How to Choose a Fast Electric Scooter
In this Buyer's Guide:
We'll cover the key factors that you should consider when choosing a fast electric scooter, including:
- Motor Power: Understanding Motor Performance Metrics
- Controllers: The Role of Controllers in Scooter Power
- Top Speed Categories: Defining Speed - What Does “Fast” Mean?
- Acceleration: The Thrill of Quick Takeoffs
- Handling: Ensuring Stability & Control at High Speeds
- Braking Power: Prioritizing Safety with Effective Brakes
When choosing a fast electric scooter, it’s crucial to understand the key factors that influence performance. Whether you're searching for adrenaline-pumping acceleration, stable control at high speeds, or reliable braking, the right combination of features plays a pivotal role in shaping your riding experience.
In this guide, I’ll break down the critical components to help you make an informed decision, covering everything from motor power metrics and controllers to braking performance and handling. The insights that I’ll share are from my own experiences and expert hands-on tests.
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Motor Power: Understanding Motor Performance Metrics
The power of an electric scooter's motor is defined by its volts and watts.
Volts (V): This indicates the intensity of the electricity that’s flowing through the motor. Typically, scooter motors come in 36V, 48V, 52V, 60V, 72V, and occasionally, 84V configurations. The key thing to be aware of here is that a higher voltage results in greater torque and faster acceleration rates.
Watts (W): Watts measure the size of an electric motor. This is crucial for understanding a motor’s ability to produce power, including both nominal and peak power, which I’ll cover next. Importantly, the higher the watts, the faster your top speed.
Nominal Power (W): This is the amount of power (watts) that a motor can continuously produce without overheating. The higher the nominal power, the faster the speed that you can maintain.
Peak Power (W): Indicates the maximum power (watts) that a motor can produce in short bursts before overheating. The higher the peak power, the quicker your acceleration and the faster your instantaneous top speed.
Based on my many years of testing, I only consider scooters with motors rated over 52V and 1000W for inclusion in the “fast” category.
Controllers: The Role of Controllers in Scooter Power
Controllers are the brains of electric scooters and are responsible for managing the flow of electricity from the battery to the motor/s. Similar to motors, the power of a controller is determined by its volts and current (amps).
Volts (V): This figure determines the electrical pressure of the controller. The higher the volts, the greater its power, and the higher your torque.
Current (A): Measured in amps, current is the rate at which electricity flows through a circuit. Like voltage, it’s a useful indicator of how powerful a controller is. The higher the current, the faster the controller can respond to signals and inputs from a scooter’s electrical components (i.e. funneling power from the battery to the motor without lag as soon as you feather the throttle).
In general, higher values result in quicker acceleration rates and faster top speeds.
Beyond these metrics, however, there are two types of controllers that you should be aware of – Square Wave and Sine Wave.
Square Wave Controllers: Provide an instant hit of power, which some riders enjoy for the punchy acceleration. However, the flow of power is abrupt and it can be hard to maintain a constant speed.
Sine Wave Controllers: Offer a smoother, more controlled power delivery, which is ideal for those who prefer a more refined ride. Based on my years of testing, these are my preferred controller type as they deliver the best of both worlds: rapid acceleration rates and controlled speed modulation.
Top Speed Categories: Defining Speed - What Does “Fast” Mean?
Top speed often garners the most attention when evaluating fast scooters. However, the phrase “fast” means different things to different people. To address this, it's useful to understand just how “fast” each scooter is.
To do this, I recommend using the following categories:
| Performance | Top Speed |
|---|---|
| Extremely Fast | > 50 mph |
| Very Fast | 40 - 50 mph |
| Fast | 30 - 40 mph |
Acceleration Rates: The Thrill of Quick Takeoffs
While top speed is often the headline-grabber, acceleration is arguably a more important metric.
Accelerating quickly can be more thrilling and safer than pushing a scooter to extreme top speeds. Here, I recommend comparing the results from my acceleration tests (i.e. 0-15 mph, 0-25 mph) to identify a scooter that’ll satisfy your thrill factor.
A good example of this is the Wolf King GT and NAMI Klima. At first glance, you may consider the King GT to be a better choice because of its much faster top speed (62 mph vs 42 mph), but if you dig deeper into the data you’ll see that just milliseconds separate them where acceleration is concerned. In this case, the Klima even beats the King GT to 25 mph (2.9 vs 3.0 seconds).
Acceleration data can be interpreted as follows:
| Performance | 0 - 15 MPH | 0 - 25 MPH |
|---|---|---|
| Extremely Fast | < 2 s | < 3 s |
| Very Fast | 2 - 3 s | 3 - 4 s |
| Fast | 3 - 4 s | 4 - 5 s |
| Moderate | 4 - 5 s | 5 - 6 s |
| Slow | > 5 s | > 6 s |
Handling: Ensuring Stability & Control at High Speeds
Above all else, handling is crucial, especially at high speeds. When choosing a scooter, it’s incredibly important to research stability. After all, many scooters can fall victim to speed wobble, hindering your ability to take advantage of their full power.
Aside from the guidelines below, I only recommend single-stem scooters for speeds of up to 50 mph, while anything beyond this requires a dual-stem for enhanced control.
Handlebar Width: The wider the handlebars, the greater your control. For scooters that can reach 30 mph, I recommend a minimum width of 22 inches, for 40 mph 24 inches, and for 50+ mph 27 inches.
Deck-to-Handlebar Height: The higher the handlebars, the better your posture and stance. Anything above 40 inches is suitable for tall riders (i.e. over 6 ft). This is a key reason why I don’t recommend many Dualtron scooters – all of the models that I’ve tested have had short handlebar heights resulting in an unstable riding experience.
Rake (Steering Column) Angle: The angle of the steering column in relation to the ground directly impacts how stable or agile a scooter feels. A smaller angle makes a scooter more nimble, while a larger angle improves stability at high speeds. Rake angles of between 9 and 11 degrees hit the sweet spot.
Deck Space: The larger the usable space, the better your balance. Decks that measure at least 19 inches in length offer ample room.
Kickplates: Any scooter that surpasses 30 mph needs to have a kickplate – this is a non-negotiable. They provide stable platforms that let you lean into the scooter for an aggressive riding stance.
Weight Distribution: From the stem to the chassis and everything in between, a fast scooter needs to have a well-balanced frame. Here, you should research to see if any reviewers have identified imbalances (i.e. a bottom-heavy design that causes the steering column to be underweight and twitchy).
Tire Size: For the best handling, I suggest 9-10 inch tires for speeds of 30-40 mph, 10-11 inches for 40-50 mph, and 11+ inches for 50+ mph.
Tire Profile: Tires that have rounded front-on profiles offer superior agility and grip to those that are more square in their design. They maintain a larger contact patch with the ground during turns, as opposed to rolling onto their edges and losing traction.
Braking Power: Prioritizing Safety with Effective Brakes
Strong brakes are essential for fast scooters. As a minimum requirement, you should choose a scooter with dual mechanical brakes, preferably discs. If, however, you have the budget, I highly recommend opting for hydraulic-actuated calipers since they provide the strongest stopping power.
When assessing the performance of each scooter, you should compare stopping distances.
| Performance | Stop From 15 MPH |
|---|---|
| Excellent | < 2.5 meters |
| Very Good | 2.5 - 3.0 meters |
| Good | 3.0 - 3.5 meters |
| Fair | 3.5 - 4.0 meters |
| Poor | > 4.0 meters |
Electric Scooter Brakes: A Beginner’s Guide
How I Test Braking Performance
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