Shopping Guide for electric scooters

Electric scooters are here to stay. More and more people discover how fast and easy it is to get around in a big city using this inexpensive, reliable, and ecological means of transportation. In this shopping guide for electric scooters we are going to explain the differences between types of electric scooters, their different parts, and peculiarities. With this information we will help you find the electric scooter which is best for you.

Electric scooter types

Electric scooters for young kids: Electric scooters for kids and toddlers usually have little power and they need to be pushed to start rolling. There are models that are very similar to electric scooters for adults and there are models with a more creative design simulating motor bikes or even animals. To sum it up -  they are meant to be more of a toy than a means of transportation.

Compact electric scooters:

Compact electric scooters are slightly smaller and, above all, very light compared to regular electric scooters. They also feature a foldable handlebar and sometimes a carrying handle. They are usually not very powerful and they have a reduced single charge range. This, however, is not something you should focus on, as their main use is being an additional means of transportation, i.e., they are to be used together with other vehicles. A typical example would be a person who lives outside the city but works in the centre of the city. Their daily commute is made up of a train ride from where they live to the city and, once they arrive, they ride the electric scooter to the final destination of their workplace.

Another typical use would be for a person having difficulties of parking their car close to home. They can park further away from home if they always have an electric scooter in the trunk of their car.
In both cases it is more important to have a light and compact electric scooter that can be easily transported than a powerful one with a long range.

Urban electric scooters: Urban electric scooters are designed particularly as a means of transport, especially in urban surroundings. Compact electric scooters could also be put into this category, but if you need your scooter to have a certain range and/or power and it is not essential that it is very light or compact, then the best option for you is an urban electric scooter. These usually come with motors of 300 or more watts, a range of at least 25 km, and they are bigger in size. The majority of them have foldable handlebars and they can be carried around, but due to their bigger sizes it is not very comfortable to carry them around by hand.

Off-road electric scooters: As the name already says, these scooters are meant for all terrains, especially for mountain trails. They usually have more powerful motors than the urban electric scooters, better suspension systems and a longer range. You can use an off-road electric scooter in the city but if you have to carry it by hand, either to use public transport or to carry it up to an apartment without elevator, it will be difficult task.

Main electric scooter parts 

Battery

The Battery is one of the key components that we should keep in mind when buying an electric scooter. We can distinguish between three battery types:

Sealed lead-acid batteries: These are the heaviest and technologically the oldest. They are quite tough but have the disadvantage that they need to be recharged fully after every use. They are usually used in inexpensive scooters.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries: They are used for inexpensive electric scooters as they are low-cost. Their drawback is that they only have up to 500 charge cycles and that they have a memory and therefore must be fully charged after every use. They also have problems with overheating.

Lithium-ion batteries: These are the most efficient batteries and they are used in electric scooter of higher quality. They are also the most expensive batteries. They last between 2500 and 3000 charge cycles and they do not have a memory effect and can therefore be charged independent of the charge level.

When talking about the materials electric scooter batteries are made of, one needs to understand some concepts in order to know what features one is most interested in.

Voltage: The voltage of a battery is measured in volts (V) and this is like the horse power of a car (in a very casual, totally non-academic way). It is the theoretical maximum potential of the battery. The most typical voltages for electric scooter batteries are 24V,36V, and 48V.

Ampere hour: The ampere hour (Ah) measure the charge capacity of a battery. This means that a 15Ah battery can give 15 ampere during one hour or 1,5 ampere during 10 hours. The Ah is like the gas for your car. With more Ah, your scooter will have a longer range. This is only a theoretic range and the real range depends on many factors such as the weight of the electric scooter, the motor efficiency, and more.

Watt hour: The watt hours (Wh) could be called the ability to produce a certain amount of power for some amount of time. To get Wh, multiply the voltage by the ampere hours. Here is an example: we have two electric scooters, one with a 24 volt and 20 ampere hour battery and one with a 48 volt and a 10 ampere hour battery. Both scooters have the same watt hours:

24 V x 20 Ah = 480 Wh
48 V x 10 Ah = 480 Wh

Both scooters have similar performance, although the one with the higher voltage will probably accelerate faster by using up more energy.

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Number of charge cycles: This is how many times a battery can be fully charged. After that the battery capacity will diminish gradually.

Brand: Although it is not always true, in general if a battery is of a well-known brand such as Samsung, there is one less thing to be concerned about.

Motor

The motor drives your electric scooter. There are different motor types for electric scooters.

First of all one needs to distinguish between brushed motors and brushless motors. Brushless motors are more efficient as they have less interior friction and therefore they have reduced maintenance needs and are more reliable. Nowadays almost all electric scooters have brushless motors.
Another aspect is the location of the motor. Older or cheaper scooters have a chain-drive motor which transfers movements to the wheels through a system of chains and gears. Modern and higher quality scooters have the motor built into the hub of the wheel. This is called a hub motor and it is a lot more efficient than a chain-drive motor and it also requires less maintenance. The hub motor can be built into the front wheel, into the back wheel, or into both wheels. If the motor is built into the front wheel, the weight will be better distributed. If the motor is built into the back wheel, however, the electric scooter is easier to manoeuvre and can be driven more aggressively.
An electric scooter with two motors it is a very powerful one but there are models where one motor can be disconnected to save energy.
The motor power is indicated in watts and in theory a motor is more powerful if it has more watts. But as mentioned above, ultimately the power of an electric scooter is determined by a combination of the battery and the motor and not by the motor only.

