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I agree, London and other cities are in desperate need of alternative methods of transport but just don't have the infrastructure yet. Cycling has got where it is because you don't need specific infrastructure whereas things like scooters don't have the speed or size to be mixing with cars. Cycling has its downsides, mainly locking up in unsafe places but also turning up somewhere sweaty.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could travel a few miles across central London in the middle of summer without arriving dripping with sweat, carrying a heavy lock or worrying about your nice bike locked up on Oxford Street. Electric assist bikes and scooters, per-use hire schemes and dedicated mixed use lanes could all be solutions.
The main problem I see with electric scooters and the like at the moment is they don't fit well on the roads or the pavements, in my opinion we really do need dedicated mixed use lanes. Think Embankment but wider and without the mad speed bumps. But then in an ideal world I don't think we should have cars in at least the congestion zone at all apart from before 8am or after 6pm anyway.
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Sumo
This thread is amazing. Surprised to see that people are knee jerking against these with much the same arguments as you get against bikes and increased bike infrastructure.
Loads of European cities have these as hire schemes and they are excellent. They are basically bike equivalents but just with a different appearance. Really fun and easy to ride and a great alternative to polluting hail and ride taxi apps for short journeys.
Having ridden them a few times I agree that they seem dangerous but on reflection I think they are just as inherently dangerous as cycling, just new.
They are the future and there's no reason at all that they can't coexist on the roads along with bikes and have the same status. Calling for them to be licensed and for extensive training before you go near one is equivalent to calling for all bikes to have numberplates.