Advice Needed: Electric Scooter or Electric Bike for Delivery Gig Work

[Username:Required]

Hello,

I'm new to ALL of this. I've never had an EV or worked a food delivery gig before and it'd be great to learn from anyone that has experience with EVs or delivering food with EVs. I've spent days learning as much as I can to make an informed decision, and am still uncertain about a lot. I can see the benefits to both and have flip flopped on the decision several times. I'll try my best to organize my thoughts so far.

Budget:
I'd need to keep the price of the EV at $1k or even less if possible. I need to have something left to buy a helmet, a delivery bag, and a new phone because the Dasher app isn't compatible with my current one.

Scooters:
Scooters seem to have a strong edge by being simple and more compact. I live in the suburbs of Philly. It's pretty spaced out over here, so I'm not even sure if my area is viable for ebike/scooter delivery. I may have to take a bus or an Uber to get to the city for work and having a scooter would make multi-modal transportation easier.
I also feel like their compact size and their perceived dorkiness would allow me to "get away" with more things. For instance, carrying the scooter into restaurants and grocery stores, or walking the scooter inside the lobby of businesses and apartments, or even squeezing into elevators when needed. Possibly even drawing less attetion from both LE and thieves alike.

Bikes:
So there seem to be tradeoffs between the 2 platforms, bike or scooter. While sooters seem to require less maintenance, finding someone to service an ebike would be much easier than finding someone to service an electric scooter. Having a bike would allow for carrying food on a rack-mounted delivery bag. Bikes also seem to allow for more flexibility with the size of the battery as well as the ability to easily swap a second battery pack if needed.
As a base, I already have a Trek FX that I could convert to an ebike. I was hoping to find a direct drive rear hub motor kit for it, but the bike does not seem like an ideal candidate due to its configuration. The bike is a flat-bar road bike with trigger shifters that are integrated with the brake levers. Since I don't have any ebike experience I decided based on vibes alone that I'd want at minimum a 1000W motor with a 48V controller and 30Ah+ battery. I couldn't find a kit with that power that has 700c wheels, and rims that can mount normal size road tires and are compatible with rim brakes. LMK if I've overlooked any kits that are compatible with my bike, or any potential workarounds.
Because I couldn't find that kind of kit and was having trouble sourcing all the necessary individual components, I then considered buying a pre-built ebike and that only brought on a whole new set of frustrations. I'm not interested in any of the ebikes that are shaped like motorcycles or dirt bikes. The bike must be bike shaped to avoid drawing too much unwanted attention. But those type of bike seem to be the only ones that come with a reasonably sized battery. I'm also not interested in fat bikes, folding bikes, dual suspension bikes, bikes with batteries that can't easily be replaced, or any other of the gimmicks out there. My ideal ebike would be a a simple rigid or hardtail mountain bike, and all of the "normal" ebikes that I can find are fitted with incredibly underwhelming battery capacities. I don't wanna sink all this money into an ebike AND still have to buy a battery.

Conclusion:
I'm terrible at conclusions, that's why I'm here. I guess let me know what your thoughts are, I'll take anything from generalized statements to specific recommendations because so far I'm working off of wild speculation and confusion.

It's a decision I don't have much time left to make, so maybe the simplest thing is the right thing? I'm looking an inexpensive scooter on Aliexpress. There's a few things left to be desired, but it's ~$630. It claims to have 2x1200W motors and a 23.4Ah battery, and it has an actual spring suspension. Would it be a good idea to get experience on something inexpensive like this to have more clarity for the second time around?

 

[amberwolf]

I'm new to ALL of this. I've never had an EV or worked a food delivery gig before and it'd be great to learn from anyone that has experience with EVs or delivering food with EVs.

I don't deliver food, but I haul assorted cargo including groceries, and dogs, that must be kept safe and temperature-controlled.

So...what are you going to use to do those two things with, on whatever ride you have?

Side note: many people I know locally order from assorted delivery services, and all are frequently disappointed with the delivery as the food or drink or both are often ruined by the delivery process--shaken, spilled, cold when they shoudl be hot, melted when they should be cold, etc?

udget:
I'd need to keep the price of the EV at $1k or even less if possible. I need to have something left to buy a helmet, a delivery bag, and a new phone because the Dasher app isn't compatible with my current one.

How much range do you need?
How fast do you need to go?
How much weight, including the ride itself, the rider, and anything you carry, total up to, worst case?
What kind of terrain (hills, etc) do you have to travel over, under what weather conditions, on what road conditions?
How quickly does it have to recharge to go again, when the battery runs out?

All of those matter for what the ride has to do for you, and how much it will cost to be able to do those things.




What are the legalities of the various rides you are considering, in your locality? Many localities ban specific types of rides either completely or in certain situations / areas, or limit their speeds, power, size, weight, or other factors.


What are the requirements of the delivery service(s)? Some of them won't allow their people to use certain modes of transportation, and/or require specific vehicle types. Some require insurance, which is often available only on certain vehicle types.


