In this guide, we’re looking at just how much it costs to run an electric scooter in the UK. We’ll cover everything you need to know about how expensive (or cheap) it is to fully charge an e-scooter in 2022.
Are Electric Scooters Expensive To Charge?
Everyone knows electric scooters are great for the environment and a green way to get around but are they expensive to charge? Thankfully, the answer is no. In fact, it is extremely cheap to charge an electric scooter in the UK. However, the price will vary depending on the model of the scooter you buy and the battery it has.
How Much Does it Cost to Charge an Electric Scooter on Average?
In the UK, it costs between 15p to 30p to fully charge an electric scooter in UK, in 2022. That’s pretty impressive. If your scooter has a range of around 30 miles, you’re looking at 1p per mile or less. Let’s have some fun and compare that price to what you can currently expect to pay for other kinds of transport!
(Prices don’t include the initial cost of the vehicle)
- Electric scooter: 1p per mile
- Bus: 32p per mile
- Car: 18p per mile
- Bicycle: Free!
- eBike: 8 – 12p per mile
- Taxi – £1.20 – £3.00 per mile
From this simple comparison, it’s clear that short of pedalling yourself to work on a regular cycle, the e-scooter doesn’t look too expensive compared to those other ways to get around.
Buses and taxis fare the worst. With their green footprint and cheap charging, it’s easy to see why the government in the UK are looking into electric scooters as a way to get around in the future.
How does this compare to other electric stuff in your home?
Generally speaking, it costs five times more to run a standard space heater for a single hour, and a single load in the washing machine tends to cost about four times more than a full high-capacity scooter charge. Your day-to-day tasks are many times more expensive than charging your electric scooter.
Here are some quick comparisons with the cost of other electric appliances!
- Electric scooter: 30p to fully charge
- Electric 2KW heater: 24p per hour
- 40″ TV: 2p per hour
- Dishwashers: About 20p per load
- Washing machines: About 50p per load
- Charging your phone: About half a penny
It’s no wonder some people’s electricity bills mount up over the course of a month! Compared to other gadgets, charging your scooter isn’t too expensive. A daily charge will cost you less than £10 per month in the UK.
How Long Does it Take to Charge Fully?
There is no universal time it takes to charge an electric scooter because different models have different capacities. A low capacity scooter will take less time to charge than a high capacity one and vice versa. On top of that, it depends on how efficient a charging station is being used.
All of that said, you can generally expect it to take anywhere from 6 to 12 hours to fully charge your electric scooter, based on the factors we mentioned above. Because of this, electric scooters need to be charged long before you intend to actually use them.
This is easy enough to do: simply charge your scooter at night or while you are at work, and there should be no issues with having it ready to go whenever you need it.
How Does the Price Compare to Petrol Scooters?
The cost of charging an electric scooter, even if it is of a high capacity variety, is much lower than the cost of completely fueling a petrol scooter. In fact, on average, you can fully charge an electric scooter for 15% of the cost of fully fueling a petrol scooter.
Price to charge e-scooter: 30p
Price to fill a petrol scooter’s tank: Around £6.50
However, the price of actually buying the scooter in the first place is a different story. Of course, there are all sorts of scooters out there on both sides, with some of them being higher quality and others being lower quality. That affects price more than being electric or petrol.
That said, electric scooters tend to be more expensive to purchase initially compared to petrol scooters. Another thing to think about is that petrol scooters can often travel twice as far as their electric counterparts, even the e-scooters that have a top range.
Is it Cheaper to Ride an E-Scooter to Work, Compared to a Car?
Considering how cheap electricity is, it would obviously be less expensive to ride an electric car to work compared to your typical gasoline-powered car. But what about an electric car? Is it cheaper to ride an electric scooter than an electric car?
Simply put, the answer is yes. Naturally, electricity is no more expensive for a car than a scooter, but on the other hand, it takes more electricity to push a heavy car around than a scooter, which weighs much less. Less weight means less power consumption to move around, which makes electric scooters dozens of times more efficient than electric cars.
This also means less frequent charging, which means less money out of your wallet.
Conclusion: Are E-Scooters Cheap to Run?
Simply put, yes, they are. While it may be expensive to procure an electric scooter of high quality, the cost of actually using one after the fact is very low. Electricity is many, many times cheaper than petrol or gasoline, so it’s cheaper to run for any length of time.
The average cost of filling up a petrol scooter is can be over six pounds. Meanwhile, the average cost of fully charging a high-capacity electric scooter is around 30 pence. Only a little bit of math is needed to see how the latter will save you a lot more money in the long run.
References and further reading
- Check my bus – price per mile
- Ebike shop – cost of running and eBike
- DirtBikes – Cost of mopeds and petrol scooters