The best electric scooters on the market vary in a lot of ways. Depending on your need: electric scooters, kids electric scooters, electric bicycle (e-bikes & e-bike kits), or electric motorcycles, consumers have a lot of options when deciding how to buy an electric scooter or bike. For example: at the bottom of this article there’s an electric scooter comparison chart from Neoscooter; you’ll notice how much the design and price of am electric motorized scooter can varies.
The first step when buying an electric scooter or e-bike depends on your exact needs for distance and speed. Those two aspects are in some ways what define what each electric bike is actually called (scooter, bicycle, moped, or motorcycle), and so can help you narrow dow your search: electric scooter vs. electric bicycle vs. electric motorcycle.
As mentioned, the electric “scooter” definition varies. In the US, “electric scooter” tends to indicate the small, recreational, Razor type scooters which are basically for kids (more on that type below), or for zipping around a park on the weekend. You can find prices for these between $100-$1300 in any online store – price depends on power. “Scooter” also includes the style that mounts a swiveling chair onto a stable three or four-wheeler for anyone who needs a little extra help getting around (called mobility scooters that are priced anywhere between $500-$5500). What we’ll look at first, however, is the type of scooter that’s intended for a commute and actually getting around town.
Electric Scooter: Sitting Style For Commuting, Longer Distance Scooters
The “scooter” label most generally applies to the style of scooter that’s more road-worthy, but smaller than a motorcycle: sit down models with speeds between 20-50mph like the electric scooters by X-Treme Scooters, Honda, Smart, BMW, and Firebox. These are the traditionally defined “scooters” insofar as something that is a viable mode of transportation for short distances: getting to work and around town, rather than recreational or medical / mobility.
Also noteworthy: unlike most electric bicycles, electric scooters for adults tend to be classified as motorcycles, which means that all the street operations laws and regulations apply to anyone who rides one. Example: California laws: motorcycle vs. scooter. Speed and engine size tend to be the determining factors if you need to have a license or not to operate an electric scooter.
The Smart Electric Scooter (fortunately or otherwise, depending on your design sense) is a good example of how a road-worthy electric scooter looks these days. Partially “future” and partially a kick-back to the original, gas-powered scooter we’ve seen since the 80’s and smirked at whenever one putter by on the street (it’s OK, you can admit it).
Electric Scooter: Standing, and Smaller Recreational Scooters
The Razor kick scooter did a lot to start a kids craze, and partially as a result of that fad, the stand up scooter has grown into a large product line from small electric scooters for kids to larger ones with detachable seats that can actually be uses for short commutes by adults. The price range of these types of electric scooters is quite large, from $100 to nearly $5000.
As with anything transportation-based item, the primary price indicators are the motor power, speed, and range. The inexpensive scooters don’t go very fast (good for smaller kids), and the charge only last about 20 minutes; those are more toys than anything else. The more expensive stand up scooters have a much longer range and power and so can actually work as a viable means of commuting. (You want power if you live in a hilly area, otherwise you’ll end up walking up the hill even if the battery is fully charged.)
Choosing an Electric Scooter
To compare electric scooters of this type you need to know the answers to two questions before you start shopping:
- How Far?
- How Fast?
The distance or range, and speed capabilities of electric scooters varies dramatically. Some give you 15mph for only 20 minutes, others gave give you 50mph+ and keep you on the road for a couple hours. Of course, the higher the numbers are when answering the three main questions, the more expensive the scooter will be. You can get a stand-up razor scooter priced around $100, or another that might look very similar, but has more power and can travel much further distances for well over $500.
Like many cars, electric scooters also often have modes that you can select for more speed and power or longer distance and time (but not all do, so be sure to check). All in all, a driving feature when choosing an electric scooter is convenience. A large part of that for this genre of transportation is charging speed and the output of the battery. You want to look deeply into the battery options to ensure that the combination of battery and motor can do what you need.
E-bike, Electric Bicycle
Choosing an e-bike fills an entirely different need – or fits a different kind of person (take note of some the prices compared to the fully-powered electric scooters, at a glance they’re surprising). First, if you’re not willing to actually use it like a bicycle, then the distance and speed are usually much less than scooters and motorcycles. If you’re ready to use your own power (which is how e-bikes are designed to be used), then you’ll get good distances, especially on the more advanced e-bikes that recover power. Think of the motor on an electric bicycle more like an assist device, actually called pedal assist. Pedal-assist helps the rider, usually up to certain speeds. It helps riders maintain speed, climb, etc.
