Hello,
I have been reading this forum for awhile and appreciate all the help given here. I have a question regarding the range of the XM-3000 in ideal conditions. I ride on completely flat land (no hills what-so-ever) and usually go about 25mph in the scooter lane here and I weight 180lbs. Can the XM-3000 really go 50 miles at this speed as stated? I know you shouldn't use more then use more then 80% of the charge of a SLA so I figured in my pretty much non-stop travelling I could get a range of 40 miles going 25 mph. Is this accurate? Also if I went the same non-stop route at full speed any idea how far I could go. I really want the XM-3500, but unfortunately it is too big to fit in the elevator of my apartment building and since the battery can't be removed I would have no way to charge it. (The XM-3000 however does fit :) ) Besides the XM-3000 I am also considering the Zapino, besides cosmetics are there any differences between these two scooters?
Thanks in advance for the help!
It's not easy to guarantee any performance due to so many variables. Where I live there are a lot of hills. Wednesday I went about 26 miles on a single charge and much of it was up hills but I was down to practically nothing left when I was finished. It's also hard on battery life to run these too low. I'm about 188 lbs.
I usually rely on it for an 8 mile trip to work but then I charge it during the day for the long steep hills home. 16 miles round trip and with the hills home it's down about 1/2 by the time I arrive. It's a safe bet for me though.
If you're running in a flat area I think you're probably in good shape to get up to 40 miles. Hills are what kills the range and battery life. On my usual hill home the speed drops down to about 22 mph and on really steep hills I'm only going 15. On flats I can consistently run between 30 - 45 mph. Battery performance is likely to diminish over time but so far I haven't seen much of a change. I've got about 750 miles on mine (1160 Kilometers).
Best bet is to find a place to charge along the way just in case. Somewhere where you can sit for a beer while you give it an extra boost.
Yes, I you'll get 40 miles at 25 miles per hour, flat, non-stop, no headwind, although it would use all your battery. You might have to take it down to 20 mph to get 50, I've never driven that slow for that long.
At full speed you'll get maybe 7-10 miles until you reach that 80% empty.
XM-3000...
-DC-DC converter replaced with a Dell D220P-01 power supply.
-72V mod
-Expensive bank charger until I come up with something better... Still trying.
-
Thanks for the help. I currently live in Beijing and being in China you see so many different types. The smaller scooters cold by Xtreme (350-500 watts) are all over the road here. This is my current ride (I bought it new for $583 USD, electric scooters are very inexpensive here).
http://www.china-phillips.com/ProView.asp?id=304&TypeID=102
It looks similar to many xTreme models and has a 350 watt motor and a 48 volt 20ah SLA batteyr under the foot compartment that is removable. I have two batteries so when I need to do a lot of errands I can swap between them. Being based here in China, this is my only means of transportation. My scooter can go 35km (gps certified) and at that speed I can get a range of around 50km with 15-20% left in the battery, replacing a set of SLA batteries costs $120 for 4 12 volt 20ah batteries.
Living in a city of close to 20 million people, its very difficult to go much faster then 25mph. In fact riding on my scooter 90% of the time I get to a destination faster then if by car, due to the congestion on the roads (3 million cars in Beijing). It really is great to have an electric ride as its so quiet and inexpensive to charge versus gas. Also with scooter and bicycle lanes, you never have to worry about holding anyone up. I am looking at the XM-3000 or Zapino due to the faster speeds as I ride 20 miles rt to and from work against traffic, so it would be great speeding up my current commute. Fortunately I can charge at work, however it would be nice to have a scooter that can go 40mph for at least 30 mile distances as on weekheads I like to just head out on the road and check out the sites of the city.
Beijing EV Rider