Tips on how to choose your electric scooter

What should I look for when buying an electric scooter?

When choosing an electric scooter, you should consider both the carrying weight of the scooter, which impacts its portability, as well as the weight limits for riders. Think about your commute, and how much weight you can maneuver up the stairs or hold while riding the bus, in other words how much the electric scooter weighs. You should also look for charge time, how many miles per charge the electric scooter has, and if it meant for city commute or is it one of those off-road scooters. Make sure to know what size of the scooter that can be suitable for you. To ensure a comfortable ride, you need to make sure that you are sitting on the scooter stationary. Also, you can easily put your feet on ground without losing your balance. This can be done with a right size of scooter only.

What age is appropriate for a scooter?

Electric scooters are good for the ages 16 to senior citizen.  When it comes children, they differ in motor skills at any given age, so physical ability is a better predictor than age or physical size to determine if a child is ready. Generally, any child who can walk with a steady gait will be able to ride a kick scooter, but if you live in the US, different states have road rule for electric scooters, and may require a minimum age requirement and a driver’s license to operate an electric scooter. There are different sizes of electric scooters, some may be meant for the younger crowds, but there are adult electric scooters that are larger, and have a heavier weight load capacity.

Can electric scooters go uphill?

It may seem like an odd question, but it’s an important one – especially if you live in a hilly area. The short answer is yes, electric scooters, generally speaking, can go uphill. It really depends on the brand of electric scooters, at Varla Scooters they have two adult electric scooters, the Eagle One, and The Pegasus. The Eagle One is able to climb hills of 30-degree angle. While the Pegasus has a 25-degree climbing angle.

Are Electric scooters able to get you through your daily commute?

Most electric scooters can go from 10-80 miles (depending on the battery, weight, and other built-in factors) in just one charge. Keep in mind that this depends on the type of electric scooter that you get at Varla Scooters, the Pegasus can go 28 miles per charge, and can go up to speeds consisting of 28 mph. While the Eagle One can travel up to 40 miles, while maintaining speeds of 40 mph. It takes between 4 and 20 hours to charge an electric scooter, but charge time greatly depends on battery capacity and chargers used. You can use the charging timetable to estimate how long a battery will take to charge from 0% to 100%. When you add up the cost of public transport, an electric scooter is still a much cheaper way of commuting to and from work. Check out our full article on the cost of riding an electric scooter versus driving a car, catching public transport and catching rideshare vehicles.

What about going Off road, can you get an off-road electric scooter?

It is important you get the right machine for the task at hand.  Like any electric or modern piece of machinery, to get the most out of its performance, you must ensure that the scooter is matched to its intended use of terrain. There are a variety of electric scooters out there, all slightly different to be able to perform different tasks. For example, if you’re going off road on uneven terrains like trails or forest/hiking paths (semi off-road), then an electric scooter like the Eagle One will be your best friend. You may be wondering if you can ride electric bikes in the sand — and the answer may be surprising. You can! Because federal law considers electric bikes to be regular bikes, not motorized vehicles, you are legally allowed to ride electric bikes on most beaches throughout the United States.

How comfortable should your ride be?

There are number of factors that affect ride quality, you don’t want the whole scooter shaking you to your bones, so make sure to check these things: Wheel size, we strongly advise that you avoid wheels less than 10 inches diameter. Smaller wheels give a rougher ride and are more susceptible to getting stuck in potholes. As a rule, you need large wheels with air in your tires. If you are going to do a lot of off-road scooter riding you will need fat treaded tires and suspension.

Tires come in two varieties: pneumatic (air-filled) and solid rubber (airless).  Air-filled tires give you a better ride – they have the advantage of shock absorption and a much better handling but are prone to punctures and require maintenance.

Suspension, suspension on an electric scooter works the same as a car, smoothing out bumps and shocks from the ground. Think about if you’re going to be riding off-road or on rough terrain and if so, suspension might be a key consideration when looking to buy an electric scooter. Without it you will get vibration in the handlebars which can be uncomfortable on longer rides.

The next thing to look for is the brakes, your safety should always come first, and brakes are important when picking an electric scooter.  There are 3 main types of brakes on electric scooters: Electric/regenerative brakes, these are low maintenance but less effective at stopping you quickly. Disc brakes and drum brakes, Drum brakes are enclosed inside the wheel hub and are generally lower maintenance than other braking types and have consistent performance in wet conditions. Disc brakes have the most stopping power and are lighter than drum brakes which helps to lighten the overall load for extra speed. While drum and disc brakes are the best of all they will wear out over time and will eventually need to be serviced, just like a car.

Electric scooters are cheaper to operate when compared to traditional fuel-based scooters and bikes. Instead of hopping in your car for short trips and quick errands, hop on your electric scooter. They are affordable. An electric scooter certainly costs far less than a motorcycle or a car, and now that you know what to look for, you can get the best adult electric scooter for your lifestyle, whether it be an off-road scooter, or a city commuter, there is an electric scooter meant for you.