I’ve owned a Niu KQi 300 P electric scooter for a little over a week now. In that time I’ve made 5 trips of increasing distance and duration. The goal is to use the scooter as alternate means of transportation back and forth to work.
We live a little less than 5 miles (as the scooter rolls) from where I work. Manhattan KS is not flat, and we live at one of the higher points in the city. Going to work there is a 400’ drop in elevation and a 200’ climb. Those numbers are obviously reversed on the way home. Most of the 400’ climb is concentrated in the last half of the trip, really the last quarter I guess.
I made a couple of short rides to get used to the scooter, and then a couple of longer ones, including one that went down the 400’ and then right back up. Today I had my wife drop me off at my office and I made the trip home on the scooter. Now that I have some time using it, here are my thoughts.
It is bumpy. The “suspension” is fine for sidewalk cracks, but anything larger is felt through the soles of your feet and the palms of your hands. I learned quickly to flex my knees for bumps and going up and down sidewalk ramps.
Seeing behind you is difficult. The handlebar is not very wide, so your hands are no more then shoulder width apart, and your riding position puts the handlebar right at your belt. When you swivel your head to look over your shoulder, it is hard not to lean or turn in the same direction. Given the geometry of the riding position and handlebar, I’m not sure a mirror will help. If it had a long enough arm, so that it was high enough to see easily, and so that it stuck out past your arm so you could see behind you, then it would be okay.
I bought a 3/4 motorcycle helmet, with a full face shield (and a nifty build-in sunshade for my eyes) and some elbow and knee pads. The last time I regularly wore a motorcycle helmet I didn’t also wear hearing aids. I can get the helmet on over the hearing aids, but removing it peels the aids off my ears. I bought a little travel case to put them in. I need to remember to put them in the case before putting the helmet on, however.
The elbow and knee protection isn’t bothersome. Now, while it is still relatively warm out, I get sweaty where the pads are at.
The single motor will overheat if you tax it long enough. Today’s trial run from work to home was done at full speed for the majority of the trip. Full speed is about 19 or 20 miles per hour. I slowed for turns and sidewalk ramps, etc. Otherwise I had the throttle wide open. A little more than halfway up the final climb the scooter lost power and started beeping furiously at my. A red “13” was flashing on the display. Using the app on my phone I learned that code 13 means the motor has overheated. Oops. I walked 30 yards or so and then let it stand for another minute. Once it stopped beeping I was able to finish the ride home with out any further excitement.
I can be a little less aggressive on the way home to help keep the motor from getting over taxed. Also, it will be getting colder out now that we are almost in October. Maybe colder air will help keep the motor cool. There is no way to avoid the elevation changes. I could alter the route to work slightly to spread the 200 foot climb over a longer distance, or I can plan on walking part of the biggest hill.
The trip home there is no way to lengthen the elevation change. I may have to stop at the Starbucks halfway home and loiter for a few minutes to let the motor catch its breath.
My reasoning for getting the scooter was to not have to get a second car simply to drive 4-5 miles twice a day. My research shows that over the past 12 months, approximately 260 work days, there were 180-ish days that were above freezing and not raining at 7 am or 4 pm. I think it will work for that purpose, with some planning on my part. Most days my wife could drop me off in the morning, with the scooter, and I can ride it home.
If it proved not to be a viable means of transportation, it was only $800. Barely one month’s car payment these days.