You don't want to pick a ride that can't be used the way you need to use it.

 

[99t4]

Scooters seem to have a strong edge by being simple and more compact. I live in the suburbs of Philly. It's pretty spaced out over here, so I'm not even sure if my area is viable for ebike/scooter delivery. I may have to take a bus or an Uber to get to the city for work and having a scooter would make multi-modal transportation easier.

So you're going to be delivering in the city of Philly? Are there no food delivery already in Philly? Suggest you take a trip there and study what they are using. They probably have already figured out the best most efficient methods and vehicles. Maybe you'll see deliveries being made on scooters? If not, maybe they figured out there was a better way? Or maybe you will be the disruptor! See if you can friendly ask some delivery folks what they recommend.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Someone might slap me, but I was looking at this scooter. It’s a dual motor scooter that also has a small form factor. Price is pretty good too.

https://www.voromotors.com/products/inmotion-climber-electric-scooter

I’m not sure of what kind of range you would get though. Depends on your weight, cargo weight and any hills. You MAY find yourself charging a lot.

I also have a clone (Apollo Pro 2019). It’s a beast! It’s almost 80lbs. Here is a similar scooter.

Eagle One Dual Motor Electric Scooter

Experience the power and versatility of the Dual 1000W hub motor on Varla Eagle One e-scooter, with 40 MPH speed, a 40-mile range, 30° climbing angle, and dual hydraulic brakes. Perfect for off-road adventures!

varlascooter.com

It’s a bit more than you were willing to spend, but might be better (again depending on total weight and hills). I actually use the Apollo Pro in eco mode (15mph limit) and take my kid to school. Total weight is about 240lbs. I have a 14-16% grade hill and we get up with no issue. Moving at about 13mph. It’s got a 52v 20ah battery, so you can get some good miles (30-40) in before you need to charge.

 

[Chalo]

I have no real advice to offer about a specific vehicle, but I'll note that getting your checklist, budget, and anything like acceptable quality that will hold up in day to day use is very very unlikely. Even less likely if you're not familiar enough to put a piecemeal system together from unrelated but cost-effective components.

In your situation, I would bias strongly towards a ride I would want to use anyway if the delivery gig didn't pan out.

 

[Username:Required]

Thanks all for taking the time to answer. I appreciate the input.

I wound up grabbing a "too good to be true" Aliexpress electric scooter. I tried to find out more about it but my searches didn't turn up much. I figure it's going to be one of those things I'll have to learn on the job.

NGL, folks, I don't have the highest hopes but if this works out somehow I'd be pretty excited to get paid to cruise around on an electric scooter. But as the saying goes, "If it were that easy, then everyone would be doing it".

To respond to some some of your thoughts:

How much range do you need?
How fast do you need to go?
How much weight, including the ride itself, the rider, and anything you carry, total up to, worst case?
What kind of terrain (hills, etc) do you have to travel over, under what weather conditions, on what road conditions?
How quickly does it have to recharge to go again, when the battery runs out?

I wish I could answer these, but they're all unknown variables I was doing my best to account for. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

To address your concerns about damaged goods: It won't exactly be my first rodeo out delivering food, it'll just be the first time I got paid to do it. I've been hauling groceries home on a pedal bike for 10+ years so I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve. It should be a little easier on an electric scooter and I'm sure I'll learn a few more food hauling techniques as I go.

Suggest you take a trip there and study what they are using. They probably have already figured out the best most efficient methods and vehicles.

That was a good suggestion. Would've been smart if I thought of that, but my smart days are over. Wear your helmets folks, head injuries aren't fun.

I've cycled thru the Philly before and the city does have a strong bike culture. And until very recently when Lime came along and created a financial incentive, electric scooters were banned in Philly while ebikes weren't. Becasue of these factors, I imagine there's going to be a lot more ebikes than scooters over there. You might just be right about being a disruptor.

In your situation, I would bias strongly towards a ride I would want to use anyway if the delivery gig didn't pan out.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I almost went for the EMOVE Cruiser S to get the highest possible range. But c'mon, I'm only human... Of course I'm gonna send it.

Thats why I nabbed a dual motor rig with a better suspension and an actual kickplate to give er some body language when needed. I figure that'll also lend towards learning about scooter repairs and maintanance fairly quickly.

I also have a clone (Apollo Pro 2019). It’s a beast! It’s almost 80lbs. Here is a similar scooter.

I just bought a clone/parts bin scooter myself. I couldn't find much info about it before buying it, so It's safe to assume that there won't be much technical documentation along with the scooter. How do you handle replacing/upgrading parts on something like that? I imagine that certain parts are loosely standardized, or parts bin scooters couldn't exist if everything was custom and proprietary.

 

[slaphappygamer]

Nice thing about cloned units are they usually have some form of documentation somewhere. If not your scooter, then probably one of the other clones. My Apollo has none, but the Zero 10x does, as well as the Varla Eagle One. All the other accessories like grip tape, wheels, brake pads, and all other mechanical things are also readily available. This is why I was STOKED to hear my buddy was selling this scooter. I knew I can easily find replacement parts. Heck, you can probably find all the same parts and build the scooter yourself! All parts of the frame and the electronics can all be found with little effort.

