RMartin EVD Electric Scooter

I just test rode various models of the EVD scooter this afternoon at Rmartin and it seems to be a solid ride. I only rode it about 20 minutes and just around the residential area near Rmartin. My experience with electric scooters is confined to an EGo and an Oxygen Lepton and the EVD/eFun D is in a totally different class. It feels more like a motorcycle i.e. heavier and more stable. The residential streets I rode on during my first test drive were flat and the EVD accelerated smartly to 30mph and cruised very smoothly - once I got going. The only complaint I have with this scooter in this initial ride is that the throttle is very sensitive; it took me a good dozen stops and starts to finally not feel like I was going to get thrown off the back of the bike.

On relatively level roads and smaller hills, the EVD is a great scooter. The acceleration is pretty amazing on city streets - I easily kept up with cars from traffic light to traffic light. Cruising between 35 and 40mph seemed effortless for the EVD. It felt firm and stable. The rear shocks worked well to smooth out the occasional irregularities in the road.

The real test for me was going up and down serious hills. Early on in the road test is a hill that I would estimate at approximately 30-35 degrees with a fairly hard right turn leading to it so I couldn't really get a running start to begin the climb. Glancing down at the speedometer, I saw I was entering the hill at about 25 mph and by the time I was up about 3/4 of the hill, my speed was down to about 15 mph and held steady at that speed to the top. Climbing smaller hills in the range of 20-30 degrees, the EVD seemed to find a sweet spot of about 20mph. Going down the hills was fun and the EVD's disk brakes worked very well.

One small but thoughtful feature I really liked about the EVD is the turn signal beep when it's turned on. It reminded me turn off the signal after each turn. I can't count the number of times I've forgotten to turn the signal off on my current scooter. The seat is also very comfortable. The build quality is very good as far as I can tell.

My most important criteria in selecting a scooter is its hill climbing ability. I would buy the EVD in a heartbeat if I didn't live in the hilly part of town. But I would feel much better (safer) if the scooter can give me about 5 more mph in ascending the hills in my neighborhood. Randy Martin, who has really been very helpful and accommodating in my testing has agreed to let me test the EVD+, which has a motor that has even more torque. If that does give me the extra push I'm looking for, I will be a happy camper.

I did test the EVD+, the higher torque version also. I rode it on the exact same route with very similar weather conditions. Unfortunately, I did not see any noticeable increase in performance on the hills. I'll have to wait until something else comes along.

After my test rides of the EVD and EVD+ and to satisfy my own curiosity, I did test ride the lithium battery version of this scooter.

This version was a significant improvement over the SLA battery equipped scooter. Again on the same test route, I was able to get to about 20 mph going up the steepest hill. This lithium EVD was able to climb the other, less steep hills with no problems hitting between 25-30 mph consistently over the top. On flat city streets, I was able to keep up with traffic easily managing a smooth 45 mph for one stretch between traffic lights. I felt the scooter truly had more speed to give if I had needed it.

This scooter will fit the needs of anyone looking for an urban commuter.

Disclaimer: I'm a rank amateur in the electric scooter field so everything in this review should be taken with that in mind. I've tried my best to be as accurate as I can in my estimate of speed (using only the EVD's speedometer) and steepness of hills. Other opinions I've expressed are strictly personal.

Damn, the EVD can move. The manufacturer claims it gets 50 mph top speed and 50 miles per charge for $3600. Compare that to the ZAP Zapino at 30 mph and 30 miles/charge for $3400, or the Vectrix with 62 mph and 40 miles/charge for $11,000.

 

50 mph top speed - confirmed.

 

50 mile range - attainable if you go really, really slow. It would be more accurate to say the EVD has a 25-30 mile range in normal driving conditions.

 

The manual actually claims it can go 75 miles if you limit the speed to 19 mph, but of course that's not going to happen! Nevertheless, obviously the range is dependent on how fast you go, how many starts and stops you make, terrain, weight, etc.

