How Far Will Your Awesome New Scooter’s Battery Really Take You
While looking up electric scooters, you might have noticed figures like 60V and 28Ah. Measures such as those are typically used to determine the charge of the battery and how long it is capable of staying charged before it has to be recharged at an electric outlet. While charging stations are beginning to become more prevalent, it’s still very important to understand these figures and what they mean.
Current, Voltage and Power
So, this isn’t necessarily the time and place for a physics lecture, but it is necessary to understand some basic concepts about electronics in order to make an informed decision on the type of scooter you actually buy.
Current and voltage measure the electric current that your scooter’s battery gives off and together they generate the power necessary for the motor to run. To get a rudimentary idea of how it works, picture a circular hose with water flowing through it. The voltage is the water pressure, while the current represents how difficult it is for the water to flow (for instance, through a narrow hose). Power is simply current multiplied by voltage. We measure voltage in Volts, current in Amperes (Amps) and power in Watts.
The measure of 28Ah mentioned earlier represents Amps per hour and measures the amount of electrical current that the battery can allow to flow. Beyond that value, the battery cannot operate, so setting up a motor that draws more than 28 Amps could result in the motor not turning on at all.
Strong vs. Weak Batteries
Naturally, a strong battery will last longer. However, as it often happens in the world of physics, everything is relative. A high powered motor that draws more than 1000W will drain a typical battery quite quickly, so the range that setup would provide would not be adequate at all. That is why electric scooters like the Quickwheel explorer have batteries that deliver more than 1,600 Watts per hour in order to have a range close to 30 miles, while tiny scooters like the Zimo K1 only require batteries running on 36V and with a total power output of just over 300 Wh to achieve the same range.
That doesn’t mean the K1 can keep up with the massive Quickwheel Explorer which has a top speed of over 40 mph. But it does mean that, for the different purposes they have, both scooters can be expected to have around the same range. If you want to find out more, check out both these amazing scooters at Best Electric City Rides – the leading e-scooter store on the web.