Heck of a deal on an electric scooter!

[webbie]

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-serengeti-panther-lithium-scooter

A good value for those who need such a thing!

 

[Jags]

Ohh man, I thought is was gonna be a Rascal - I really want a Rascal.

 

[Slow1]

Looks pretty nifty... I could see using one of those to get to work, not sure how much real benefit it would be for me long term but it is a slick looking vehicle.

 

[maverick06]

I smell BS.
500Watt motor? no way... The RC airplanes I fly have larger wattage motors. and a discount like that. I bet if you buy it you will be dissapointed for one reason or other. something is wrong

 

[Jags]

I smell BS.
500Watt motor? no way... The RC airplanes I fly have larger wattage motors. and a discount like that. I bet if you buy it you will be dissapointed for one reason or other. something is wrong

Check out some of the available motors for scooters. At 24V - a 500W motor is not small:
http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24voltmotors.html

 

[begreen]

Had to pass on this one. In order to qualify as an electric bike it needs to have pedals. Otherwise you need a license. I am also concerned about the build quality based on sparse reviews I could find. Also, parts could be a pain to locate. And last, we have hills, lots of them. They make 500w seem puny pretty quickly.

http://www.fatwallet.com/Groupon-coupons/serengeti-panther-electric-scooter/

 

[Jags]

And last, we have hills, lots of them. They make 500w seem puny pretty quickly.

Good point. Living in Northern IL. I don't even see hills, let alone think about them.

 

[begreen]

I weigh 160 and I bet this thing would poop out before I reached the top of the last hill before our driveway (which is also uphill).

Here's a very similar electric bike that at least has pedals for not much more money.
http://urbanscooters.com/cgi-bin/urbanscooters/XB-502.html

PS: note that they use 48v 500w motors.

 

[Jags]

I weigh 160...

I weigh 240 and am pretty sure that you would hear the bike audibly moan as I sat on it.

 

[begreen]

LOL, that not too heavy. A 700watt version might do:

http://urbanscooters.com/cgi-bin/urbanscooters/XB-700Li.html

 

[maverick06]

for what its worth, remember, watts are independent of volts. volts*amps = watts, 500 watts is 500 watts all day long. your toaster oven is about 3 to 4 times that power.

 

[begreen]

Easy as P=IE

 

[steam man]

I just saw this post and thought from my personal experience I could add a little here. I just got back from a seven week stint in a Chinese shipard on a small Island near Shanghai. Everyone has these electric scooters there. This one seems to be typical of what you would see. They used 4-12v batteries and I believe it was a 48v system. I used one in the yard traveling between areas (albeit it was pretty flat) and I tell you these things will move. Many times two of us approaching 400lbs were on one and it had no problem. I could have bought one there and brought it home for about $450 BUT it would have had to meet US specs by being manufacturered by an approved seller there and have a DOT VIN plate on it, or I would have had 120 days to get it converted and approved in 120 days in the states at an unknown cost. The EPA rules were easy to meet but things such as frame grounding of an electric vehicle, tires, brake lines, mirrors, lights, etc were all an issue. Since you can buy one of the 500w models for about $800 (ebay, online), I felt that wasn't worth the hassle with the regulatory stuff.

One thing about them is how quiet they are. Once you hear a gas one next to the electric one you realize how annoying the gas ones are. I almost got taken out at night by an electric one since the moron was driving the wrong way down a one way street and I didn't look that way nor hear him. It was close. They also typically didn't turn their lights on at night to conserve the battery. Chinese drivers are pretty bad.

I will be in the market for one maybe next spring. Possibly a bit bigger 700w model. I weigh 210lbs or so and will move me no problem.