Cheap electric vehicles?

[bitesize]

Hey I'm new to the electric vehicle scene. I'm wanting something that can be used as a regular manual vehicle, but have electric capabilities that's less than 50lbs and less than $1000. It should be foldable if it's a scooter.

I've checked out the following:
1. Ecoreco M3 Scooter - $1000
2. Yuneec E-Go - $700
3. Easy Tiger 200W - $520
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Easy-Tiger-200W-electric-scooter-adult-adult-scooter-folding-electric-car-commuters/1910984497.html

4. 200W Electric Scooter - $200
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-200WATT-24V-ELECTRIC-SCOOTER-BIKE-BLACK-/310275556600?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item483ddd44f8

I'm looking at number 4 as it's the smallest of all of these and also the cheapest. Has anyone had any experience with any of these?

 

[torqueboards]

Ecoreco is nice but it doesn't climb hills much. Flat ground it's pretty solid and goes up to 20mph pretty quick. Just can't climb any hills.

There are quite a few other escooters out there now too. The Airwheel X3 seems to be about $500 on eBay. Although, I don't have first hand experience with it yet.

 

[LockH]

Joined:Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:40 amLast visited:Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:02 amTotal posts:1 | Search user’s posts
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Hiya. Hope someone else here can help! Just curious, how much time did ya "spend" poking around Alt. Planet ES? (Sorta curious how easy "stuff" is to find here.)
Cheers
L

 

[made_in_the_alps_legacy]

Yep: it's crap
The wheels are crap, the electric system is crap, the frame is crap, the transmission is crap
It's OK if you target no more than 10kms lifetime out of this 200w ebay scooter
(Actually mine was already falling apart at the delivery)

 

[LockH]

"10kms lifetime" Hehe...

re online convo re "cheap" just now,
Q. "Watts the most reliable (and light)." "Cheapest" assumed.

My reply "Reliable and light. Pick one."


So to the "Cheap" mix, maybe add reliable and light weight. And energy and maintenance consumption/work I guess is understood minimum needed.


Anyway. To some, the word "cheap" may be a "loaded question".

 

[Dauntless]

I take this to be that you park some distance away and ride up. When I tried that in the L.A. area I figured out that neither my 350w Currie nor 180w Razor was up to it. Not hilly, but definitely not flat, both struggled with the gentle upslopes, the 180w became useless.

350w wasn't much faster than walking, 180w was just plain more trouble than it was worth. This is on narrow sidestreets or cramped mainstreets, not always going 10mph with cars cars cars going past.

If I was to try that again I'd have maybe 750-1000w. At least less life threatening and really able to save me some time.

 

[profspicy]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum but got my Yuneec E-go a couple months ago. So far I love it! I live in a lightly hilly area of Boston and use it to run errands and commute to and from work (about 5-6 miles round trip). The E-go can make it up just about any hill I would care to bike up, and I often pass bikers on the uphill. To slow down you pull back on the slider bar and the regenerative braking engages. However, coming to a full stop can take a significant distance, especially on the downhill, so you need to plan ahead. The sub 15 mph top speed can be annoying, but 95% of the time I wouldn't want to go faster than 15 mph anyway. The electric motor does have a significant "whine" to it that can be louder than a Prius or other electric car, especially when going up hill. I've ridden it for up to 90 minutes at a time and never got to 25% power, which is great because I can ride it to work, stash it under my desk, meet up friends, pick up food, and ride it home without recharging it. It makes running errands incredibly fast--it used to take me 20-25 minutes of walking (round trip) to pick up my favorite pizza. On my E-go it takes about 5, and I can hold the pizza under my arm on my way home, something not possible on my bike. Overall I'm very happy with the E-go and would recommend it to anyone.

 

[LockH]

Cool re E-Twow. (Reminds me of Curry "Fat Flyer" of a decade ago... updated re Bettery pack of course.) Personally favour 12" tires. To ease bumping over stuff (pedestrians, etc.) But last wheels bought were solid rubber. No inner tube. (Rubber nicks can be patched/repaired.)