A Beginner's Guide for How To Buy an Electric Scooter

There are countless reasons to get yourself an electric scooter. The personal travel opportunities you can get from an electric scooter are nothing to scoff at. It gives you great freedom to go wherever you need without all the normal baggage that comes with a car. Parking is easy to accomplish, and you can even carry it if need be, given how light they can be. Unlike a bike, an electric scooter is self-propelling. So, you do not have to tire yourself out as you drive along, giving you plenty of energy to complete any other tasks on your list. The reduction of environmental impact is just another reason that people are picking up electric scooters. However, not every electric scooter is made the same. You will have to take these differences into consideration if you are looking for an electric scooter. To help you get started, here is a beginner’s guide for how to buy an electric scooter.

Range

Every electric scooter has a different effective range that it can drive before it stops. Electric scooters run on batteries and, as you drive, the batteries lose their charge until they are empty. The charge on a battery is what determines the scooter’s effective range. Whenever you go out, you will have to plan around this charge and range.

The trick is to plan for the entire round trip. You should plan to use about half the charge to get where you need to go and the other half to get back home. However, if you can charge your scooter at your destination, you will not need to worry about this. Each scooter has a different battery charge and effective driving range. So, you will need to be sure that the scooter you choose has a range that works for you. You do not want a scooter that can only carry you partway of your journey.

Speed

The top speed of every scooter also varies greatly. There are many factors that impact the speed of a scooter, including the motor, wheels, weight, load, and road, just to name a few. However, e-scooters go through various standardized tests to calculate their top speeds.

It might be tempting to go for the fastest scooter on the market, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, in many cases, the faster scooters may sacrifice other functions and often have their own demerits. For instance, a faster scooter might weigh more or less than what you need, or you may find that its range is not sufficient. Keep in mind the other factors that influence the performance of a scooter when looking for your own e-scooter for adults.

Weight

The weight of a scooter is very important to the usefulness of the scooter. The heavier a scooter is, the harder the motor has to work. This causes the battery to lose its charge more quickly in order to cover the same amount of distance. It also has a negative effect on how fast the scooter can go. Oftentimes, scooter designers shoot for a lighter scooter to minimize these negative effects.

While the weight will not affect your ability to ride the scooter, it will be harder to carry it around when needed. This extra weight is not all bad for a scooter. In fact, heavier scooters generally have a lower center of balance. This makes it harder to over-tilt and fall. It can also increase the handling of your scooter, as the slower your scooter is, the more control you have over it.

Handling

There is no official measurement of the handling of a scooter, as it is not an easy thing to figure out, and certain people prefer different amounts of control. However, that is not to say that there is no clear difference in handling between scooters. Each scooter offers a different amount of control, generally correlating to the weight, motor, and top speed of the scooter. Heavier and slower scooters are usually easier to handle. This is a good reason to consider a scooter’s top speed as well. Although fasters scooters may seem a bit more appealing, you want to make sure you will be able to control the scooter at all times. The best way to find the right scooter for you is to test them out or read reviews on the scooters. This should tell you how it feels to drive them.

Brakes

The brakes are possibly the most important thing on a scooter. It is very unsafe to drive around without a reliable way to stop. That is why you need to know the three major types of brakes on an electric scooter. The first is electric brakes. These are a bit slower to stop than some of the other options, but they require low amounts of maintenance. There are also disc brakes, which have great stopping power but wear down quite quickly. Another common form of brakes is foot brakes. These require you to place pressure on the rear mud guard, which takes a bit of practice to adjust to.

Tires

A scooter’s tires will also have a great impact on its performance. There are many kinds of tires available for scooters, and sometimes, you can even get specialty tires that will alter the performance of your scooter. The biggest difference between various tires is the amount of traction they provide. Some tires are made of softer materials that provide more traction to the scooter overall. Some types of tread designs can do the same thing. However, this comes at the cost of speed, as tires will rotate slower as they apply more traction. Some tires can even change the off-roading abilities of a scooter, giving it more control on dirt and other types of soft terrain. Be careful, though, as a scooter is not mean to handle off-road driving in the same way an ATV can.

These are the basics you should consider when looking for a scooter. As stated above, this is just a beginner’s guide for how to buy an electric scooter. There are plenty more factors that you should investigate, such as lighting or waterproofing. However, we hope that this guide has given you the basic knowledge you need to start the process.