An e-bike also has “power-on-demand” which is basically nothing more than a throttle. Legally, this is where you start to move e-bike classification from a bicycle to a scooter, moped, or motorcycle. The drive technology also varies. Where the battery is stored, and where the electric motor is located can change greatly mid-drives, to hubs on the wheels, to motors that are more like an accessory and drive the rear wheel via connecting with the tire itself. Some e-bike designs are absurd, honestly (trying to be too futuristic), others blend right in – point being you have a lot of choices. While the purpose-designed e-bicycles are undeniably a better choice in the area, you can even get “conversion kits” that you can mount onto most full sized bicycles to turn your current bike into an e-bike.
The mid-drive electric bicycle systems seem to have trended and are settling in as the right choice for e-bikes. This drive system places the motor by (and drives) the crank shaft. That set up gives options for employing multiple gears that are already part of the bike, which in turn, increases the power and distance for the rider.
Assuming you go with an electric bike that uses the mid-drive design, then you’re confronted with choices of power, features, and the actual design of the bike (comfort, hybrid, street, etc.). Don’t forget that you’re buying something you’ll be sitting on for (potentially) hours on end I’ve seen many people buy something because they love “the power”, but then end up hating it because it’s too uncomfortable. While shopping for an electric bicycle, moreover, never forget that these machines expect you to work, too. They are not scooters or motorcycles where all the work is done by the motor and the only work required from the rider is to move the throttle.
Electric Motorcycle
This intro from AutoWeek’s review of the Zero DS is a good synopsis for the modern electric motorcycle:
“It is nearly silent, can leave most workday traffic in the dust and tops out at nearly 100 mph. Its performance can be programmed via smartphone and it costs 1.2 cents per mile to run.”
All aspects cool and desirable to pretty much anyone wanting to buy an electric motorcycle. Motorcycles have always been about power and design. Most have followed the design lines of the typical Honda street bike, but as the battery and motor technology improves every now and again we see something a bit more interesting (like the Orphiro pictured above). Since it’s already accepted by the consumer that motorcycles are “bigger” machines, it’s easier for them to have much greater speeds and, generally, a decent range – not quite the desired range of electric motorcycles, but they’re getting there (50-70 miles if the rider is being very careful).
Of course, the result of more power and distance means a fairly significant increase in price. While you can probably get a good deal second-hand, you’re easily looking at $7000-8000 for a standard-issue electric motorcycle. Interestingly, the hurdle here is also somewhat the psychology of what it means to get on a bike and hit the road: the freedom of it. That feeling seems to be lost when rather than simply pulling over to a gas station the rider has to think about stopping for time-consuming charges. Nevertheless, if you fancy yourself hip and need an option for commuter transportation, an electric motorcycle can be an excellent (and fun) choice.
Electric Scooter Comparison Chart:
| Scooter Models | Photos | Motor | Top Speed | Weight | Foldable | Seat Kit | Warranty | Price |
| Goped ESR750Ex Electric Scooter |  | 750 watt | 20 MPH | 52Lbs | Yes | Optional | 90-day | $1006.88 |
| X-Treme X500 Electric Scooter |  | 500 watt | 23 MPH | 60 Lbs | Yes | Yes | 30-day | $900 |
| X-Treme XB-420M Mobility Scooter |  | 500 watt | 15MPH | 265 Lbs | No | Built in Seat | 90-day | $1499 |
Go-Ped ESR 750EXH Hoverboard Electric Scooter |  | 750 watt | 20 MPH | 62 Lbs | Yes | n/a | 90-day | $1230.88 |
| XM-3500LiElectric Moped Scooter |  | 3500 watt | 50 MPH | 276 Lbs | No | Built In Seat | 6-Month | $3,999.00 |
| XM-3000Electric Moped Scooter |  | 3000 watt | 43 MPH | 344Lbs | No | Built In Seat | 6-Month | $2,549.95 |
| Daymark Austin 500w Scooter |  | 500watt | 28MPH | 175Lbs | No | Built In Seat | 6-Month | $2,600.00 |
Looking at the above scooter comparison chart, you can see how sometimes comparing electric scooters is like comparing apples to oranges. However, as long as you focus on the specs you need: speed, range, power, etc., then you’ll find the electric two-wheeler that’s right for you.