I wouldn’t count on the displays or controller being swappable (individually) between clones (since different vendors MAY have different firmware settings that the user does NOT have access to) but replacement displays and controller kits are readily available. Out of my own curiosity, I looked at the wiring diagram for the Varla Eagle One and it’s the same as what I see on my Apollo.

The only changes I made to my Apollo were the tires for more off-road since the stock slick tires would often lose grip on the crap roads in my area. Then I tapped into the power for the lights and added a headlight at the handlebars. I also changed the grip tape for something less “Apollo”. The entire deck displayed “Apollo” I didn’t want that to be an attractant to thieves. I just used skateboard grip tape and cut it to size. If I lose the keys, I can just install a new key switch.


Which scooter did you choose?

 

[Username:Required]

Nice thing about cloned units are they usually have some form of documentation somewhere. If not your scooter, then probably one of the other clones.

I guess this kind of knowledge is something that comes with experience, because I'm not sure which scooter is supposed to resemble which, as well as who came first. For instance, I was under the impression that Apollo scooters weren't clones, since during my crash course into electric scooters I had heard about them using proprietary components. I like their approach to scooter design, it seemed like they were bucking the trend of competing for the highest "stat sheets" by cutting costs everywhere else. Their scooters might have more humble motor power output, but were otherwise fitted with top tier components like hydraulic brakes , hydraulic suspension, fast charging support, etc. And besides expensive components they seemed to (sometimes) have thoughtful design ideas like placing the turn signals on the handlebar ends, making them more visible.

But in the end, the only suitable Apollo scooter I could afford would've been the city pro, but it had few quirks that I decided I'd rather avoid.

Which scooter did you choose?

I'll probably be judged over this, but it's called an Awribon GT06 Plus. I can't even find info about it from the manufacturers site. I honestly have no clue what I got myself into here, but that's part of the fun. The only thing that I could find was about the Awribon GT08, which is more popular and might have even been cheaper but I really wanted to avoid the GT08 for several reasons. It's hard to gauge size in alot of these pictures, but it seemed like it was too big. I was trying to keep the size/weight down for multimodal transportation. I also didn't like whatever that ugly hunk of metal is at the base of the handlebar stem, especially how it juts out when folded.
I'm expecting many of the spec to be overstated, especiallly concerning the 23.4Ah battery capacity. But the thing about having low expectations is that sometimes you might be pleasantly surprised when things aren't actually awful.
Aliexpress's search algorithim is a mystery to me though, it's like an AI that's gone rogue. One moment it's telling me that the Awribon GT08 is their 2nd bestselling scooter and showing other listings for the Awribon GT06 and GT06 Plus, but then if you try to search for "Awribon" or even "Awribon scooter" it says they couldn't find anything.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

Did you run the numbers on just renting an Apollo ebike or Lime scooter to make deliveries with?

 

[Username:Required]

Did you run the numbers on just renting an Apollo ebike or Lime scooter to make deliveries with?

Funny you say that. I'm a very analytical person, and believe it or not that's exactly what I did. I can prove that it's a perfectly rational financial decision. I could've made a career in sales.

Here's the pitch:
So I'm out here in the sticks, there's no work nearby, no functional public transportation, and it's a minimum 3 months till I get my license. I either stay unemployed for 3 months and have nothing to spend on a vehicle when I do get my license and still have no income, or I get a vehicle now and drive it without a license, start building income and maybe I'll find other work opportunities while I'm out there.

When the numbers come back slim and none, call me slim.

 

[Zambam]

Is this what you bought?

With a 15 - 20 mile range, how many deliveries can you make before having to charge? How long does it take to charge? Do you have a second battery that can be swapped in (is the scooter capable of that)?

 

[Username:Required]

Is this what you bought?

With a 15 - 20 mile range, how many deliveries can you make before having to charge? How long does it take to charge? Do you have a second battery that can be swapped in (is the scooter capable of that)?

View attachment 369163

Yeah, that's what I got.

A 15-20 mile range doesn't seem to line up with 23.4Ah battery, and it doesn't say anything about the specifications of the charger it comes with. I don't even think it said anything about a charger, so I'm just kind of hoping it comes with one.

A different listing for the same scooter said it fast charges in 3-4 hours, but didn't say if it includes a fast charger or not. However, a 4 hour fast charge would fall in line with a 5A charger and a 20Ah battery.

Carrying a spare battery was an idea, but won't know what would fit until it gets here.

I guess I'll see what the range is once I have it and go from there.

 

[Zambam]

The scooter weighs 92 lbs! That's heavy lift to transport (uber, bus, trains, stairs). Carrying spare battery (assume in your delivery bag?) adds probably 10- 15 lbs.

A few things don't jive in the ad. You'll find out soon.