The Rise of Electric Scooters.

[Robie]

For my commute which is 23 miles each way, either I can use the car and endure the insane downtown Chicago traffic or use train+ scooter and save $150 a month.
After 8hr work days, E-biking 23 miles in cold is not so fun.
In the coming months, I will experiment with a scooter because it makes so much sense.



So cool! That scooter sure looks comfy and capable. I wonder how that would fare in the US as they may not fall into the category of mopeds or E-bikes.
As long as the speed is <20mph, it should be ok under the E-bike category.



It's really amazing that you got the Mitsubishi I-MIEV battery to work on your scooter without any glitch. 70 miles is really super range on any scooter. Not sure how heavy it is but seems like it can carry 2 small people.
Kudos to you for making it work!

 

[Robie]

Ravi,
Check out "The One Wheel " Sly Dog Stroh Thicker Gloves -on You tube cruising the windy City with you. I want one .

 

[Nutella]

My daughter in law works for a company who is going to make scooter motors. She told me they fall under the same category as ebikes. She called me to ask me what the speed ratings were on class 3 ebike were. So now they will design their motor to go 28 mph on their sit down type of scooter. Her company is in San diego so they have to follow Ca. rules. I guess scooter rules can be different in your state.

They do? They don't have pedals, so I don't see how the ebike rules would have any bearing. At least the scooters the OP was talking about.

 

[bob armani]

I've ridden them around Austin and Detroit and liked it a lot. My only real concern is there's no easy way to get a helmet unless you remember to bring one. Not sure how to solve that issue though.

Sure it's not a class 3 pedelec, but what is?

Perhaps one of the folding bike helmets would be appropriate for that juncture.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I think I zeroed in on the scooter choice.
It's a little heavy but quite capable.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Traitor.

Well,
The biggest motivator for me is not to deal with the Chicago traffic 2 times a day. I could get on the train, read something or listen to an audiobook or even meditate before getting to work.
Spending 40 minutes in the morning morning and then again in the evening, dealing with angry drivers, bumper to bumper to traffic is not good for mental productivity.

 

[Lenny]

I get bombarded almost daily for scooter company's wanting me to rep their product.

Here is one of many examples...

http://www.easybike-int.com/

Magnum offers them, one of a handful of ebike companies that also has a decent scooter line up.

Amazing how many of them go out of their way, to say their scooters AREN'T made or designed in China. View attachment 27620

Why would something made in China be such a bad thing... I'd say as high as 70% of the things we own in our daily lives are made in China. The Folks in China are perfectly capable of making good products among the not so go products. Same goes for any other country.

 

[bob armani]

Ravi,
Check out "The One Wheel " Sly Dog Stroh Thicker Gloves -on You tube cruising the windy City with you. I want one .

Robie-Nice video. I work in the neighborhood and have not spotted many of these one wheels. Mostly on the local bike paths. Cool one wheel.

 

[bob armani]

I think I zeroed in on the scooter choice.
It's a little heavy but quite capable.

Good choice Ravi. Looks like it will do the job as a nice alternative during most of the year. I also like the new 'navy pier flyover Navy Pier Bike Path'. I only was able to see it during pre-construction over the summer. I think parts of it have opened. Take the new scooter for a spin up there. LOL!

 

[tomjasz]

Finishing a build similar to this over the winter. Custom made battery being mounted where the controller is on the OEM version. MAC 10T 36V. Because I can...

 

[JohnT]

My daughter in law works for a company who is going to make scooter motors. She told me they fall under the same category as ebikes. She called me to ask me what the speed ratings were on class 3 ebike were. So now they will design their motor to go 28 mph on their sit down type of scooter. Her company is in San diego so they have to follow Ca. rules. I guess scooter rules can be different in your state.

Sounds like she might have some facts mixed up. Class 3 arent allowed to have throttles, and I don’t think a pedal assist only ride-on scooter would be very sellable. If she wants a throttle, that’s Class 2 and would need to top out at 20mph. And, of course, all classes need to be 750w or less. The above is for California, but many other states have adopted the three class system, and many more are working on it.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

One man's dedication and precise engineering to create a monster scooter.
This thing is a piece of amazing engineering.
Check out this thread: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=97723&sid=b3e7c56edae7985495bf1977a0b1818e

5Kw of power
65 mile range
field tested for 6000 miles.
Full suspension and off-road capable

 

[JRA]

I have followed ES for a long time and seen some amazing fabrication but that scooter is next level. The fact that it was constructed by a lawyer with some spare time on his hands is crazy!

 

[vincent]

that scooter on endless-sphere is absolutely amazing, incredible work
wow

 

[Citycrosser]

I've also looked into using an electric scooter to get me the last 4 miles from the train station to work. However, in NY, they are illegal to operate on the roads. I'll probably end up with a folding bike (maybe electric, maybe not) to cover that distance.

I did ride a Lime-E scooter in Atlanta last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was smiling the whole time. They are quite fun.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I have followed ES for a long time and seen some amazing fabrication but that scooter is next level. The fact that it was constructed by a lawyer with some spare time on his hands is crazy!

that scooter on endless-sphere is absolutely amazing, incredible work
wow

I fully agree with you both. I was so impressed by his attention to detail and engineering capabilities. Just WOW!!
In today's world where we see 100's crowd funded companies and their pompous owners claiming to create the next Tesla of E-bikes, this one was an outlier. People continue to impress us.
This is some Russian engineer who created a phenomenal scooter while going through a divorce. I hope he becomes a full fledged E-bike engineer and starts a company to make some amazing bikes.

This reminds me of another story of a Russian mathematician Grisha Perelman. This guy solved one of the hardest problems in Mathematics, was awarded the top 2 prizes dedicated to mathematics achievement of the highest order. But, he declined both awards and lives a very low -profile, simple life in Russia.
Berkeley, Stanford and Harvard had made offers to him but for some unknown reason, he refused and lives in a village in Russia.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I've also looked into using an electric scooter to get me the last 4 miles from the train station to work. However, in NY, they are illegal to operate on the roads. I'll probably end up with a folding bike (maybe electric, maybe not) to cover that distance.

I did ride a Lime-E scooter in Atlanta last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was smiling the whole time. They are quite fun.

I really think scooters are the next wave and potentially a good solution for Urban mobility. They make commute within the city so much easier. I hope the city municipalities accept this and form laws and regulations that support this low-carbon short distance mobility solution.

 

[Nutella]

For the "last mile" solution, I'll take one of these please.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/urmo-ultra-light-foldable-urban-electric-vehicle#/

 

[rannyv]

Why would something made in China be such a bad thing... I'd say as high as 70% of the things we own in our daily lives are made in China. The Folks in China are perfectly capable of making good products among the not so go products. Same goes for any other country.

Agreed. And since they use electric vehicles of all manner much more than we do here, they know what they're doing.

I had a co-worker visiting from China and he wanted to buy something "made in USA", so I took him to Target. We couldn't find anything made in the US in his price range.