Quite a few miles more on the Atomi Alpha electric scooter
I’m on my second Atomi Alpha electric scooter. The first one they sent the battery died unspectacularly… just one day it didn’t work. The first one left not a great impression on me but the second … well, the experience has been different.
Now, unfortunately I can’t test the thing out in the exact same conditions as we’re four months plus in. I have noticed when it’s warmer the battery performs a little less at-a-time, and I dropped 30+ pounds since I started so the scooter’s got an easier job.
In the interim I have formed a scooter gang with my daughter who is riding the Shell RIDE as we explore the relatively tame greenways of Nashville. We stick to the mostly abandoned or untraveled parts near Metrocenter.
Let me explain on the battery what I mean by at-a-time… when it was cold (50F) I could have it on sport mode and basically full throttle it until it was dead 12ish miles later. Now that it’s 40F warmer my full throttling days run for about two miles and then the battery wants to rest. Oh, it’s still at about 4 bars but it weakens. Sit and let it rest/cool down a few minutes and then it’s back to full power for another mile or two.
Turn signals/indicators show no signs of falling off, not that they did on the first scooter. That was weird and I wonder sometimes if something happened that I didn’t catch in transport.
No change on my stance on the turn signals and LED visibility. The controls are still not great for signaling and I still do not see the LED screen when I am scooting unless I step back. Might be a height thing. Doubt it though.
It still bothers me that the method for getting a replacement battery is to ship the entire scooter back to the factory. I have not ripped the unit apart, but most scooters area battery and a plug. The batteries are generally ~70-150USD from what I can tell, and I feel that shipping a 35 pound scooter is probably going to cost somewhere around the $70 mark. But eh, not my company.
I’ve quite enjoyed this scooter, although the last few months with the health stuff and all it’s mostly that I was able to go out with my kiddo and actually somewhat keep up. We developed a system of scooter bells to indicate danger, stop, and OMG abandon scooter see that puppy it needs pet!
Glowing review? No, I don’t do those. A much better experience than the first time around however. While it wasn’t designed for this, during the couple of months I could barely walk I had no problems scootering, and that picked me up quite a bit.
Check out the first review. Much of it still stands, but it’s a quite decent scooter if you get one with a working battery (which they took care of even with my review posted.)
