The last mile problem is real—commuting rarely lands you on the doorstep of where you’re headed. The EcoReco e-scooter is just one of the latest attempting to solve that problem. Of course, the scooter is also just a lot of fun to ride too.
I also recently tested Boosted Boards electric skateboard and it put up some very intriguing capabilities while also being a whole lot of fun. It’s not a competition between a host of last-mile vehicles, but I was definitely considering the differences between the two heading in to my time with this e-Scooter.
Are you looking for something to help get your from the train to office? Or maybe you’re looking for a weekend joyride. Either way, the short story is that the EcoReco might be a good place to start, but let’s dig a little deeper into what you get for the $1200 you’ll have to fork out.
Hardware
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While the EcoReco e-scooter is definitely unique, it isn’t too far off from one of those Razor scooters that were insanely popular a decade ago. It will make commuters question walking from the train to the office.
But because of the size and weight of the battery, the scooter is heavy—much heavier than any Razor scooter. If this is your last-mile device, be prepared to carry something that’s about 45-pounds.
From different promo photos, it doesn’t look difficult to pick up and carry, but in practice if you had to carry this thing more than a few feet at any one time, it might be too much for a lot of people. I wasn’t prepared for the weight as I dragged the UPS delivered scooter in from my door step.
It comes pre-assembled, there isn’t much to figure out before it can be taken on its first joyride. The handlebars and upright pole fold down to a manageable size, which can be done in a matter of seconds—same for unfolding it and getting it ready to ride.
The brake handle is on the left and the acceleration trigger is on the right side of the handlebars. While it worked perfectly, I kept wondering if having the harder-to-squeeze brake handle would have been better with my dominate hand?
There’s also a digital display on the righthand side which tells your speed, battery level, and distance. It’s a really handy feature which all electric vehicles would benefit from having.
Overall the scooter’s metal frame feels very solid, though I did notice over time a few of the back screws rattling slightly.
Ride
There’s virtually no learning curve. You can hop on and start going without fear of falling off. As part of the safety design, the wheels do need to be rolling before the electric motor kicks in. That means you need to give it a push with your foot as you ease on the accelerator.
One of the first things I noticed was the feel of the wheels, or at least I thought it was the wheels. There’s a mushiness, but after investigating I think it’s more from the shocks than the hard rubber tires. It was a noticeable thing on the first two rides, but faded from consciousness quickly after that.
Even though the EcoReco e-scooter was incredibly easy to ride from the start, the overall riding experience left a lot to be desired, mostly because of its speed. When riding down hill or on a completely flat surface the advertised 20-MPH felt adequate. Going up any type of incline—not even a steep hill—slowed the scooter down to a crawl and became very disappointing to be passed by people on foot.
With Boosted Board, the electric skateboard I reviewed for Paste, there was never an issue getting the required torque to power up a hill. It was amazing. Usually the board was still too fast for full speed.
With this scooter, however, it would regularly slow to 5-MPH on inclines. With any type of steep hill you would definitely be better off walking it up.
Probably the biggest reason it’s a shame is that with a scooter and having handlebars to hold on to, compared with a skateboard, you could actually handle more speed. I was waiting for the speed, expecting it, and then it didn’t come.
If you’re last mile is uphill, I’d recommend getting a helmet and learning to feel comfortable on a longboard and then picking up a Boosted Board. If you’re commute is relatively flat or you’d feel safer having the bars to hold onto, then this scooter would probably be a better choice.
The other advantage of the scooter is its turning radius. Tight T-turns on the sidewalk were no problem and planting a foot while you hugged an even tighter turn wasn’t an issue either. All these great riding aspects made me long for more torque and more power going up inclines.
The EcoReco is so close, but the lack of speed out of the gate also means that the scooter as a joyride, weekend toy, is also pretty limiting.
Battery
Charging wasn’t as fast as the Boosted Board, but the scooter also lasted longer. On a flat road I believe it’s advertised distance of 20-miles. Speeding and going up and down hills I would still regularly get 40+ minutes of use out of it. I never tried to kill the battery, though, mostly for fear of being stranded somewhere.
I was always pleasantly surprised at the battery life compared to my expectations for any electronic device. It easily could be rode to a destination and then plugged in and charged before needing to return. Be prepared to carry the bulky and heavy charging adapter also.
One of the consistently nicest features was display read-out of battery remaining. When you are potentially traveling miles, it would be severely unfortunate to be left guessing how much battery power was left.
It does take some time with the scooter to get the feel of how long the five bars will last you, but it felt consistent and less of a guessing game.
Verdict
The EcoReco’s e-scooter is both fun and a viable way to commute short distances. It has that one huge caveat—at least as I tested and see it.
Its uphill speeds are extremely poor. If they those speeds up inclines were just even a little bit better and didn’t typically fall to around 5-MPH, it might be a different story. But as is, that flaw weakens the benefits like great turn radius and good distance on a single charge.
Even if uphill speeds aren’t an issue, the weight may be a real issue for those that can’t or don’t want to carry something about 45-pounds. These issues shouldn’t be a deal breaker if it fits what you’re looking for, but they should be serious considerations when buying the $1200 scooter.