In cities across the world, dockless electric scooters are becoming an ever-more common sight. These are often promoted as being an environmentally friendly way on travelling within a city, but this recent research paper by Joseph Hollingsworth and his colleagues finds that the truth behind these claims is more complicated. When taking into account the materials and processes for manufacturing e-scooters, combined with the environmental impacts of collecting, charging and distributing them each day, the authors found that e-scooters may have a larger environmental impact than the transport mode they replace, which includes walking, cycling, or using public transport. However, using an e-scooter is almost always more environmentally friendly than driving a car.
