I've been offered a 2003 EVT America 168 scooter with 1,800 miles for $200. The batteries are probably shot, as is the charger. I've read that there have been inumerable problems with this model, but am wondering if, at $200 (+ how much for batteries and charger??) it is worth picking up.
What I think I'd really like is an electric assist bicycle that I could get to go ~30mph. I weigh ~160, have an ~10 mile round trip commute which involves a 200 foot change in elevation, and includes one hill that is 0.2 miles long with a 6.2% grade.
VELOTEQ...
The Veloteq Commander GT (500W - I don't think they still offer the 750W motor SHO model)seems like it might be the "Best in Class", but so little is to be found (relative to other makes) written about Veloteq. "V is for Voltage" doesn't even have a forum for Veloteq. If you know of any Veloteq scooter owners, or forums, I would sure love to be able to contact them. I've spoken extensively with Kevin (great guy, great web site) at Utah E Bikes, and one man in Washington state who has had a Veloteq Commander SHO for 5 years - the only part he has had to replace in 5 years is the batteries, and that is only now!
In this recession, I can't afford to spend any significant amount of money on something that is just to be thrown away in a year, so...
Any comments, and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!
1. Should I buy the EVT America 168 for $200?
2. What are your thoughts about Veloteq as a company?
3. What do you know about the Veloteq Commander?
4. Are you able to point me to any Veloteq forums, owners?
Thank you!!!
I would recommend not buying anything without spending time handling it in person and looking at all the possibilities. The batteries may be shot, or the controller, or even the motor, .. or it could be some little nothing that was the last straw to the person offering it. I've heard mainly good about Veloteq, but have not handled one personally. Some of their models use an outboard motor, rather than a hub motor, which I would think would be noisier. Veloteq appears to rely on a network of distributors and dealers rather than a central warehouse direct marketing approach. As a matter of fact i recently used Google maps to get a street view of "corporate headquarters", which turned out to be a residence. I'm not totally offended by that, considering the place I bought my scooter from turns out to be a "Mail Boxes and Postal" in Sierra Madre, Ca.... NO SHOWROOM... (tatoos "idiot" on forehead, and accepts sign from Bill Engvall) Veloteq does claim complete Canada and US safety compliance, including CPSC in the US, unlike many others out there. Canada bikes are limited to 500w by law, so the higher wattage bikes would only be in the lower 48, and may have been dropped by low sales as the USA isnt set up very well for e-bikes. Are they any better than any other Chinese built scooter? I dont know, wish I did know.
In 2003, EVT America was still a distributor of scooters made by EVT Taiwan (http://www.evt.com.tw). Those scooters are very well made, robust, easy to work on, and I've owned one since 2002.
A couple years ago EVT America introduced some scooters made to their own specification and ..well.. it was a disaster. There's a lot of information on this site about that disaster.
I would - but I'm willing to dig in and fix things and change wires around etc. A lot depends on your willingness to fiddle around. You're obviously looking at an unknown here, don't know for sure how much work it will take, etc.
Replacing batteries and a charger does sound simple. But there may be more of course.
Also if you do buy it you should be aware of the tutorial I posted a few years ago about some important maintenance issues with the motor used by EVT Taiwan: http://www.7gen.com/book/my-ev-projects/cleaning-evt-hub-motor/701
I don't personally know anything about the Veloteq's other than noticing they've been in business for awhile and it's always a good sign when one of these companies last for more than one season.
As for forums - this site is in my biased opinion perfectly good place to discuss every electric vehicle.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki