You have heard a lot of stories about how great the electric scooter is, and why you should get one. You’re probably thinking there are lots of different electric vehicles, so why specifically the electric scooter. Let’s do a comparison between the electric scooter and the electric unicycle, so you can see why the electric scooter can be superior.
What is an electric unicycle?
Let’s start with explaining what an electric unicycle is. An electric unicycle (often initialized as EUC or acronymized yuke or Uni) is a self-balancing personal transporter with a single wheel. The rider controls speed by leaning forwards or backward and steers by leaning and twisting the unit side to side. The self-balancing mechanism uses gyroscopes and accelerometers. While the electric scooter is a personal device with no more than three wheels that has handlebars, is designed to be stood upon by the operator, and is powered by an electric motor that can propel the device with or without human propulsion.
Riding experience on the scooter vs the unicycle
The riding experience on an electric scooter is vastly different from an electric unicycle for one obvious reason, the handlebars.
Let’s use the Varla scooters, Pegasus, as an example. The scooter’s handlebars make riders feel more secure and in control, which allows for better steering. With an electric unicycle, the rider must rely entirely on using their body weight to steer, so if you are uncoordinated, this isn’t really the option for you. The handlebars of an electric scooter also make for easier balancing and better stability, even over bumps and dips in the road. All of this means that electric unicycles have a far steeper learning curve than scooters. Most people will be able to hop onto an electric scooter and be able to ride it immediately.
The same cannot be said for unicycles even non-electric ones. The sensation of having to take both feet off the floor to step on the vehicle without having handlebars to hold is unusual and takes time to get used to. That’s as such; it alienates a large group of people who may struggle to balance or feel uncomfortable with such a maneuver. Electric scooters, on the other hand, are incredibly intuitive and inclusive in this regard.
Safety on the electric scooter vs the unicycle
The design differences also affect the safety of these vehicles. Of course, there’s a risk involved with riding any vehicle so it’s important to be careful when using either. The handlebars on most electric scooters have brakes on them, The Pegasus has a dual disc brake plus ABS system making it very easy to slow down and stop in an emergency. The increased control also helps riders to avoid potholes and collisions more easily.
Also, the wheels make a huge difference as well, on electric scooters, especially long-range electric scooters like The Pegasus, there are two wheels, either solid-tires or pneumatic tires, while the electric unicycle riders have only one large tire. Electric unicycle riders must lean back to activate the brake, which takes some getting used to. Some riders may prefer this to traditional braking, but it can be argued that it’s less safe. There is also a considerable lack of sideways maneuverability with electric unicycles.
The speed you go also ties into the safety aspect. The Pegasus can go up to 28 mph while the normal electric unicycle can go up to 45 mph. Now, that’s a great speed, but imagine your whipping down the road on the electric unicycle at 45mph, and you hit a pothole…down you go, probably face first into the cement because the unicycle is all about balance, and if you lose your balance and will get thrown off. Whereas the electric scooter if you hit a pothole, you have a better chance on regaining your balance, since you have more stability with the electric scooter, not to mention with the Pegasus it has a dual shock suspension system, the front and rear independent suspension greatly reduces the discomfort caused by rough roads. The electric scooter, however, is a safer option than the unicycle because it features handlebars that help you keep balance and allow you to take sharp corners with ease.
Portability
With the Unicycle and the electric scooter, it's easier to ride almost anywhere, and you can take them anywhere with you. For instance, they'll easily fit into your shopping cart, and you can even go with them into a restaurant. Another thing is the Unicycle has larger pneumatic wheels, as opposed to the smaller wheels, so you can go through the light to medium trails with ease. While the electric scooter has two smaller while, which can be either pneumatic, or solid tire, but also offer off road tires for rugged terrain. Finally, unicycles and electric scooters have legal access to anywhere that a bicycle can go. The biggest drawback of the unicycles is the steep learning curve.
Cost is a factor
Pricing-wise, electric scooters and electric unicycles are very similar. They can cost anything from £300 right up to £2000. It all depends on the power, design, range, and extra features you want from your vehicle. Overall, unicycles are great fun for some users with great balance, but electric scooters offer a more complete experience for virtually everyone. Their design makes for an intuitive (and fun) riding experience. However, unicycles are a tad less costly than the scooters, and this is because of the smaller battery. As you may already know, the battery normally takes up a large percentage of the cost.
On average, a unicycle goes anywhere between $250-300, but the quality ones go up from $400. Again, when you look at the maintenance costs, the unicycles consume less energy as they’re lighter than their equivalent electric scooters. Even so, the electricity consumption is still insignificant compared to the electric scooters like The Pegasus.
Between Electric Scooter and Electric Unicycle: What to Buy?
Well, I would say both models have their strong points and their drawbacks.
Generally, however, the scooters are suitable for the flat and tarmacked terrain, but also come in off road and long-range electric scooters. Still, there're plenty of other factors to consider, and the suitability of either model will depend on the purpose of your electric transportation, your terrain, range, speed, coordination, and much more.
