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Comment by androidgirl | Hacker News Reader

Are any of these electric scooters worthwhile for hilly commutes?

I live about a mile from the closest train stop, and currently I walk to and from because the entire way is steep coming back, at 10% grade.

My gut tells me a scooter would need to be unreasonably powerful to work in this area.

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"Scoot" is absolutely fine on hills. Drove it from Pier 1 to Golden Gate park on California and back with zero problems on hills. Of course, BMWs will make it a point to shoot by you to show their superiority, but you won't be holding up traffic up hills.

I do wonder what would have happened if my phone died before I parked the Scoot. Seems like it would be a pain in the ass.

You must be talking about the Scoot motorcycles. I don't see the little scooters lasting from Pier 1 to GGP and back.

I am - the ones that aren't legal on the sidewalk. I don't see why you would get the little scooters. There didn't seem to be that much price difference.

10%? I don't think any scooter (via a share company) will have the torque needed to get up at a reasonable speed.

It appears the Xiomi M365 had a rated motor of 250W with a max of 500W.

I cycle with a power meter, and going up a 10% grade requires 300 or so watts. Bear in mind the bike has gears that allow going up hills with lower torque. The scooters have a single ratio.

There are slightly more expensive models that are 500W-1000W+. The Segway and M365 are ~350W. I had a hard time with the battery life on the Segway ES2 on hills, but am a little bit over the supported weight limit

Source: own escootercartel.com

I have an EcoReco L5 and it handles hills alright, but it depends on how heavy the rider is to be honest. I think my block is about a 20% grade and it can’t really do that, but 5-10% should be okay.

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