Hello,
I'm new to the boards and new to owning an electric scooter.
At the beginning of June, I purchased the iZip Fusion 1000. Since then, I have logged roughly 60 miles on it. I have come up with a number of questions. I hope some of you might be able to help me with answering them.
1. I live in the greater Cleveland area, where the local joke is "Don't like the weather? Wait 5 minutes." One of the things I'd like to investigate is the potential to do some weatherproofing to my scooter. Has anyone made any attempts at this?
2. Has anyone tried hooking up their scooter's charger up through a Kill-a-watt device to see how much electricity it actually uses?
If so, does the charger draw much when its not plugged into the scooter?
If the scooter has a full charge, does it draw much (if any)?
3. Do any companies sell baskets specifically designed for use with this or other similar scooters? I actually do my grocery shopping on my scooter and it would make things easier if I had a rear-mounted basket. What about other accessories?
4. Has anyone attempted to refit one of these (or a similar model of scooter) with Lithium-Ion batteries instead of the stock SLA batteries? Would there be any benefit to attempting to use Lithium-Ion over SLA?
Thanks for any assistance,
Roy
1. Yes I have. Hot glue and duct tape work great. I would through my scoot in the lake and pull it out and not worry that it would be screwed up. I wouldn't leave it in there though.
2. It uses 0 both on while not plugged in, and at full charge.
3. I'm not sure, but it's easy to make one. I have a milk crate, and it works great strapped to the back.
4. I have a 48v 15ah Ping battery on mine. I've also used 4 12v 12ah batteries, and 4 12v 10ah batteries. And, I had 5 12v 10ah batteries going through the motor with a different controller.
The lithium batteries last a lot longer, but don't give off the amps that the lead do. At least it's that way with the Ping batteries. The amps aren't that low though. I can cruise at a steady 22.0 mph.
I bent my wheel, broke my trans, and blew my motor. Now I cry a lot.
Thanks. I take it then that the motor itself is waterproof enough that I shouldn't have to worry about riding home in the rain? That, so far, has been my main concern.
I saw another thread about a Schwinn Stealth 1000 where the owner had built his own fenders. This would be another piece of weather outfitting I want to look at doing.
As far as the batteries go, I'm not really looking to get additional speed or even ride-time/distance for that matter. My reasoning for wanting Lithium vs. the SLA is about the charging method.
My commute to work is only about a mile and a half. I could get a full weeks worth of travel from that full 18-mile charge, but the manual says SLA batteries shouldn't be left with a partial, so I end up plugging it in every day, in essence, topping off my tank every day when I don't need to.
Charging a small electric scooter only uses pennies of electricity. It doesn't hurt to charge the LA batteries after only a few miles--they actually do best in that scenario.
Fenders for that scooter:
(ebay item) Custom Fender Set For Schwinn Stealth 1000 Scooter
I would like to add that the other day after I made my original post, I got caught out in the rain. I road a good 2 miles in poring rain. When I got to my buddy's house, I looked like I had jumped in a pool. I ran through a puddle that was about 4-6 inches deep too. With electric grease on every connection, hot glue on the base of the motor around wires, battery enclosed in plexi glass box, hot glue on all gaps in the battery tray, one layer of duct tape around the battery tray, and other layer of duct tape on the board I stand on enclosing the battery and battery tray. I even opened up my start switch and filled it with electric grease. I'm really not worried about this thing now. Honestly though, my girlfriends is all stock with just electric grease on all the connections and I would trust it in just about any rain or puddle she could get into.
I bent my wheel, broke my trans, and blew my motor. Now I cry a lot.