Ride Green with Electric Bikes and Scooters

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Batteries are the other critical element of any e-scooter or e-bike. The capacity of a battery to store energy is measured in ampere-hours (amp-hours). Byrd advises that if you plan to use the scooter for commutes of less than five miles on level terrain, then a battery rated below 17 amp-hours will be sufficient. For any other application, make sure the machine is equipped with a battery rated higher than 17 amp-hours. And, as with motor wattage, the more amp-hours, the better. Graeff’s eGO, for example, has a 34 amp-hour battery.

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, Byrd advises. Heat shortens the life of most batteries.

Just as important is the way you treat the batteries. Lead-acid batteries respond poorly to deep discharges or overcharging. To get the maximum mileage out of your batteries, Byrd suggests, 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. Shallower discharges and frequent slow, steady charging will prolong battery life.

Available E-Scooters

If you want to spend less than $1,000 on a short-range stand-up commuter, Byrd recommends the Go-Ped. The ESR750 Sport model has a six-mile range at up to 20 mph in “Turbo” mode and goes nine miles or more in “Econo” mode. Moped clones from Asia rated at 500 watts can be purchased for well under $1,000, and may be an affordable option for short trips over level terrain, but keep in mind Byrd’s dictum that you get what you pay for. In the $1,000 to $1,500 range, both the eGO and a lesser-known e-scooter called the Forsen should be suitable for 10 to 15 miles of travel over mixed terrain at 20 mph.

My favorite class of e-scooter is the electric version of the popular Vespa-style scooters. Powered by 1,500- to 2,000-watt motors, these machines are solid rivals for their 49cc gas-powered counterparts in performance and price but without the noise, tailpipe pollution and reliance on gasoline. Peugeot offered one of these in Europe and was one of the first to demonstrate it was possible to build a practical e-scooter. Motor scooters are extremely popular in Asia as low-cost transportation, so it was inevitable that manufacturers in China and Taiwan would develop electric models to help combat the pollution generated by noisy gasoline scooters.

Unfortunately, this e-scooter class is the most volatile segment of a volatile market, and no manufacturer is currently producing full-size e-scooters for the U.S. market. “There’s not much in the United States right now,” says Bert Cebular, founder of NYCeWheels, an e-ride shop in New York City. “Unfortunately, many manufacturers’ Web sites contain very creative claims, resulting in disappointed consumers.”

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