Your Guide to Buying an Electric Scooter
It’s time to take control and get around on your own terms. You need a practical solution that makes nipping from A to B quick, cheap, easy and stress free. Here are the 3 most important features you should consider when choosing an electric scooter.
Range
Your scooter needs to be ready and raring to go whenever life calls. What’s the use in a scooter if it can’t get you from A to B without running out of juice? A bigger battery range means you can travel greater distances between charges and you don’t have to worry about remembering to put it on charge every night.
In our experience, a scooter with a range of 25-30km is perfect for most daily riders, this will allow you to travel an average distance of 15 miles before needing to find a plug – now that’s convenient!
Tip: consider leaving a spare charger at common destinations. Just in case!
Compact
You’re going to need a scooter that’s practical for day-to-day life or in other words, easy to carry, store and fold. The size of the scooter when it’s folded will determine whether you can carry it with one hand, fit it in the car boot or tuck it neatly under your desk.
We recommend you look for an electric scooter with folded dimensions that range up to 113 x 46 x 50cm (LxWxH), we’ve tested a lot of scooter models and found this to be the most practical. A handy and compact scooter should be able to follow you everywhere, so you can just pick it up and go whenever suits you.
Tip: some scooters have folding handlebars which make them even smaller and extra compact.
We also strongly recommend you buy the ABUS Ultra D-lock. Thieves love electric scooters, and an unlocked scooter can be stolen in seconds. Don’t risk being left devastated and out of pocket.
Weight
More than anything, your travel companion needs to be portable and accessible. Will you need to carry it up a flight of stairs? Sometimes bad weather or a late-night lift home may require some scooter manoeuvring and you should choose a model you can lift easily.
Most scooters with a reasonable range (15 miles) weigh over 11kg. We recommend that 12.5kg should handle easily for most people. Anything above 13kg may be difficult to carry longer distances.
Tip: consider where the weight is held proportionately within the scooter. A scooter that holds its battery weight below the foot-deck is usually better balanced and a lot easier to carry. Still concerned it might be too heavy? Check out our useful shoulder strap that will lighten the load and make your scooter much easier to carry.
Speed
People often make the mistake of thinking speed is the single most important feature in a scooter. The traffic regulation is Belgium determine that the maximum speed for an electric scooter is 25 km/h. If your scooter can reach a higher speed, the traffic regulation considers your e-scooter no longer to be an e-scooter, with important consequences regarding insurance, registration, taxes and penalties. Most of the scooters we offer are limited to this maximum speed. Trust us, 25 km/h feels an awful lot faster on a scooter than it does in a car and will comfortably turn a long walk into a few minutes ride ! For this reason, we haven’t featured speed as an important factor here.
Wheel Type
Tyres come in two varieties: air-filled and solid rubber. Air-filled tyres have the advantage of shock absorption and a much better handling/traction but are prone to punctures and require maintenance.
E-Scooters with solid tyres on the other hand require virtually-zero maintenance, but they aren’t as smooth to ride, and you will feel more bumps and vibrations.
If you’re opting for air-filled tyres, you will need to regularly check your air pressure and refill when low. Correct tyre pressure is vital for safety, braking effectiveness and grip.
Safety
Warning: always wear a helmet when riding your scooter at any speed. Electric scooters are safe to ride, but accidents still happen.
7 out of 10 serious head injuries could have been avoided by wearing a helmet. To protect yourself we strongly recommend a helmet.
Tip: if you are going to ride at night, strongly consider adding some flashing red rear lights to your helmet or backpack
Hill climb ability
A scooter with a motor power of 250 watts is adequate for flat surfaces and small hills, but if your ride is likely to be particularly bumpy or hilly you should also consider motor power as an important feature too. We do not recommend anything under 300 watts for daily use in areas with steeper hills.