Commute faster: are e-scooters the new second car?

A growing share of Australian households are quietly parking the second car and keeping an e-scooter by the door. Here's why the maths works.

The running-cost gap

A second car costs most households $4,000–$7,000 a year in rego, insurance, fuel and servicing. An e-scooter costs about a dollar of electricity a week.

The last-kilometre problem

For commutes under 10 km, a scooter is often door-to-door faster than driving, once parking is in the equation. Multi-modal riders fold one under a train seat and skip the transfer wait.

The honest limits

Scooters don't replace the family car: school runs, groceries and rain still need four wheels. But as the second-vehicle gap-filler, the value case is now hard to argue with.