Anyone seen or ridden Kasea scooters ? On the (virtual) paper, their specs look pretty good and they are touting the build quality
http://www.kaseainternational.com/producs/Scooters/ELECTRIC-SCOOTERs.htm
There is a typo in that table, a ZE2000 actually has 2KW motors.
It appears that they already have couple resellers in US, although im trying to pin down a dealer somewhere in Europe.
in US, http://www.skootercommuter.com/ claims to have those.
if anyone has any exprience or further info, please post
thanks,
/kert
managed to locate one sort of a positive overview
http://www.soundrider.com/archive/bikes/Kasea_ZE1500_ZE2000.htm
hard to classify this as a review, looks more like an advertisement article. The brand claims to be a german origin, and with some googling the Kasea and Hyosung names seem to pop up next to eachother a lot. So is it a Hyosung body equipped with a electric drive in germany ? What would the German branding name be ?
Hyosung is sort of a cheaper motorbike brand from Korea, also sold in many places in europe.
These scooters were originally made Emax for Kasea under contract in order to raise money. See the comments by Bill Moore of EVworld here http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1009 The current scooters could be old stock or the manufacturer just continuing to make the product to the same or probably cheaper specs that they did for Emax. I suspect performance, quality, and customer support to be the same or worse. Caveat emptor
Well, I just bought a Kasea, even though I couldn't find a single customer review. Ordered it through ScooterCommuter, in D.C. Have ridden it about 70 miles so far, and though there are a few issues, I am enjoying it very much.
I tested the Emax about a year ago, and wanted to purchase, but they went out of business pretty fast. As far as I understand it, there is alot of overlap between these two, but the Kasea is built on a different platform, with 12" wheels rather than 10". I am hoping since Kasea is a larger company and the ZE scooter is only a small amount of their product line, that they won't disappear too soon.
Anyway, performance seems pretty good. There is significant growling/rattling noise from the motor at low speeds/ high torque, but it quiets out quite nicely at higher speeds. Power with the boost button is pretty good. I don't have any gas scooter experience for comparison, but I'm pleased. Hill climbing has not been a problem so far. Speed is limited to 30mph, but apparently there is a chip that can be removed from the controller that allows speeds up to 40, but you sacrifice some torque.
The scooter platform is a standard Asian one, and seems solidly built. The disc brakes front and rear are great, and handling is very nice and stable. Control components, switches, etc, seem reasonably well made, and the suspension is satisfactory to me. Battery charging is pretty fast if you buy a second charger-- there are 2 ports.
'
Basically, I love this thing. It's what I've been looking for for quite a while. Small issues include a dim LED in the dashboard battery meter, and some noise from the front wheel that may be from the brakes.
Silas
"Speed is limited to 30mph, but apparently there is a chip that can be removed from the controller that allows speeds up to 40, but you sacrifice some torque."
The Kasea controller is the same as the e-max. You simply remove a jumper on the controller PC board to remove the speed restriction.
While doing that, you may want to secure the large capacitors on the board with silicone. There was one and maybe two cases of their leads fatiguing and breaking under shaking from repeated use on rough roads.
Removing the speed restriction will _not_ affect the torque - this "rumor" appears to be the result of someone with a defective controller who mis attributed the problem to removing the restrictor.
It is good to hear this scooter is made and selling, since it provides a source for e-max parts, and keeps the electric scooter market alive. This stuff about it being made under license from e-max to raise funds is probably just BS. The Chinese mfg's make the scooter, and the importer puts their name on it - just like the cheap appliances you see in discount stores.
Hello,
i mailed to Topmotorx, (one of ?) the chinese maker of this scooter, a couple of days ago.
He replied me that a french importer will visit them the next month so it may be available in France one day.
Jean-François
Jean-François
HI,
my friend has just got his hand on one of these (ZE-2000) and fell in love instantly with it but....
On day 1, he took it out of packaging and it rode perfectly.
On day 2, he charged it fully and now it won't move! Nothing! 12v system is working though, lights - horn etc. The charger is making a funny clicking noise. The battery level swings from zero to 100% when he switches it on. He's checked the kickstand but not the front brake I don't think. What do you guys think? Faulty charger, blown controller or just a switch issue?
Please reply as technically as needs be as he's an electrical engineer and has done plenty of auto work. Including previous overhaul of an Erato 2000w that had a non-waterproof controller....
You don't give us enough information to help much. By clicking in the charger, i assume it is an external charger, so you don't mean clicking inside the scooter somewhere. By "swings from 0 to 100%" do you mean that the gauge is functioning normally, or it is swings back and forth from 0 to 100%?
If it is like the e-max, the kasea has a multi-function relay module called the "black box". This black box has caused problems in the past and it's functions are entirely unnecessary.
E-max wiring diagrams had been posted somewhere on this site. Can someone direct me to them?
To elaborate further, the black box provides an intermediate relay, using a logic circuit, so the main power relays are actuated only when the kickstand is up, the key switch is on, and the charger is unplugged. Apparently, just wiring the keyswitch and kickstand in series to the relay circuit (with a 50-100 ohm resistor to ease arcing wear on the switches) required entirely too simple a mind.
As far as the last function, I think it should be up to the rider to prevent riding away with the charger plugged in.
But back to troubleshooting, the first thing to check is if you hear a distinct click when the keyswitch is turned with the kickstand up, or when raising the kickstand with the keyswitch turned on.
If you can't find the wiring diagrams, they can be bittorrent downloaded, you can get the .torrent file here:
http://www.mininova.org/tor/741054
and I'll leave my machine on for seeding.
