For many individuals with mobility disabilities, a powered scooter is an attractive alternative to a manual or powered wheelchair.  Scooters are often lighter, more compact, and more maneuverable than power chairs, and in many people’s eyes their appearance is more appealing.

Electric scooters (sometimes called “mobility scooters” to distinguish them from the recreational scooters popular among teenagers) all share a recognizable set of features.  Each has a seat at the rear of a wheeled platform, with controls and sometimes handrests on a column in front of the seat, called the tiller.  The wheeled platform is the base unit.  It supports the feet and batteries and contains the drive system.  Scooters can have either front- or rear-wheel drive, and most have either four wheels or three (two in back, one in front).

Source: ABLEDATA Fact Sheet on Scooters