Is a 30-mile range enough?

More than a couple times, I've nearly stranded myself by running the battery nearly empty. I've only needed to call for help once, though, that being when I made a trip to the grocery, not quite a mile away, with only 5 miles left on the range indicator. Got there OK, but the machine would not start with only 4 left. Fortunately, my wife could drive my spare battery to me in a matter of minutes. Swapped out, drove home, and everything was fine. Lesson learned; don't expect the machine to start with 5 or fewer miles left on the range indicator.

Downtown is about 10 miles from the house, by air. Inbound on the scooter, since it's primarily downhill, I use about 7 miles of range getting downtown. The return trip, though, uses double that, typically 13 to 15 range miles, depending on the path taken. With any diversions on the way in or back, that results in having only a couple of miles left.

At least twice, the range indicator read 0 when I pulled in the driveway. I've gotten down to 1 or 2 a half dozen times. One of the times it said 0, a red X appeared next to the number, so I know I was running on electron fumes. It had gotten down to 0 when passing Pines Plaza, 3/4 mile away.

Knowing my limits, I make sure I take a charging cord and a 10-foot extension with me under the seat, as well as the key that lets me take the battery out. Quite a few times, I've parked the scooter downtown and lugged the 30-pound battery the six blocks to the office and charged it under my desk. But that's a project, since it's so heavy I have to change hands every couple hundred yards.

The main reason for doing so is if I know I am going to need to travel more than 30 range miles on a trip. My monthly trip to the coin club in Dormont, for example, would be exactly 30 miles from home to there and back, but I know the range miles are well in excess of 30. On those trips, I bring the battery into the meeting with me and plug it in for the couple hours I will be there. While it takes four hours to charge it fully, the meeting duration lets me get enough charge to get home. I might only have 5 miles left when I get home, but I do get home.

Looking ahead to the next scooter, I am hoping battery technology will have improved enough that I will get considerably more than 30 range miles off a charge. I've learned to live with this machine's limitations, but I don't see that limitation as a selling point. Hopefully anything comparable that's new now has extended that range a good bit.