Electric scooter buyer’s guide

What should you be looking for when you’re buying an electric scooter

Get a decent brand

Who doesn’t love a bargain? I’ll admit it, I like to watch my pennies but there’s something to be said for going with a decent brand when it comes to electric scooters. The cheaper ones look awesome but poor quality or fake electrics can have all kinds of problems:

  • Brake problems
  • Wheels coming off
  • ‘Those’ strange noises

It’s worth spending a hundred quid more on a scooter that’s going to last you a long time and you don’t have to worry about it. Here are some of the main brands we recommend:

  • Pure Air
  • Xiomi
  • 8Tev
  • Ninebot
  • Walberg
  • Razor Power
  • Inokim

What weight does it take?

Everyone knows the feeling of stepping on a kids scooter and hearing it crunch underneath your weight. No? Just me that did that then. Expensive mistake; let’s move on.

One stat that’s well worth checking whether you’re buying an electric or a petrol scooter, is what the max user weight is.

Don’t worry if you’re not a light weight type – you’ll be surprised by how much load some electric scooters are perfectly happy with.

And another thing is to remember to get 10kg more than your body weight as you’ll likely have a bag, clothes and maybe even shoes. These all add to the load the scooter will have to carry.

Buying a scooter blind and not getting a handle on the weight will make for an un-happy scooter that will have a vastly compromised top speed and could severely cut down on its lifespan.