Thinking of buying an electric scooter or other lightweight electric transport tool? This is where you can numerically compare Personal Light Electric Vehicles (PLEVs) aka Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) based on your own specific needs. At the time of writing there is nothing like this anywhere else online. To understand how a decision matrix works see the two minute video below and then read on:

In the interactive self-adjusting decision matrix below, PLEVs are shown in the left column & factors (considerations) are on the top row. For every factor you can enter a weighting (importance value) from 0 (totally unimportant) to 10 (essential). Five participants gave their own weighting numbers & the average weighting numbers are shown. You can replace that weighting number with your own weighting (from 0 to 10).  

For example, partipants considered that ‘Top speed’ is a fairly unimportant factor & gave it a weighting number of 5.6. If you feel ‘Top Speed’ is an even less important consideration, then you might give it a weighting of 2. If you feel ‘Portability’ is important, you might give it a weighting of 8 & so on.

Each PLEV has an achievement score which is how well it performs in that factor area. The achievement score is based on OBJECTIVE data (see base of table for scoring methods). For example, the Urmo gets a low achievement score of 2.5 for the ‘Top speed’ factor because it’s fairly slow.

The objective achievement score is multiplied by your subjective weighting to make a weighting x achievement score. Example: Urmo in the ‘Top speed’ category would be 2.5 (achievement score) x 2 (your weighting) = 5 (weighting x achievement score). The overall score for each PLEV is the sum total of all weighting x achievement scores. The PLEV with the highest score is likely to be the most suitable based on your needs. The table will update automatically as you enter the importance values (weightings).

See below for a quick example video:

The chart no longer works on the webpage as shown in the video above, so just use the buttons below the chart to open or save it.

A STATIC (NON-INTERACTIVE) COMPARISON TABLE (LIGHTWEIGHT PORTABLE TRANSPORT TOOLS)

UPDATE 2026
Having used the tables above to buy and try various transport tools, my favourite one to ride is perhaps the Inmotion E20, but there are safety issues (see table) and on the E20 the importance and value of bike lanes (or mobility lanes, active travel routes) come to light even more! As a reliable urban commuting tool I use my Micro Falcon scooter. It rolls freely even without the motor and actively kicking it along means I get exercise, get more traction and control from the foot on the ground, plus it helps pedestrians feel more at ease (although usually I get off and walk past them). In places where escooters are banned so far I just call it a ‘hybrid’ and so far that’s worked. It’s so small and portable that it’s just less of an issue. Overall I believe this may have the greatest potential as an urban transport tool. It’s out of production at present but I hope that Micro produce an upgraded version with a light, a softer larger front tire with a tread, and a softer deck (I add jelly mats and rubber to help cushion the ride).
Also various other scooters not included here have been highly rated on Electric Scooter Guide.com so check them out as well HERE if interested. 

SAFETY UPDATE IN 2021 – MAKE SURE THE STEM IS LOCKED IN BEFORE RIDING! The handlebar stem on my Kugoo S1 Pro once gave way while riding. I had already gone a couple of miles on it when it came loose. It’s possible that I didn’t click it in properly or it may have come loose while riding. The result was not pretty. The handlebar is a reason why scooters outperform most other transport tools in safety, but be sure you check the handlebar stem is fully locked in place before riding, avoid riding at speed over rough terrain or at least check the stem lock after doing so. Also buy a scooter with an effective stem lock! NOTE: The Kugoo S1, both E-TWOW scooters and the Micro Explorer all use the same basic frame with the same stem lock!

For scooter rental schemes

If you are looking here for a scooter to use in a rental scheme with a capped speed lower than all the top speeds of the scooters shown then you should enter ‘0’ as a weighting (importance value) for the speed factor. Likewise, you may wish to give ‘portability’ a lower weighting given that most users will dock their scooters rather than push or carry them around.

If you would like us to make a revised matrix with additional factors specific to your rental scheme or with other transport tools added just let us know – happy to help! 

OLDER CONTENT SHOWN BELOW

We believe that we now need to embrace lightweight portable transport to help slow global warming, boost people’s well-being through cleaner air & maintaining a safe social distance.

To see mindmaps showing pros and cons of different transport gadgets click HERE

Some older gadgets – a comparison chart made in 2015

Download
PDF: Transportables
Word File: Transportables

Gadget names

I suggested ‘Transportables‘ (transport tools that are portable)
& also ‘Lightweight Portable Transport‘ (LPT).
Here are some competing names:
Personal transport gadgets (PTGs?)
Personal Light Electric Vehicles‘ (PLEVs) (the term used by the UK government),
‘Powered Transporters‘,
‘Rideables‘ (possibly from Wired magazine).

”EUCS” or ”electric unicycles” involve no cyling so it’s a misnomer. Much better to call them Electric self-balancing wheels, electric wheels or just ewheels. Another suggestion I saw was motor wheels.