So about a year ago I bought a cheap eScooter after selling my stupid car, and I’ve had a pretty good time! I live within 2 miles of my doctor, my dentist, a bunch of grocery stores, and even my mom AND my grandma!
The only problem is despite it advertising 12 mile range, it only goes about 4 before dying. I kind of expected it because it’s under $300.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K9MB6X1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I weigh 130 pounds so I don’t think that’s impacting it.
While I just uber whenever I need to go further 1-2 times a month, would be nice to have closer to 10 miles if I want to run multiple errands in a row. Any eScooters that actually have good range and are under $500?
Honestly, I’d recommend getting a decent used bicycle. 2 miles is nothing, especially once you get acclimated to riding. Last weekend I rode down to my local bike shop (about a mile and a half away) to buy new pedals for my MTB (Black Ops Squatch btw, they were $12 and I picked them up after someone here recommended them as good budget pedals), decided to go on a little test ride, and kind of ended up riding 20 miles on accident.
Great exercise and you can haul stuff with them too!
I know that isn’t necessarily what you were after but at that price range, I think you might struggle to get anything reliable. That said, if you really want a scooter, keep an eye on slickdeals.net under the sport section, escooter deals pop up regularly on there.
Gotrax is definitely not reliable as a company and I regularly see people complaining about them fwiw. That said, you could probably just find a higher capacity battery for your existing scooter if it’s otherwise functional.
Alas, I am a 130 pound adult male because of health reasons.
Some days I could use a bike, other days I can’t. I have been debating getting a cheap bike when I can afford it so on days I feel up to I can, but then I might get left in a lurch where I leave feeling up to biking, then get stuck because I can’t get back.
Part of why I like scooter instead of ebike. I can fold up little scooters and throw them in the back of an uber super easily if I suddenly find myself unable to keep going.
Save the ewaste and buy a new battery?
Could it be the quality of the cells thay made it cheap and not the efficiency of the motor?
I would love to know the actual environmental impact of all these cheap electric scooters and other similar vehicles that don’t last…
I didn’t see any way to easily replace the battery, wish I had bought one that had replaceable batteries. If there is a resource for it I would love to know, no luck far.
If you want to try replacing the battery yourself it looks like they sell new batteries for that scooter.
https://gotrax.com/products/36v-5-4ah-escooter-battery
Here’s an iFixit guide on replacing it.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Gotrax+GXL+Scooter+Battery+Pack+Replacement/124154
Also GoTrax claims it has a 2-year warranty. It might be worth it to see if they’ll send you a new battery for it.
These services aren’t cheap afaik, but there are cell repackers that can rebuild proprietary batteries using the original casing. I chatted with them when looking at ebikes. Even the support team is shockingly hardware-literate. Like, they REALLY know their stuff.
Switching to a pedal assist bike could help with the range of you are open to expending some of your own energy.
A good ebike wil probably run him more though
For health reasons I’m iffy on getting a pedal bike, because if I suddenly realize I can’t keep going with my scooter, I can easily get an uber and throw it in the back. Just harder with a bike.
Slightly off-topic, but if your current scooter has inflatable tyres, I suggest you check their pressure. The drag gets considerably higher with underinflated tyres, making your battery discharge at a faster rate.
i dont know where you live but these can go below $500 and have 50km range. these things are huge in south east asia so if you can reasonably import them then i highly suggest research them and consider them. these e bikes also have in bike configuration called cyrusher in western i think but its way more pricier. if you can, try getting them from asian vendors because its way way more cheaper
This entire answer is mostly conjecture, but I think you’d have to be looking for the e-scooter that has the largest battery pack in that price range. Of course, such a pack would add weight and possibly bulk to the scooter. A quick search on Amazon showed this scooter, a Segway NineBot ES4 listed for $480.
Your GoTrax has a 36V 5.2A battery pack, which works out to be 187 Wh. The ES4 has double the capacity, at 374 Wh. If the GoTrax could only muster 4 miles, then the ES4 should be double that.
But I do think there may be something wrong with your GoTrax. 187 Wh per 4 miles means an efficiency of 30 Wh/km. But scooters tend to be closer to 12 Wh/km. For reference, a class 3 ebike cruising at 45 kph (28 mph) is 48-60 Wh/km. Scooters travel so much slower, and so should be many-fold more efficient.
If we say 12 Wh/km is too optimistic for the ES4, then let’s conservatively assume it does 24 Wh/km. That would still mean it could do 10 miles, which is just within your parameters.
Ya somethings wrong with your GoTrax. I’d reach out to them for warranty. Mine (same model) goes close to advertised range and I weigh 160lbs
AliExpress has scooters in your budget that advertise further range, but I haven’t tested them personally.
Have you considered getting a bicycle? For these distances you don’t really need any engine unless you have a physical disability.
Ahh alas, I am a 130 pound adult male for reasons that aren’t fantastic.
I have debated getting a bike for the days I feel up to it, I just know that many days I wouldn’t be up to it so I need something for those days.
2 years ago when I searched, I was unable to find such a thing, because I needed to do 10 miles twice a day, every day (although I could charge between). I spent about $2k for 25 mile capacity.
I did find this and am gonna look more into these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsC8Fd7Hb1w&t=471s
But I bet yours is swanky.
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