Everything You Need To Know To Find The Best electric motor scooters

Three models from Segway Ninebot have earned our recommendation, with the Segway Ninebot KickScooter Max G30LP being the best option for most people.

An electric scooter can be a fast and fun mode of transportation—as long as your route isn’t too hilly, you’re comfortable riding in traffic, and you’re riding safely and considerately.

The KickScooter Max is essentially the same as the G30LP, but it will take you farther.

If you’re not as concerned about range, the F30 still got a respectable 10 miles per charge in our tests without slowing down. It also weighs a little less and has room to attach a bike lock.

The KickScooter Max G30LP offers sturdy construction and a real-life range of 20-plus miles at a fair price. It’s the only scooter we’ve found that excels in so many areas without being too expensive. But it is heavy.

Safety isn’t just a matter of how you ride a scooter—it’s also how you treat the scooter’s battery. In 2023, reports of fatal fires caused by cheap or reconditioned lithium-ion batteries—the kind of batteries used in electric scooters and ebikes—have filled the news.

We recommend only batteries and motors that are UL-certified to the standards required by New York City. Even so, you should never leave any scooter battery on its charger unattended—especially overnight, when people are sleeping nearby. Also, never, ever purchase a replacement or spare battery from anyone but the scooter’s original manufacturer, nor use a charger not intended for your battery.

We had stringent criteria when researching scooters, because safety and reliability are paramount when it comes to transportation. The Segway Ninebot KickScooter Max G30LP met all of our requirements, both on paper and in practice. The most distinguishing factor is its range: This scooter can go for about 20 miles per charge, a range surpassed in testing only by our upgrade pick, the company’s pricier KickScooter Max.

The G30LP is UL-certified, so it has been independently tested to meet safety requirements, and we trust Segway Ninebot’s long track record in personal-transportation devices. (Many rental-scooter outfits used to deploy the company’s KickScooter ES2.) Although it’s not cheap, the G30LP performs better than other scooters at the same price, and it costs far less than many models from lesser-known brands. The only real downside is that this scooter weighs 39 pounds, which can be a hassle when you need to carry it.

Segway Ninebot’s KickScooter F30 is the model to choose if you’re on the tightest budget. It’s comparable to the other KickScooter models we recommend but has a shorter range: We were able to ride for 10.6 miles before the battery ran dry. We think the G30LP is worth its higher price for double the range, but if you know you’ll be traveling less than 5 miles each way, the F30 is a great option. At a little over 33 pounds, it’s also a few pounds lighter than our other picks, and its design allows you to connect a bike lock.

Segway Ninebot’s KickScooter Max was our top pick before the G30LP was introduced, and it remains a great option. It’s almost exactly the same as our current pick, except it gets more range thanks to a larger battery. In our tests, we were able to ride for 24 miles—about 4 more miles than on the G30LP, a 20% increase. The company promises up to 40 miles in ideal situations. If you want a great scooter that will give you the most miles between charges, spend a bit more for this one.

Range refers to the distance a scooter can travel before it runs out of battery power. The range of your electric scooter will depend on various factors, including motor power, battery capacity, rider weight, scooter weight, weather, riding mode, and average speed.

To give consumers the most accurate and realistic range assessment, we perform rigorous real-world tests on every electric scooter we receive and display the data on our scooter database.

To ensure standardization and reliable results-our RG-certified range test is performed by the same rider on the same urban route with frequent stops, rough roads, and uphill climbs in the scooter’s highest performance mode. The 165 lb rider pushes the scooter to its limit, maxing out the throttle and riding until the battery dies completely.

There is no denying it, manufacturers have been known to overstate the range of their electric scooters. This is why we advise a cautious rule of thumb to err on the side of caution – take whatever they advertise and divide it by two. This is especially true given that the results from our electric scooter survey conducted in 2018 showed that many vendors overstate the actual range of their scooters by up to 30%.

To ensure you find the right scooter for your needs, calculate the number of miles you will cover for your regular commute (to and from) and then look for a scooter that can deliver that same amount with a few extra miles left as a buffer. This should give you plenty of leeway in case of unexpected events.

You can’t think about range without talking about batteries. In regards to this, two elements come into play: brand and battery capacity.

Known brands such as LG, Panasonic, and Samsung tend to be more reliable and have longer expected lifespans than generic brands.

When it comes to capacity (the amount of power stored in each battery–typically measured in watt hours (Wh) ); the higher the battery capacity, the greater its range will be. To illustrate this point: the Minimotors Dualtron X Limited has a 5,040 Watt hour LG battery that allows it to reach 86.4 miles of tested range, while the Segway Ninebot Air T15’s branded battery only offers 4.2 miles due to its comparatively lower capacity of 144 Wh.

However, like all batteries, your battery capacity (and scooter range) will diminish as time goes by. Most batteries will maintain their integrity for at least 300 to 500 charging cycles, with the best batteries enduring up to 1000 charging cycles before beginning to degrade.

Pro Tip: You can bring your charger with you or buy an extra charger to leave at your destination. Some high-performance scooters have dual charging ports, cutting charge time in half when using two chargers. You can also purchase an extra battery for scooters that have a removable battery configuration like the Anyhill UM-2, EMOVE RoadRunner, TurboAnt X7 Max, or Minimotor’s Dualtron Storm.