Why walk? Check out the best electric scooters for 2021

With people still being urged to stay at home as much as possible and public transit systems being difficult for social distancing, having an e-bike or electric scooter might make sense for essential short-distance travel — it’s an easy way to take supplies to vulnerable family and friends as safely and quickly as possible. Perhaps you want to cover longer distances faster than you can walking or maybe you’ve been looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint — all good reasons to consider a rideable moped or e scooter.

I’ve learned a lot from testing different types of battery-operated rideables, some tested before the coronavirus outbreak, others more recently, on a commute through sections of midtown Manhattan, around Central Park or down the West Side Highway bike path. 

This roundup, which I’ll update as I review more products, covers electric scooters, foldable electric scooter options and skateboard-like devices. E-bikes get their own list. Why would you want a scooter over a more traditional bike? Electric scooters are nimble and smaller, and are easy to take on mass transit, leave in the trunk of your car or store at home.

Read more: The best e-bikes to ride in 2021

Here’s some of the best electric rideables available right now

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I’ve included water-resistance ratings when available for each electric scooter. IP ratings (IP stands for ingress protection) let you know the dust or water resistance of a product. For example, if something has an IP54 rating, the first number after the letters refers to resistance to solids while the second refers to moisture. Read more in our IP rating explainer. 

Also, and let’s not make a big deal of it, but I exceed the rated weight capacity for most of these products. For the most part, they all still performed as expected, though maybe with a little less range or speed. No devices were harmed during this roundup. 

Lastly, if you plan on getting into rideables, be safe about it. Leave enough space between yourself and both cars and riders on plain old human-powered bikes and scooters. Remember you’re able to go a lot faster, so ride and pass with caution….