Brakes 

Electric scooters can be fairly fast. Another key element to keep in mind when deciding on an electric scooter is the brake system.

Electric scooters can have one or more of the following brake systems:

Foot back brakes: This is the typical brake system that is used for a kick scooter, when you push the fender down on the wheel with your foot. If the scooter is not very fast, this brake system can be sufficient.

Regenerative brakes: This system is often used in electric scooters and it is quite effective. Regenerative brakes are activated by a switch which electrically couples the motor with the charging system, creating resistance to the motor rotation. Just like a dynamo, this resistance recharges the battery.

Drum brakes: This is the classical brake system that is activated by a hand lever. It works quite well, but it has to be maintained as the brake pads wear out.

Disc brakes: This is the most powerful brake system for electric scooters and it is also activated by a hand lever. The brake pads have to be changed as with the drum brakes. There are scooters with one or two disc brakes (one on each wheel).

Tires

Depending on their price, use, and design, electric scooters can have different types of tires. Here are the most common ones:

Solid polyurethane tires: These are the typical tires that are used in kick scooters. They are usually only used for young kids’ scooters, as their grip and bounce is much inferior to pneumatic tires.

Tires with inner tube: These are the most commonly used tires in the majority of quality electric scooters. They are made up of a rubber tire and an inner tube. They absorb the terrain well, are relatively light, and have good traction, which are their main advantages. The main disadvantage is that the inner tube can get punctured. Depending on the quality of the tire, punctures can frequently occur and fixing or changing an inner tube can be tedious due to the size of the wheel.

Solid rubber tires: These tires are not very typical with standard electric scooters, but they are often installed after a puncture. The tires and inner tube are changed for a solid rubber tire. The main advantage is that it cannot get a puncture. Disadvantages are that they are not as shock absorbing as a tire with inner tube and that they can slow down the scooter as they are heavier. There are, however, electric scooters that often get punctures and in this case we do recommend the use of solid rubber tires.

The images above show a solid rubber tire on the left and an inner tube of a conventional electric scooter on the right.

The diameter of the tires depend on the design and for the purpose the electric scooter is used for. Light and compact scooters usually have smaller tires than the electric urban or off-road scooters. This way the scooter is more portable and lighter.
As a rule of thumb, if the tire has a bigger diameter, it absorbs irregular terrain better and can achieve higher speeds.

Display

The majority of electric scooters have a display to keep you informed about remaining battery charge, distance, speed, etc.. It is therefore an important element to keep in mind when buying an electric scooter.

Suspension

Not all electric scooters come with suspension. It is an element which, although not essential, makes riding a scooter more stable and comfortable.

Chassis

The electric scooter chassis keeps all other elements in their place and guarantees the sturdiness of the scooter. There are many different types and designs but they do not need special attention, as they do not greatly differentiate one electric scooter from another one.e.

Handlebar

The handlebar allows you to steer the electric scooter in the direction you want. Therefore you only have to check whether its height is adjustable and the quality of the grips. A handlebar with a fixed height could be uncomfortable, depending on your height, when steering the electric scooter. Foam grips can seem to be more comfortable in the beginning, but they last for a shorter time and you will have less feel compared to rubber grips. It is therefore more recommended to have the latter.

Lights

This is the most underrated scooter part but, especially when riding at night, a crucial one. Sometimes one believes that the scooter is only used at daytime, but as it is a means of transportation, you need to keep in mind that nightfall comes early in wintertime or that the sun may not have come up yet when you need to leave home in the morning. This is why you need to check that the scooter has front and rear lights and, if possible, brake lights.  In short, all safety features are useful.

Starting mechanism and starting

The majority of electric scooters have a start button. Some high end models have an ignition key like motorcycles or cars. This is an extra security feature so that nobody can take your electric scooter by mistake.

Some of the cheaper scooter models need a little help with starting. This means that once the scooter comes to a complete stop, you have to manually push a little to get it moving (as for example with Xiaomi scooters). That is not a big problem, only not very comfortable.

Apps and connectivity

Some electric scooters have a special app from the manufacturer that allows your smartphone to connect to your electric scooter via bluetooth. This allows you to control battery consumption, distance covered, battery condition, or even to activate an anti-theft mode that warns you when your scooter is getting started or moved without your permission. This is not really essential but clearly an added value.

Other

Another detail to keep in mind and what we believe is very important when you buy an electric scooter is to make sure that the brand has spare parts and original accessories available in your country. An electric scooter, a somewhat complex vehicle, which will, in principle, be used daily, is prone to the wear and tear of some parts. It is not uncommon that someone is forced to stop using their electric scooter after buying it from some shop in China, because it is impossible to find something as simple as a new charger for it.

It is also good to have access to accessories to improve your scooter, as for example, a seat, a carrier rack, extra displays, etc..

Buying electric scooters

This guide was intended to give advise on purchasing an electric scooter. Ultimately, however nothing can replace the advice of a qualified expert like those that work in our shop Inercia. Whether you come to our electric scooter shop in Barcelona or you want to order online, we will be pleased to help you with any questions you might have. We will also give you the piece of mind that you can count on our team of experts during your electric scooter’s lifespan, whether it is for basic maintenance, repair work, or adding accessories.