Many of the people who purchase electric scooters have an important question: can electric scooters go up hills?
Some people actually do use their electric scooters to get around town for the sake of commuting or running some minor errands, and plenty of people live in areas that are hilly enough to be concerned about whether or not electric scooters can make it up steep terrains.
Ultimately, it depends upon the electric scooter. However, people often do have trouble going uphill on their electric scooters.
Best Electric Scooters for Going Up Hills
Ninebot by Segway ES2
- Ride Faster & Further: With a more powerful motor of 300W compared with ES1, the Segway ES2 KickScooter can reach to 15 mph (25Km/H), travel up to 15 miles (25 km) and accommodate a max load of 220 lbs. (100 kg).
Glion Dolly
- Premium 36v, 7.8ah lithium ion battery with 15-mile range and 3.25 hrs. charge time
- Not a toy — aircraft aluminum frame is designed for daily use by commuters and other adults.
- Powerful 250 watt (600 watt peak) DC hub motor with electronic antilock maintenance-free brake plus a rear fender press brake
Xiaomi MiJia
- - Model: M365 - Material: aircraft-grade aluminum alloy - Wheel size: 8.5 inch inflatable tire - Motor size: 6.7 inch
- - Maximum torque: 16N.m - Maximum speed: 25km/h ( common mode ), 18km/h ( energy-saving mode ) - Cruising distance: 30km
EcoReco S5
- The most practical and versatile last mile solution
GOTRAX GXL Commuter
- 8.5" PNEUMATIC TIRES - Making the GXL the ultimate commuting scooter for overcoming treacherous city streets
- 250 WATT MOTOR - Our most powerful scooter yet, the GXL has a top speed of 15.5MPH and holds a maximum of 220 lbs
Electric Scooters and Hills
For some people, whether or not an electric scooter is going to go uphill could be a function of weight. Lighter people are going to have an easier time getting their electric scooters uphill.
The weight and size of the scooter itself is also a factor. Still, plenty of people are going to end up walking their electric scooters uphill when the time is right for that purpose.
This shouldn’t be that uncommon for people who are used to riding bikes. Some hills are just too challenging for people to tackle on the basis of their muscle power alone, and being able to go uphill on their bikes by walking the bikes uphill is going to be the only viable option for them. However, the people who are used to being able to coast on their electric scooters might be disappointed in the fact that electric scooters have this one built-in flaw.
The people who are able to make it uphill on their electric scooters will still find that electric scooters don’t handle the hills very well.
They’re going to move more slowly, and their stability will be compromised. Going uphill on an electric scooter will almost always require people to get up and walk the scooter, even if it is theoretically possible to let the scooter do all of the work.
The Definition of Hill
At this point, many people are going to want to know whether it is possible to go up a hill that does not have a very steep incline. Even the definition of a hill could be fuzzy under these circumstances.
Overall, people should just use the rule that the steeper the hill is, the less likely it is that they’re going to be able to make it up the hill on their electric scooters.
Hills that are only a little bit steep and that manifest themselves as very slight inclines might be all right from the standpoint of the people who are trying to get around town on their scooters. These are the hills that people are going to encounter the most often, which is good news for the people who are relying on their electric scooters in one way or another.
The steepest hills are the problem, and plenty of folks live in areas that don’t have a lot of hills like this in the first place. Electric scooters often don’t go up hills, but this might not be much of a problem for people who live in certain areas.
Thanks for writing this it’s been surprising how hard it is to find info on scooters and hills. I live in SF where a 17degree grade can be the norm, so this type of info per scooter is essential when committing that much money.
Check out the Kiwano K01. At $1000 USD it is a bit steep, pun intended, but can handle a 35% grade. It is a single wheel scooter with a 550 pound weight limit. That alone should give you some idea of the power of its 1000W motor.