzling cars and SUVs.

Great for Quick Trips to the Grocery

While no one is saying that scooters will replace a car as the vehicle of choice for taking the family cross country or even for soccer moms dropping off hordes of kids at the local game, the number of scooter sales, even to those same soccer moms is increasing tremendously. The reason, consumer say is that they simply want something convenient to take down to the grocery store when they forget to buy a gallon of milk. It’s more economical and it’s more convenient than hopping in a car, these consumers say.

Popular in Cites

It goes without saying that most scooters sales are happening in bigger cities as people tire of the problems with finding parking and dealing with crowded downtown areas and the attendant traffic jams. Instead, people want to look for a quick and easy method of getting around town and the answer has become the humble scooter.

A Worrying Trend in Tiny Scooters

However, not everyone is pleased about the recent upward trend in scooter sales. While the miniature bikes are generally considered to be quite safe when they are properly handled, many people are turning to big box stores like Costco and Sam’s Club to buy scooters and scooter sales at those chains tend toward the lower end of the spectrum. “I have people coming into my store all the time asking why the little 50CC scooter they bought at the local Costco doesn’t seem to be able to go up hills,” Mr. Halinson says, laughing. “I tell them that those things are worse than toys since people think they’re real scooters – they’re not. Those things have tiny engines and can actually kill when people ride them.

Look for at Least 125CC

Mr. Halinson says that “the bare minimum” that consumers should look for when shopping different scooter sales is 125CC. These kinds of scooters, he says aren’t going to compete with motorcycles, which must have at least 1,000CCs, “but they’re good enough when you just want to go around the corner to the grocery store.” Still, he recommends that people who are serious look for at least 400CC or more and ignore the cheap deals that are available from some big box stores when they run periodic scooter sales.

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