Recommend electric folding scooter for end of commute (Mod Note Post #1)

rubadub

Martynet wrote: »

Stop buying cheap **** escooters and you won't have problem like this. Decent ebike cost around €2000 and more. It's same with escooters...

Which brands would you recommend then?

the bikes can have good expensive components so are bound to cost more. The forks on my ebike alone are €350 to get on their own. Mine is a Lapierre and has had problems and many people forums had the same and say they should have done a recall due to a "chain suck" issue, but they did not. The problem is easily overcome with a cheap new chain ring -however you need bespoke expensive Bosch tools to change it, and other general bike tools, and even then most would not be comfortable doing it themselves.

It is good that they ARE doing recalls, the really crap ones would be there all day making recall notices!

If you look at bikes you will see plenty of expensive top brands doing recalls.

https://www.bikeradar.com/recall/

I have a bosch ebike battery and was thinking of making my own safety cut off switch to cut power to the charger if the battery gets too hot.

beauf

Martynet wrote: »

Stop buying cheap **** escooters and you won't have problem like this. Decent ebike cost around €2000 and more. It's same with escooters...

Makes little sense.

Its a recall, which is exactly what you want. Happens to cars all the time and they aren't cheap.

Martynet

From cheaper brands and small scooters, I can recommend ETWOW or ZERO. Bigger machines - Dualtron, Rion or Weped. Dualtron is probably on top of all. They are fun to ride and much safer than smaller scooter, especially on irish roads. The bigger problem with escooters is that most of them ARE NOT fully waterproof, like ebikes or electric motorbikes. And you have to improve waterproofing yourself, which is pain in the a**. I know that Dualtron Thunder is IPX54, which is fine for light rain and wet road. But not ideal. Also Ninebot Max is IPX54 I think. I know that Boosted rev is IPX7, which is perfect, but I apparently it doesn't look good with Boosted brand at the momemt an they are in financial trouble. But it's great dual motor machine and probably best looking scooter at the moment. Except its range, which is a bit small. Then there is new escooter brand 8tev and their B12 model, which is IPX6 and has 12" wheels. It's perfect for irish roads I'd say and would be probably my choice if I was beginner and in the market for cheaper scooter. With every other brand you're risking water damage unfortunately. There's also few workshops around the world, which will sell you escooter and waterproof it for you too for few extra $ of course.

STEE

Whats the story with electric scooters ? Do they require a licence, tax and insurance ? Are you supposed to be on the road or can you use the footpaths

Gumbo

Massive grey area.
Officially they are a MPV so in theory they require license, tax and insurance.

liamog

See the mod note on post #1, there was a consultation conducted by the RSA, but until they are legislated for they are treated like an MPV when used on public roads within Ireland. You will need a license, tax and insurance.

Calahonda52

Gumbo wrote: »

Massive grey area.
Officially they are a MPV so in theory they require license, tax and insurance.

Its only grey due to lack of enforcement

Markcheese

Just spotted a few scooters in lidl ballyvolane ,cork .
Think it said the range was up to 8 km depending on conditions ...didn't seem massive really ...

unkel

STEE wrote: »

Whats the story with electric scooters ? Do they require a licence, tax and insurance ?

You need a license, tax, insurance and a helmet on the public road. In other words all electric scooters at the moment are illegal.

No grey area at all, this is very simple.

AhHaor

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/taxis-may-be-banned-from-some-bus-lanes-under-dublin-city-council-plans-1.4341294?mode=amp

This looks interesting. An acknowledgement that they can contribute towards sustainable travel. Looking to address safety concerns sounds like mandatory helmets. This sounds very promising

liamog

I wonder what they are including under “appropriate regulation to address genuine safety concerns” around electric scooters.
I've heard any number of safety concerns related to escooters including spontaneous combustion when charging. Hopefully they take a balanced view and don't impose draconian requirements such as mandatory helmets.

Phil.x

AhHaor wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/taxis-may-be-banned-from-some-bus-lanes-under-dublin-city-council-plans-1.4341294?mode=amp

This looks interesting. An acknowledgement that they can contribute towards sustainable travel. Looking to address safety concerns sounds like mandatory helmets. This sounds very promising

How are they sustainable travel? Are people giving up using their cars, are they ditching the bicycle, what about the bus?

My guess is people who don't drive for whatever reason are getting them, Brazilians come to mind, cyclists who's bikes are crap or stolen get them, and kids.

Sustainable talk is just like covid-19 mobility talk, ie; sh1t talk.

But, I will get one sometime, if my old train station bike is stolen/wrecked.

liamog

Phil.x wrote: »

How are they sustainable travel? Are people giving up using their cars, are they ditching the bicycle, what about the bus?

My guess is people who don't drive for whatever reason are getting them, Brazilians come to mind, cyclists who's bikes are crap or stolen get them, and kids.

You see a lot of adults use them in markets where they aren't illegal.

AhHaor

Phil.x wrote: »

How are they sustainable travel? Are people giving up using their cars, are they ditching the bicycle, what about the bus?

My guess is people who don't drive for whatever reason are getting them, Brazilians come to mind, cyclists who's bikes are crap or stolen get them, and kids.

Sustainable talk is just like covid-19 mobility talk, ie; sh1t talk.

But, I will get one sometime, if my old train station bike is stolen/wrecked.

Well I often scoot to work rather than drive. That takes a car off the m50. And I'm not Brazilian

LeeroyJ.

Phil.x wrote: »

How are they sustainable travel? Are people giving up using their cars, are they ditching the bicycle, what about the bus?

My guess is people who don't drive for whatever reason are getting them, Brazilians come to mind, cyclists who's bikes are crap or stolen get them, and kids.

