Electric Scooters Save You Gas Money Big Time
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The easiest cheapest fun way I know to save Gas Money is by having an Electric Scooter. I actually have 2 different electric scooters: The eZip 1000 Fusion Electric Scooter (left on photo) for short local trips and errands under 8 miles round trip and the IZIP Hg-1000 Electric Bike (right on photo- a combination electric powered scooter and bicycle) for trips up to 20 miles or so round trip. The price of these scooters new is relatively cheap. I paid approximately $350 before tax on the eZip and $750 for the IZIP and around $75 to have a bicycle store assemble them. This post is an updating of previous blog posts I’ve written on Electric Scooters and the eZip 1000 Fusion Electric Scooter replaces the earlier Schwinn Stealth S-1000 that was available prior to 2009.
You don’t need a license to own and operate either of these two electric scooters as well as most electric scooters as long as they are not over 50CC. You do need to wear a helmet and to weigh under 250 pounds or so (varies with each scooter). Most new electric scooters come with rechargeable batteries that last 3-6 months depending on how you use them. New rechargeable batteries for the e-Zip are around $135 and the IZIP about $250 that you can buy from an electric scooter store or online. I use a basic $15 or so bike chain lock to secure these scooters up when I leave them outside by themselves. I personally don’t feel secure with leaving them chained up for more than an hour unless its in front of a private house. That’s about it in terms of expenses. Oh, You may wish to add a basket for the back of the E-Zip and I’d recommend you add a speedometer for the HG-1000 so you know how fast you’re going.
I definitely do not recommend you buy a battery powered scooter with a Chain Drive as they seem to get tangled up a lot. The best drives in my opinion are Direct Drives (eZip 1000) and Hub Motor Drives (IZIP HG 1000). Other than the occasional flat tire on the EZip 1000, I never have had to have a repair on either of these scooters. The flat tire came about because I rode this scooter over some glass that I should have noticed but didn’t.
The eZip 1000 Fusion Electric Scooter
I am a total klutz and the The eZip 1000 Fusion Electric Scooter is incredibly easy to use as the balance is so good and the ride is super comfortable. It took me 1 hour of practice in an empty lot and I’ve ridden the eZip 1000 Fusion Electric Scooter ever since- easy as pie. Believe it or not, I prefer to ride in the street on the right hand side near the parked cars and in the bike lanes where the ground is smooth rather then going over the cracking sidewalks. The scooter goes up to around 12 miles per hour and you can go as far as 12 miles or so with it till the battery is empty, though I think 10 miles is a more reasonable expectation. Before I bought the IZIP HG-1000, I bought an extra battery for the EZip 1000 which I would take with me for trips longer then 10 miles round trip that I would tie up on the floorboard and ride with my feet on top of it. When applicable I’d change it with the battery inside which takes a couple of minutes to do to continue my longer ride. Since I got the IZIP HG 1000, I stopped riding the eZip 1000 long distances.
Charging the battery is super easy as you just use a small charger connected to any electric outlet in your home. Takes about 10 seconds to plug in and about 6 hours to charge- I’d recommend you charge it always for 8 hours. The battery as mentioned previously, lasts 3-6 months depending on use, and costs about $135 for a new one and is very easy to put in requiring no mechanical skills.
I would recommend you get your local bike shop to put a small basket on the back of the scooter if you do errands. Most of the time, because the balance of the EZip 1000 is so good, I just put any packages on the front part of the floorboard where they seem to balance perfectly. I also put larger packages on the entire floorboard and ride the scooter with my feet on top of the packages (Sometimes I secure them with an inexpensive rope band). For safety reasons I don’t recommend you doing this but for me personally its fine as it doesn’t affect my balance. Basically when I go to the grocery, I put my bottled water and soda on the floorboard, some small stuff in the basket and carry another 1-4 plastic bags with groceries on my hands and my feet are either above the water or on the sides of the scooter. Again, this is just me, I do not recommend you doing this.
The great thing about not be able to exceed 12-15 miles per hour as opposed to be going say 15-25 miles per hour is its very hard to get hurt if somehow you get in the odd accident. Note, the few accidents I’ve had were not caused by the scooter at all but my stupidity. None of my accidents involved traffic at all, they were all mainly caused when I stopped at a corner by the sidewalk and for some reason started to go when I shouldn’t have, hesitated and stopped while I like an idiot still had my hand on the throttle till I let go. The bottom line is, the scooter stops on a dime when I let go of the throttle and all I ever got were some very minor scrapes on my hands and knees. The scooter itself is what I consider indestructible and has never suffered any damages at all.
IZIP Hg-1000 Electric Bike
I bought the IZIP HG-1000 basically for longer trips to avoid changing batteries because the battery lasts much longer than the eZip 1000 and I didn’t have to change batteries when I went 20 miles round trip. The IZIP HG-1000 is also super comfortable and I’ve been able to go as fast as 28 miles an hour when peddling and using the throttles at the same time (You don’t have to peddle but I found you go much faster if you do both). I have to admit riding uphill seems to be easier with the eZip 1000 but it is manageable with the HG-1000 as long as you go full throttle when appicable. The IZIP HG-1000 is super comfortable but I would practice riding it three times or so in a vacant lot to get the hang of it. My personal experience is that every time you stop and start again at a traffic light, you need to go full throttle with the HG-1000 for a couple of seconds as well as peddling and then you can reduce the throttle level. I’ve found that when you use the HG-1000 without the throttles, there is a lot of peddle resistance as its only one gear and slow. I’d only peddle without using the throttles in an emergency if somehow you ever ran out of power. Basically I would always use the throttle and peddle- the peddling resistance is very light using the throttle. I always carry my battery recharger in the back compartment where I also store my chained lock. The basket in front is very large and is perfect for transporting things.
Charging the battery is super easy as you just use a medium sized charger connected to any electric outlet in your home and connect it to the HG-1000. Takes about 10 seconds to plug in and about 6-8 hours to charge- I’d recommend you charge it always for 12 hours. The battery as mentioned previously, lasts 3-6 months depending on use, and costs about $250 for a new one and is very easy to put in requiring no mechanical skills.
I have never had any accidents whatsoever with the HG-1000 but am a bit more careful riding it then the eZip 1000 because it is a much larger and a more expensive electric scooter. As the floorboard is not huge, I do not put any packages or anything on the floorboard other than my feet when I occasionally take a break from peddling and just put things in the cart and if I need to, the back compartment. The HG-1000 comes with a key which you need to turn the power on as well as open up the back compartment and is a wonderful determent in case anyone tries to steal it. I always take the key with me whenever I leave the HG-1000 chained up in front of a store.
I also should mention that I ride the HG-1000 on bike lanes and on the street in the right hand side by the parked cars and rarely ride it on the sidewalk.
In Summary
I would recommend you buy both an electric scooter for local short rides and errands and a larger scooter like the HG-1000 for longer rides. The money you will save should more than pay for the electric scooters. Both of these electric scooters fit in normal size elevators and through normal sized doors. For me, my electric scooter is the greatest thing since sliced bread and one of the best investments I’ve ever made.
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