Electric Scooter Performance Tests: Range, Acceleration, Hill Climb

We use a high performance data-logging GPS to road test the real-world range, acceleration, braking, and uphill climb capabilities of every electric scooters that we review.

• Leaderboard of the Fastest Electric Scooters
• For beginners: Beginner’s Guide to Buying an Electric Scooter
• Recommendations for: Best Electric Scooters
• Full database (with manufacturer’s specs): Scooter Database

How We Test Electric Scooters

Data Acquisition

We use a high-performance GPS data-logger made by Racelogic to track position and speed for all our electric scooter tests. Logged data is imported into Circuit Tools and we also use a variety of custom Python-based scripts to analyze the raw GPS data.

For all measurements (except range, which is very time consuming), we typically acquire at least 3 independent trials. We also run some statistical analysis between the trials to quantify uncertainty in our measurements; we don’t report these results, but use them to validate the quality of our data collection and consistency of the rider.

Testing Conditions

All tests are performed under the following conditions:

1. 165 lb rider
2. Electric scooter is fully charged
3. Tires are inflated to the manufacturer’s specifications
4. Scooter is in its maxed out performance mode

Range

Range tests are designed to assess a scooter’s real-world range under normal (and not ideal) riding conditions.  We typically get 50% to 70% of the manufacturer-claimed range.

1. Performed in performance mode and not energy saving modes
2. Test route includes many stops, rough roads, and some uphill travel
3. Scooter is ridden aggressively — maxing out the throttle when possible and accelerating quickly
4. The scooter is ridden until battery dies completely

Acceleration

Acceleration tests assess how quickly the electric scooter accelerates to a given speed.

1. Performed on a flat street and with all settings maxed out to give the fastest acceleration.
2. Zero-start mode (meaning you don’t have to kick start it) is turned on, if the scooter has it.
3. We repeat this test at least 3X then report the best result of those 3 tests.
4. The acceleration times that we report (e.g. 0 to 15 mph) are based on the fastest

Top Speed

Top speed tests are performed on flat ground with the scooter in its highest top speed setting. 

These values don’t typically differ much from the manufacturer specifications.

We are typically able to test for top speeds between 30 to 40 mph.  For scooters exceeding those speeds, we don’t typically go that high because we don’t have a test track with enough runway to safely reach those speeds.

Braking

Braking tests are performed on flat ground.

We accelerate the scooter to just above 15 mph then apply all braking systems (e.g. front and rear brakes).  We brake as hard as possible, but not enough to allow wheel slipping which would result in worse braking performance.

We repeat this test at least 3X then report the best result of those 3 tests.

Hill Climb

Hill climb tests are initiated from a standstill and performed on a 200 ft, 10% average grade hill.

We report total time to reach the top of the hill as well as average speed for the whole hill climb.