The Atomi E30 Electric Scooter – there and back again
The Atomi E30 is the latest in Atomi’s budget-friendly line and is a beefier version of the E20 we reviewed recently. Unlike the E20, I did not get a chance to ride this from full to empty on the same route multiple times to see if anything much changed. Weather and the ongoing chemo stopped me before the battery ever died, which was good.
TL;DR – great scooter, easily correctable issues, good price.
This being Pocketables, I put the praise up top and then proceed to nitpick. The scooter is solid, powerful, and nothing particularly distracting when riding was observed. It was as smooth as the Atomi Alpha, but with far less flash. It’s a good place hopper and if you’re 240 pounds it provides a good riding experience for 7ish miles in performance mode, which for my needs is generally enough. You can coax a whole lot more distance out of it by switching modes and driving smarter, but I set it to fun and go.
It’s a good scooter, and if you’re looking at Costco wondering if you should get that other scooter there, I’m pretty sure the E30 is better than it. I mean, they don’t let you ride them but man that one looks disappointing.
Atomi E30 Specs
- 650W motor
- Battery specs 280Wh (per email inquiry)
- 15.5mph max speed
- 265lb max load
- Bluetooth app
- High visibility LED display
- 19 mile potential range
The nitpicking
Just in case it’s not clear, I do really dig this thing and it’s become the scooter I take with my kiddo as we explore the city. She’s currently on the E20 although we’re swapping her back to the HELL RIDE because she’s more comfortable with the braking system of that one. That’s ok, the E20’s getting used by the other kiddo.
OK we’re going to start with the E30 just doesn’t want to fold once it’s locked. I’ve had 3 other Atomi products and this one does not unlatch easily. It’s got a slightly different control latch than the others and I’m not sure if it’s an outlier or what but I’ve had to apply significant amounts of force to get the latch open so I could fold it.
The kickstand is a little further under the running board, meaning I generally have to tilt the unit to kick it. Not terrible but something I noticed.
The fold up hook on the running board straight up refuses to budge without placing a screwdriver underneath. This part feels like a tiny amount of lubrication will do the trick, and that might be the case as well with the front lock, but I’m reviewing these as I received them. This latch looks exactly like the e20, but this one is stiff.
While I’m pretty sure that Atomi doesn’t manufacture the logic board here, there’s a feature that’s annoying and extremely noticeable on the 650 watt motor that if it’s struggling to move your weight up a hill it’ll do some sort of battery saver technique and shift you from performance down to something lower. I know it’s a battery life saver, but there’s very little warning that it’s happening and suddenly you find you have no acceleration and have to switch modes from eco to performance again.
Rear disc brake made noise out of the box / cleared up after one ride. I assume the brakes just needed working in.
Charger port is underneath the unit which generally means you have to get down on the floor to locate it. Really wish they’d innovate and put that charger on the pole or on top of the runner board. This is every scooter I have ever tested however.
The fun
The above is what I didn’t like with the scooter, but the rest I’ve enjoyed. The frame build is superb, the motor is what any other 650 watt motor is (there’s not a whole lot of variance in these things,) and so far the batteries are holding up to provide a good ride.
I’m digging the 10 inch tires. These are one inch larger than the largest I’ve ridden on and they are smooth. They handle shock absorption extremely well and you just really feel how they hold the momentum when they get going. The larger tires tend to have a slightly slower start up due to torque, but if you kick off you probably are not going to notice it.
The website doesn’t list what the battery capacity is but due to the weight and wider floorboard where the battery pack is hidden, I’m assuming it’s a little more than 270Wh. I’ve got an email in asking but it’s been holiday psycho buying seasons so I’m assuming they’re a bit busy. 280Wh battery.
The larger motor can be felt in the acceleration department. Running a 650 watt motor I’m able to keep up with my kiddo on a 500 who doesn’t tend to look back, and that’s pretty cool.
Me and the kiddo have taken about 7 multi-mile trips so far and so far nothing unexpected, except rain, which is great. I really do not look forward to the day I lose power over a mile from a car as a 40 pound scooter isn’t fun to lug.
I did a few riding videos, much like I did for the e20, but have decided to spare you those and instead am just including the 10 minute assembly video (expect it to take 15 minutes unless you bring a drill to the game, which I did.)
The ride was the smoothest I’ve had, or at least comparable with the Atomi Alpha. I was generally unburdened by listening to squeaking and anything distracting, and that’s a good thing. Probably the larger tires are to blame here.
What I’d like to see
The E30 is a perfectly acceptable scooter with specs that match what it promises, and unfortunately that makes it a little bit boring. Don’t get me wrong, boring is good in a transportation device, but I’d like to see something that sets this a bit more apart from other scooters such as a replaceable battery pack, easier charging port access, something to cover the rear bumper so you can stick someone there, make the hook raise when you lower the controls, estimated miles to empty on the display, etc.
My assumption is Atomi does most of the manufacture on the frame and then does assembly much like a computer parts shop (I worked in a few computer parts shops,) using other people’s motors, batteries, etc so the places you can set yourself apart are few, but a charging port up top is doable, and choosing a better carrying latch system.
Using a lighter material for the main pole might be useful as there’s not a lot of stressing there and that pole is heavy, which makes the whole package heavy. They’re not as portable as I think they should be.
Having a swappable battery could turn these into viable commuter vehicles and would probably cut down seriously on their return for repair rate. I can go 8 miles on one of these but I’d need 6-7 hours charging before I could return. Well, lemme pop in a new battery and pop the old one on a charger. Bam. Save a parking space at work with a small plug in device in my office. Double my distance with an 8 pound swappable battery.
Should you get it?
Yeah. It’s fun and I don’t expect most of what I discovered is 1) common to all the E30s, 2) any sort of dealbreaker. I’m going to hit it with silicon lubricant and zip tie down those wires and I expect this will resolve my nitpicking.
The Atomi E30 Kickscooter is available from Atomi and Amazon for around $299. It’s astoundingly fun, scooting in general, and the E30 does that well.
Atomi E30 Kickscooter
The Atomi E30 Kickscooter is a 280 Watt Hour / 650 Watt motor scooter capable of handling passenger weights up to 265 pounds for up to 19 miles.
Product Brand: Atomi Scooters
Product Currency: USD
Product Price: 299.00
Product In-Stock: InStock
4.5
Pros
- Affordable
- Durable
- Feature packed
Cons
- Charging port location
- Unswappable batteries
- Carryng option