I thought everyone knew we have an EV Download Library here on our site. Scroll down the right side of the screen and click on the EV Download Library link or just use the one I have provided here - EV Download Library
Chas S.
My Bicycle Pages
Thanks.
I was looking in the "collaborative handbooks" and not finding anything.
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Hi guys,
thanks to all who responded so quickly! Great to hear from you in a time of need :)
I think I found it on www.emaxscooters.com but I guessed that it may be an oversensitive frontbrake switch and so it was! He's headed off on his 13 mile each way hilly trip (which admittedly he was doing on his Erato-4, which is the same as what Greenemotor.com and others were selling, the Xtreme XM-2000. His had a controller which wasn't remotely waterproof which was just a little daft of the engineers?? So one day, he simply came to a stop and, when faultfinding discovered that Erato's Apparently, they've fixed that now as an improvement! Happy days! Anyway, this Kasea looks a lot sturdier, heavier too admittedly with the extra batteries on board.
ps I hadn't seen or explored the library section at all, but thanks! I see info that I had been searching for, re windpower.
Thanks again to all, I'll keep you updated
Kasea just a broker,they sell everything like gas ATV and Dirt bike and Electric scooters,but actually produce nothing. In china,if a company sell everything,it must be trading company instead of manufacturers.
I have ever been Kasea address in Shanghai where is just a small office with several staff..
No.888 Hongjing Road , Changning District ,Shanghai China 200336
TEL:+86 21 62690590 FAX:206 957 2077
Their scooters come from old E-max factory and just enlarge hub motor from 10" to be 12" which oberviously lower the torque ...
(new E-max split and move to Wuxi city,Jiangsu province,nothing to do with Kasea )
Well just to report that the Kasea ZE-2000 I originally reported on has had ZERO glitches and is running twice a week 17 miles into work and 17 miles home. Charged at work of course but the homeward stretch is uphill mostly (undulating but more ups than downs if you like!) Very satisfying, not as torquey as his previous Erato but glad to say its totally reliable and the batteries improved after some use, not disimproved! Overall the Kasea, at the price, is a very good buy. I think, as USAtracy pointed out in another post, if I understood correctly, that the batteries and controller are incorrectly matched on XM? Apart from that, it was a hoot to ride! And issues like that can be solved. But all this talk about Kasea not standing over stuff? If you can tinker with it yourself, like all escooters until proper servicing franchises are rolled out, its a great little bike
So how many miles/km do you have on this bad boy?
Assuming this is the old Emax design, here are some things to look out for or perhaps tend to in advance:
1) All the reports I've heard, including my own, say the battery pack will most likely fail within the first year. This is partly because of the uneven quality of the silicone batteries and partly because of the overly simple wiring. Powercheq's and similar BMS systems go a long way towards preserving the life of the pack and will easily pay for themselves over the long run.
2) The chargers were crap. Not much you can do about this. When they break you go scrounging for a replacement. I don't remember if anyone ever found the ideal replacement or not. Hopefully Kasea found a better source for chargers. The good news is you probably have two and only need one so you get some wiggle room.
3) The controller was not well put together. Some tall parts like capacitors that should have been epoxied to the board weren't. This combined with vertical mount and the shaking could lead to premature death of the controller. When I had an Emax I just firmly resolved to not think about this.
4) The relay that switches charging between the right and left sides was prone to failure. It doesn't matter much anyway unless you are in the habit of using dual chargers. There were instructions on the old Emax Connection about how to remove this part. I'm sure we can still dig them up if it proves to be an issue.
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
Over 600 miles now since late July.
Thanks for the tips DaveW. Fingers crossed on the mileage and battery life. Hoping that Kasea / Topmotorx have picked up on these topics over the last year and implemented improvements.
I'll definitely ensure that he does as many of these mods as he can and will keep everyone up to date on the Kasea ownership experience!
After replacing all 8 batteries, I went for a ride and everything was going great. I didn't know what expect from from my "new to me" Kasea 2k but was a little disappointed in the power going up hill. Upon trying the power boost button, I felt the difference and got my confidence back. I think I used it a few times on that first ride. But being greedy I did a little research and as stated in this thread, I dug in and removed the little black connector to try to gain a little more speed. Now, not only does the speed seem the same but my power boost button doesn't work any more. I went back in and put the connector back on in hopes to at least get my power boost button back but that didn't work either. I suppose I might not have put it back on correctly but even if I had, would that affect the power boost button? I have read different things about the power boost button and how it works. One site said it works one time per charge, another site said you can use it as many times as you need it.Can someone explain how it works? How many times I can use it? Does that little chip have anything to do with the power boost button? Did I blow something up possibly? Does the battery level have to go DOWN to a certain level for the power button to reset? Where can I look first in getting my power boost back? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
By "little black connecter" you mean the jumper on the controller circuit board, right?
The problem is probably a wire or connector to the controller - specifically the boost signal wire. Check all connections to the controller.
The power boost button gives you 1.5 minutes of boost - you must wait for the boost for cancel then hit the button again to get another 1.5 minutes of boost.
The Kasea controller was the same controller as was used in the _old_ e-max scooters, so you may want to dig back into the e-max forum them for more information.
Generally, to get reasonable acceleration and hill climbing you need to modify the controller to not limit current from the pack so much. This is done by modifying the current-measuring shunt resistor in the controller. You need to know what you are doing however - go here:
http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic/motorcycles-and-large-scooters/166-more-e-max-controller-mods-shunt-resistor-trick