I was just wondering if anyone has some suggestions on good electric scooters for a daily commute of about 15 miles? The roads I'd drive have about a 45 MPH top speed, so I need something that can reach that or more. Other than the speed, I'm just looking for something not outrageously overpriced and okay looking.
I did look into a few including X-Treme, Vectrix, e-max, and zap models. (Pretty much all the sub-forums names) I just don't know which is the best buy for the cost and really don't know enough to figure it out.
If anyone has tips, suggestions, or anything which may lead me to the right scooter please let me know!
Thanks a lot!
Are these roads flat or hilly? What's the weather like?
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
The roads are fairly flat, no major inclines, or even anything as steep as say a freeway on-ramp. The weather is fairly sporadic though, I live in the pacific northwest so it rains quite a lot at times.
I've heard that Pegasus brand is a good choice. Check it out@ TNC scooters.com
I would advise that you stay away from x-Treme for heavy commuting. I have a 560 which they say is one of their "more powerful" models. It is cute, a great chick magnet, and great for my 3-4 block spins around our small town. However, its not very well made (read cheap), the suspension is lousy, and small hills bog it down considerably.
if you are looking for 45mph or more top speed, i would look at a xm3500 and add a BMS to it.
or you could get a vectrix.
my emax with 60v (19 lifepo4 cells 40AH) mod i can get to 43mph on a flat. since this is its top speed, it cant do it always under all conditions (just like my old prelude cant do its top speed of 250kmh under all conditions)
so the question becomes, do you need to do 45mph at command, or do you need 40mph at command, and need 45mph top speed so you can make sure you can do 40mph under all conditions?
my emax can do 40mph under most conditions, and a strong head wind and a hill is needed to slow it down to 37mph.
basically whatever setup you end up with, it needs to be capable of 2.5kw continuous, 3-4kw peak.
Andrew - what is a 560? ive never heard of it..
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km
Thanks for the reply! I don't necessarily need to go 45 MPH, there is only one road I would ride on daily with a 45 MPH speed limit. All of the other roads are 40 or below, so being able to maintain 40 at all times is more important than the extra 5 MPH.
Matt - the 560 is a 500 watt electric scooter by X-treme. It retails for about $350. You can find it on their website.
Andrews
i didnt realise extreme made scooters of that low power. i thought theyre smallest model was a 750watt unit.
in any case, for 40-45 mph you need 2500w continuos, 3500w peak or more.
an xm-3000 or 3500 or any other scooter with similar power output.
alternatively you could get yourself a second hand emax or emax clone, and go to 60v.
in either case, you will need to do modifications to get reliability.
you need an AH meter such as a cycle analyst for all scooters mentioned.
you need to add a battery balancing setup for all scooters mentioned.
you would be looking at around $4-6k all up.
Matt
Daily Ride:
2007 Vectrix, modified with 42 x Thundersky 60Ah in July 2010. Done 194'000km