7 Tips Before Buying an Electric Scooter
Posted by Tom Lee on
There are a lot of things to consider before buying an electric scooter. While they may all look cool and fancy, you have to be certain that the one you are going for fits and satisfies your needs. It should also serve its purpose and perform maximally. Here are some important things to consider before buying an electric scooter.
1. Consider the size
Before you buy an electric scooter, size is one of the most important things to look out for. The scooter must be able to support your weight. At the same time, you should also be careful not to go for an electric scooter that will be too bulky or too heavy to handle comfortably. Imagine how hard It will be to drag your scooter up and down the stairs if your apartment is not on the ground floor of your building.
2. Sit-downs or stand on, what type of electric scooters should I get?
You have two types of electric scooters to choose from. There is the stand on electric scooters and there is the sit-down scooters. Which one you go for at the end of the day depends largely on your preference. However, a stand-on the scooter is recommended for someone who been making use of manual scooters in the past.
3. Always check the battery
As with all things electronic, you should never buy an electric scooter until you are sure that the battery is good enough for you. Asides battery power you should also check how fast the battery charges. It is normal, that the battery life will reduce with use and you will have to charge more often as time goes on. Thus you should ensure that the battery recharge time and the running time balances quite well.
4. Check load capacity of the e-scooter
This is not something many people are eager to disclose, but it is necessity before you buy an electric scooter. To a large extent, your weight will determine the type of scooter you go for. You should make a comparison between your weight and the scooter’s motor power as the speed the scooter will attain depends on how much weight it has to carry. Thus if you are on the heavy side, you might want to go for a scooter that has a higher power.
5. Your route is important, consider the terrain of the route
Since you are buying a scooter to move around, you need to consider your regular route before deciding which one to buy. How far will you be going with your scooter? If you will be riding for longer distances, then you need to buy a scooter that can give you more battery power.
Also, you should also consider the type of terrain you will be cycling through regularly. Small wheeled scooters are not suitable for rough terrains. Asides your ride being rough and bumpy, you may end up damaging the under pans of your scooter. Thus you should check out your regular route and see if the scooter you are going for serves the purpose well.
6. How fast is too fast or too slow?
An important question you should also ask is how fast your scooter should go, partly for yourself and partly for the law. You might not be aware of this, but different countries and even states have different speed limits for scooters. While the allowed driving speed on a city road in China is less than 30 km/h, that of the US is around 24 to 56km/hr. You should make sure you compare your scooter’s optimal speed with the optimal speed for your country or city.
7. Research the law requirements for your state
While some cities only place limits on how fast you can ride your scooter, some countries, cities, and states don’t allow it at all. So before you go off ordering one, you should confirm if you are even allowed to ride it in your city. While it’s okay to ride a scooter on the road in California, you might be surprised to find out that it is not allowed in New York. Therefore, confirm with the local traffic authorities in your city if you are allowed to ride one before buying an electric scooter.
