The more powerful the motor, the better the performance, especially on hills. But power gains bring weight gains, and an e-bike often weighs two or three times as much as a conventional bicycle, especially if it uses inexpensive but heavy lead-acid batteries. More and more e-bikes are now using powerful and lightweight, but more expensive, lithium-ion batteries.

Batteries: Care and Charging
Batteries are the other critical element of any e-scooter or e-bike. A battery's capacity is measured in ampere-hours (amp-hours).For commutes of less than five miles on level terrain, a battery rated below 17 amp-hours will be sufficient. For more demanding applications, make sure the machine has a battery rated higher than 17 amp-hours. And, as with motor wattage, the more amp-hours, the better.
Those batteries also must be charged, and the quality of the charger is important. To cut corners, clone scooter makers may ship an inexpensive but inefficient charger. If you notice the batteries getting warm during the charge ? and we're talking about lead-acid batteries, which power most e-scooters today ? buy a better charger. Heat shortens the life of most batteries.
To get best performance, treat your batteries well. Lead-acid batteries respond poorly to deep discharges or overcharging. For maximum mileage, take only relatively short trips and recharge the batteries frequently. For example, it's better to drive three 10-mile trips, recharging in between, than one 30-mile jaunt.

Four Rules for Choosing an E-Ride
All things considered, here's what our experts advise when shopping for an e-bike or e-scooter:
1) You get what you pay for.
2) Buy as many watts and amps as you can afford.
3) Go for quality, defined here as performance, reliability and workmanship. It will cost more initially, but will pay in the long run.
4) Select a manufacturer with a good track record that appears likely to stand behind its product with parts and service over the life of the machine.