Consumers Holding Back on Electric Scooter Purchases Over Safety Concerns, Survey Says

Electric scooter fires remained one of the top concerns of consumers, according to a survey.

By David Delima | Updated: 23 August 2022 19:22 IST

Consumers Holding Back on Electric Scooter Purchases Over Safety Concerns, Survey Says

Photo Credit: Twitter/Ola Electric

Ola Electric recalled 1,441 electric two-wheeler units earlier this year

Highlights

A survey found 32 percent of respondents had safety concerns
Only 1 percent of households were keen on buying an electric scooter
The percentage of households with safety concerns doubled in five months

Safety concerns related to electric scooters are holding back consumers keen on purchasing electric scooters, according to a recent survey. Only 1 percent of respondents said they were likely to buy an electric scooter in the next six months. Meanwhile, the percentage of households that were concerned about the safety of electric scooters doubled in the last five months. 32 percent of respondents said that were concerned about the safety and performance of the vehicles, which influenced their decision to not purchase an electric scooter.

A survey of 11,136 people by LocalCircles revealed that only 1 percent of respondents were looking to purchase an electric scooter in the next six months. While 32 percent of people polled responded that they were not convinced about the safety and performance of electric scooters, 5 percent said they were keen on buying a scooter but were not convinced about the infrastructure available for e-scooters where they live and work.

The survey also reveals that 31 percent of respondents said that they did not drive scooters, while 5 percent said they were keen to purchase one, but did not have the requisite funds. On the other hand, 9 percent of people polled said they had enough vehicles at home and did not plan on purchasing a two-wheeler.

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The concerns around electric two-wheelers reflected in the survey come months after instances of scooters catching fire earlier this year. Companies like Ola Electric, Okinawa, and Pure EV recalled 1,441, 3,215, and 2,000 units of their electric two-wheelers, respectively.

The government also constituted an expert committee to look into the instances of electric scooters catching fire.

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Further reading: Electric Scooters, EV Safety, Electric Vehicles, EVs, EV

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More