Hi, thxs for your questions.
which one did you go for?
I bought the "forca racebug 800W" when they made a cheap offer to get rid of that model (actually discontinued) and it had "LiIon" battery (i.o lead/acid battery)
Is it made in EU or its coming from China?
I am pretty sure it is made in china while there might be some good german requierements and follow up of the design execution.
does it do what they say it does?
I can't really remember how close it matched the specs from the range point of view, from the speed point of view, it does match the specs.
it took me a while to cook the stock motor when riding several time in very demanding conditions (full speed up alpine hills) so, I would support that they are reliable.
I have it since 2012 - maintenance costs are low
My personnal disappointement about it, is mostly the weight and you can hardly think about carrying it to, for example, take a bus or a train, it's "foldable" to take less space when stored - say to be lifted from the ground into a car boot
(e-board are much lighter )
My personnal enjoiement about it, is the solid frame and built, which make them a great base for hot rodding.
for example, the bottleneck of the power train is the original battery (low discharge rate) limiting the output power : this you can change with higher discharge rate battery and discover which component is next to limit the output power.
what could be helpfull for you : we were 2 to buy the forcaracebug, my friend has used his one more than me, without care or maintenance or upgrade, he later on sold it well to buy a 1000W registered version, that he is using a lot without issues.
you might get yours from that site :
http://www.eastcoastwholesales.com/products/products/5-gas-a-electric-scooters.html
especially this one if it fits your budget :
http://www.eastcoastwholesales.com/products/products/view/5/203.html
(it's not 48V but it's LiIon battery, doing the math : 36V x 16 Ah x 2"C" = 1152W as input power : seems a consistent lay out w. respect to the other numbers they give.
I don't know if you would be interrested in a registrable 14" hub motor e-scooter :
http://www.zawione-group.de/elektroscooter/der-revoluzzer-der-14-e-scooter-mit-strassenzulassung-30-km-h/a-5001521/