Sustainable talk is just like covid-19 mobility talk, ie; sh1t talk.

But, I will get one sometime, if my old train station bike is stolen/wrecked.

Anecdotal, I sold my car and exclusively use the scooter (and Luas on rare very bad weather days) that's a car of the road, I free parking space at home and in the office and a mostly free space on public transport. Also I'm German, which I guess is pretty much brazilian (immigrant).

Markcheese

They could be a large part of sustainable travel ( as can bikes ) , if can you travel a few km from home to a main public transport corridor , and then a few km from your public transport destination to work by scooter , that can make the public transport option much more attractive..
In cork you could walk 15 mins plus to the train station , get off in little island or carraigtohil , and then walk miles to get work ..

liamog

That's it, for me to get from home to work using public transport takes 1h10, 30 mins of that is the train. There is a 20 min walk at either end. Scooter would be ideal as I'd be able to bring it onboard with me.
I used to cycle to the train station, but after the wheels were vandalised I stopped.

Phil.x

AhHaor wrote: »

Well I often scoot to work rather than drive. That takes a car off the m50. And I'm not Brazilian

Must be some scooter if it can replace a m50 car journey, or you're just full of ....

Phil.x

liamog wrote: »

That's it, for me to get from home to work using public transport takes 1h10, 30 mins of that is the train. There is a 20 min walk at either end. Scooter would be ideal as I'd be able to bring it onboard with me.
I used to cycle to the train station, but after the wheels were vandalised I stopped.

Very similar.

AhHaor

Phil.x wrote: »

Must be some scooter if it can replace a m50 car journey, or you're just full of ....

You seem like a great bit of stuff. It replaces both an m50 and m4 journey. M365 can actually do 20k out of box. Add in external battery and that's doubled. Charging at work and you can do an 80km commute. Also I can think of infinite journeys that could be done on scooter which otherwise would have been a couple of junctions in distance on the m50.

beauf

I think you'd wear out the rider before the battery doing long distances.

Phil.x

80km on a scooter, good luck hips.

AhHaor

Phil.x wrote: »

80km on a scooter, good luck hips.

I feel far more tired running a 5 km than standing on a scooter for 2 batches of 25km scooting

beauf

AhHaor wrote: »

I feel far more tired running a 5 km than standing on a scooter for 2 batches of 25km scooting

That's a bit like saying it's easier to cycle down a hill then up it. I'm not entirely sure what point you were trying to make.

Regardless the scooter is obviously useful for many people. They should get the finger out and put some rules in place to allow people who want to use them, to use them legally.

liamog

I think an electric moped would be a better option for someone doing an 80km commute.

AhHaor

beauf wrote: »

That's a bit like saying it's easier to cycle down a hill then up it. I'm not entirely sure what point you were trying to make.

Multiple posters pointing out that the hips or body couldn't take a long journey. I was pointing out that there's isn't a great effort or pain threshold and moderate distances are very achievable on a scooter

beauf

AhHaor wrote: »

Multiple posters pointing out that the hips or body couldn't take a long journey. I was pointing out that there's isn't a great effort or pain threshold and moderate distances are very achievable on a scooter

Well it largely depends on the person. But the idea of riding long distances, on small wheels or tubes and little suspension, and a high COG is largely about physics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbgNzGMBi3w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb6IPK0s-NU

Martynet

AhHaor wrote: »

You seem like a great bit of stuff. It replaces both an m50 and m4 journey. M365 can actually do 20k out of box. Add in external battery and that's doubled. Charging at work and you can do an 80km commute. Also I can think of infinite journeys that could be done on scooter which otherwise would have been a couple of junctions in distance on the m50.

I would not recommend any electric scooter for a commute longer than 40 km a day. Especially not that toy Xiaomi M365. It's just not pleasant. M365 is a great scooter for short rides... But during longer commute, you come across many bumps and holes. If I had to use escooter for commute around 20 Km one way, I would definitely choose something capable, like Dualtron scooters from the "Spider" model and up, WEPED, Bronco, Kaabo Wolf etc, basically any quality e-scooter with 2 motors, good suspension and cost above €2000. Those are capable of doing longer commutes 30-100 Km without charging in work. I used to scoot 24 km a day on Dualtron Spider and it was fine and I enjoyed every minute of it, but I don't think I'd be so excited if the commute was double. Probably not. I would switch to fast e-bike, e-moped or e-motorbike, or combine e-scooter with train.

The other thing is weather. When I got my first escooter I just kind of expected that it's fully waterproof, like e-bikes or e-motorbikes. But they are NOT. Only like 1% of all e-scooters have IPX6 rating or higher. People don't know this and I got really angry when I find out. You basically have to waterproof your e-scooter yourself and it's not easy process. It's not just sealing the deck. It's the motors, accelerator and all the connectors inside (because of condensation). So I'm in process of searching e-scooters with IPX6 and higher and I have found 5 so far. Here they are:

Boosted Rev - IPX7
Pure Air - IPX6
Emove Cruiser - IPX6
8TEV B12 - IPX6
Gotrax G4 - IPX6

So, if you're planing to e-scoot in every day, no matter what the weather is, you should start here. cheers

It would be better to just go get a petrol scooter and be done with it or a low CC motorbike. Safer too.

LeeroyJ.

Deleted User wrote: »

It would be better to just go get a petrol scooter and be done with it or a low CC motorbike. Safer too.

My wife got an electric Moped, the smaller scooter I use isn't viable for her as she commutes from D1 to Santry. She gets about 60km range per charge. The Battery is removable, you just plug it in inside the house. They are a good alternative to Petrol Mopeds.