Electric Scooter and Electric Bike Basics for the 'Newbie'

'Watts' Up?

Motor Power --Heat---- Brakes---- Batteries

• Power for electric scooters is usually measured in ‘watts’, where as it is usually measured in horsepower for gas scooters.
• One horsepower equals 746 watts
•  Most small electric scooters have less than 746 watt motors
•  Electric scooter motors and controllers handle power differently for continuous riding versus short-term ‘peak’ riding moments.
•  A scooter motors ‘continuous power’ rating it the one that should govern ones purchasing decision. This means the motor is likely to put out the specified power during continuous riding, which is ‘normal’ electric scooter operation.
•  A scooters motors ‘peak’ power rating may be much higher and make the scooter look attractive. The peak rating, however, is the power that the motor can handle for only seconds/minutes and may lead to over-heating and motor failure if the peak is approached to often or in warm weather.
•  Beware of cheap scooter peddlers that claim ‘high’ wattage specification for what appear to be standard ‘clone’ models.
•  The more watts your motor can handle the better buffer you have for expecting ‘cool running’ and long term reliability, if you operate you vehicle in an conservative manner.
•  The motor controller is an integral part of an electric scooter’s power handling capabilities. No matter how powerful the motor is (watts capability) it will perform at no greater level than what the controller allows. No matter how powerful the controller is that is connected to a electric motor, the motor will not perform greater than it’s designed parameters unless the voltage is raised passed it’s design parameters, in which case failure may result.
•  The range of an electric scooter is determined by how many watts are required to complete the journey.
•  Watts can be measured by multiplying the battery voltage by the amount of current (amps) that are required to do the work. The harder the work … heavy rider/scooter, fast speeds, hill climbing, many stops and starts.. the more amps that are used, therefore, the more watts used or required.
•  Beware of scooter range claims that go against the law of physics; meaning, their batteries are too small to possibly achieve the range claims that are made, except downhill or over a cliff!
•  The latest ‘upper end’ clones have 36v 12ah battery packs. That means that the battery can put out a ‘maximum’ of 36 x 12 = 432 watts for one hour (That would meaning draining every drop of power, so the ‘actual’ capability is less). It takes hundreds to thousands of watt s to push a electric scooter with a 180 lb rider over at flat road at 20, 30, 40+ mph. When you add in what is takes for a second or two to get started from each stop (up to a thousand watts or more), the even higher wattage required to climb hills, especially at high speed, then you will see that the clones claims of 20 mph speeds and 20-30 mile range is ridiculous.
•   It you can afford it, get a scooter that exceeds your needs rather than meets your needs, as the one that meets your needs is probably being run near the ‘red line’.

Motor Power --Heat---- Brakes---- Batteries