Here we pay homage to all the electric scooters that got here. Went in the early 2000’s when electric scooters had been all the fashion. Unfortunately hundreds of those electric kick scooters bought, e scooter and rarely do you see any on the streets today. We are able to assume that most of them turned landfill.
Lithium batteries got here too late for what might have been the electric scooter revolution. Even Steve Jobs theorized that cities can be built round electric scooters (particularly the Segway).
Electric scooters and electric bikes have unique advantages and disadvantages, and are both remarkably related in their function (try our story electric bike vs electric scooter). Could it’s the electric bike, with tons of manufacturers joining the fray could be going down the same deadly road as electric scooter?
Right now, the electric scooter graveyard is larger than the electric bike graveyard. Hopefully this stays the case….
Some of the beneath scooters (most of them are China made) have been re-branded and re-marketed, to a market with little or no demand.
Other scooter corporations have really survived the last 10 years (take a look at our Electric Scooter Survivors listing)
That is only a sampling of 100’s of brands of electric scooters which bit the mud within the early 2000’s after the electric scooter rage had died.
Zappy Scooter (Zap Technologies)
It is the Zappy that began the electric scooter craze. For 15 minutes, all people needed one. The demise of this electric scooter big got here at first when folks started replicating this made-in-California product out of China. So Zappy started buying their scooters from China as effectively to save lots of on costs, e skateboard and laid off their US manufacturing labor. Then Zappy started promoting their made-in-China Zappy at Costco, at lower than what their supplier value had been. People bought lots of them. However the returns were astronomical. If you loved this article and you want to receive details about electric scooter free shipping assure visit the web-page. Costco stopped promoting them. Zappy crawled back to their dealers who did not need any extra to do with the Zappy, and had gone to different smaller electric scooter firms also selling China made scooters.
Badsey Hot Scoot
Badsey was known for making excessive efficiency scooters, hand made in the United States. Once the outdated man Badsey passed away his firm was turned over to two brothers who unscrupulously conned investers and even prospects out of their cash before going under. Badsey changed arms a number of instances earlier than its ultimate loss of life. The problems of the Badsey had been also amplified by made-in-China replicas promoting by other brand names.
Badsey Racer
The Badsey racer was a heavy lead-acid powered road machine that retailed for over $3000. It’s no shock why this model was not a giant seller and ended up in the graveyard. It was plagued with reliability issues as well. Would smoke its motor on nearly any hill.
BladeZ
Also sold at Costco, and when Costco pulled the plug, so too fell BladeZ. The BladeZ was way more strong than the Zappy. Fared significantly better at Costco. BladeZ was selling extra scooters than anyone in the United States in 2003. They were a shiny however brief flame.
Vego
Based in San Francisco the Vego was a quality made-in-Taiwan scooter that made it to market on the tail end of the Electric Scooter craze. Although a number of hundred of the Vego scooters bought, they too would join the electric scooter graveyard in just a few brief years.
Excalibur
Chinese made electric scooters would sometimes copy themselves. The Excalibur is principally a Cobra scooter with a different name on it.
Rad 2 Go
Rad2go was an excellent low-cost Chinese scooter which achieved average success by providing a low speed scooter at an excellent low price. Price for this scooter was solely $200 making it a simple purchase for fogeys buying for their youngsters and many others. Rad2go had its main distribution office in Southern California, which vaporized with all the other electric scooter corporations when the scooter craze died.
Xooter Ex3
There is a blog dedicated to the reminiscence of this electric scooter which is a factor of magnificence. Powered by nickel metal hydride batteries (back then state of the art) and a slick friction drive motor, that is considered one of the higher examples of an electric scooter however at a excessive worth ($1500). The Xooter x3 also proved to be delicate. Had reliability points.
Roth Motorboard
That’s all, people. No more GO Motorboard. The maker no longer makes them, interval.” Since Roth Motors stopped selling in 2009, it was all the time a query if the boards had been nonetheless being produced or simply selling off outdated stock. One of the recent ebay commercials talked about water harm at the warehouse, so it might be that they’ve simply surrender for now. However the boards are still bought on ebay. Available in bulk from sources in China. There are several similar boards supplied, and we’ll keep you knowledgeable on all of them.
This is among the few scooters on this list which had lithium batteries (a123 cells). However by the point this scooter made it to market there was no longer a demand for electric scooters.
Charly Scooter
The Charly scooter is Europe’s take on a electric kick scooter, that made it to the stores in the USA. It was made in East Germany by MZ motorcycle. Was a top quality ride at a premium price. Unfortunately like the rest of these it didn’t make it very far very fast.
Urban Express
The Urban Express was an expensive ($1000+) luxurious lead-acid scooter which flooded the market. They could possibly be discovered for cheap when the company went below.
Here is an image of my buddy Craig Uyeda’s Urban Express which was sizzling rodded with seventy two volts of lead-acid strapped to the deck to hit speeds of 50-MPH. I actually owned Craig’s sizzling rod for a while:
Jackal (Thunderstruck Motors)
Speaking of hotrods, the Thunderstruck Jackal was a high peformance E-tek powered scooter (50-MPH) that didn’t promote too much due to its value point $3500.
Electric Scooter Works
Electric Scooter works continues to be one other sizzling rod scooter able to speeds of over 40-MPH. Although it looks like only a Chinese low cost scooter, it has an Etek motor under that huge plastic hood which makes this factor terrifying to ride. This product by no means achieved any variety of business success. Was gone virtually as soon because it got here. However it was still an modern effort to promote pure efficiency to the general public.
Voloci
Although it seems to be like an electric bike, the Voloci has no pedals, making it a 30-MPH scooter. The Voloci was fast, slick wanting, and had (at the time cutting-edge) nickel steel hydride batteries. Because of its $3000 retail price the Voloci didn’t sell effectively and is now dead.
Cobra
For a short while the Cobra was fairly widespread. Its fat body holds numerous lead-acid battery giving it a decent vary. It also had a powerful motor that would propel it at a reasonable 20-MPH.
Easybike
The Easybike is one of the more refined electric scooter creations on this graveyard. However it got here to market late, after the electric scooter craze was useless, and it’s no shock that additionally they fell flat.
Segway
Never has a small electic automobile have so much anticipation, as the segway earlier than it was released. Steve Jobs even predicted cities can be built round it. However when the $6000 Segway did finally come out in 2001 it was greeted by a big “meh.” Some individuals blame Segway for the demise of the electric scooter craze. Many cities outlawed scooters on metropolis sidewalks thanks to the Segway. Segway was ridiculed in fashionable tradition, reflecting poorly on all scooter riders.
The corporate continued to lose money until 2009, when British millionaire Jimi Heselden bought Segway and steered it toward profitability. Heselden, nevertheless, died in September 2010, when he by accident drove a Segway off a cliff.
Although Segway is just not lifeless yet…it practically is. The one strong customer base for this product is tour information firms, safety firms, and handicap people.