 

I took a trip where the battery started out not quite fully charged and was going 40-50 mph most of the time. The battery lasted for about 30 miles. One nice aspect is that it seems to recharge a bit when coasting forward, so if the battery discharges completely, you can coast and walk a bit, and the battery will recharge and allow you to ride a bit more, then repeat as necessary. I found this out the hard way! But I was able to go another 5-10 miles after the battery had died with this method. Once the battery charges sufficiently, the EVD is still able to go 30 mph for a few tenths of a mile.

 

Acceleration claim is 0 to 50 mph in 8 seconds - More like 0 to 40 mph in that time. I'll sometimes beat cars across the intersection at stoplights, and accelerating from 0 to 40 is pretty quick, but it takes a while to get from 40 to 50 mph. When fully charged, the acceleration at slow speeds is a bit jerky because it's so powerful, but once the battery charge decreases a bit, the acceleration is nice and smooth.

 

Compared to my iMoto2 Verde, the EVD costs 3 times as much, but its motor is almost 4 times more powerful, and top speed is 2.5 times greater. Acceleration is no contest. The EVD also has much better shocks, so it's more comfortable to ride. Climbing is also no contest - I was able to go up bridges as fast as cars with no problem, whereas the iMoto crawls up the same bridges and holds up traffic. With the iMoto it took me 45-50 minutes to make the 13 mile commute to work, and the battery barely had sufficient range. With the EVD, I made it in 30 minutes with plenty of charge remaining. And the EVD is certainly more fun to ride than the iMoto.

 

Energy consumption - It takes about 1.2 kWh to recharge the EVD after a 13 mile trip, which is about 1.1 cents per mile. Based on the PG&E power grid mix and energy prices, in terms of both emissions and fuel costs the EVD gets the equivalent of 400 mpg. The iMoto required 0.75 kWh to recharge after a 13 mile trip and got the equivalent of 600 mpg.

 

Storage space is slightly better in the EVD than iMoto. The storage is under the seat, and I can fit everything I need for work (charger, bag with lunch, water bottle, sweatshirt, various other stuff) in there with no problem.  You can also get a trunk to attach to the back if you need more space.

 

The one advantage for the iMoto is that it's lighter, so it's easier to move around, maneuver, etc. The EVD weighs 400 lbs (iMoto is 200 lbs), so if it tips over, it takes some muscle to return it upright, and it's difficult to maneuver into small spaces. With the iMoto I can just lift up the rear of the moped and rotate it, which I can't do with the EVD. However, I wouldn't want to ride a 200 lb moped at 50 mph either! Going at high speeds, the weight increases stability.

 

I did have a problem with the shipping of the EVD. It took 2 weeks to get to my house, but the second week it was just sitting around at the delivery terminal. They scheduled an appointment with me to be home and sign for the shipment and gave me a 7 hour window, then never showed up! And when they did deliver it, part of the rear trunk rack was broken. However, those are problems with the freight company (Saia), not the EVD itself.

 

Assembly was slightly difficult. When it arrives, you need to attach a brake shield, windshield, mirrors, and the throttle. Really it was just the windshield that was difficult, because it required removing parts of the moped that were screwed on and the instructions weren't very clear, but it's not too terribly difficult to figure out. Actually the most difficult part was removing the EVD from the steel shipping frame. There are instructions about how to do this inside the seat, but I didn't discover that until after I'd gotten it off the frame!

 

Battery life wasn't as advertised for me.  The lead acid batteries are supposed to last 2-3 years, but after about 1 year and 4700 miles my range was cut by more than half, down to about 13 miles in conservative riding.  One problem may have been overcharging, because I always left the batteries charging when not in use.  I just got new batteries and the EVD is back to normal.  This time I'll stop charging when the batteries are charged, and hopefully that will extend their life.

 

Overall I'm happy with the EVD. It's really nice to be able to keep up with traffic going as fast as 50 mph, and not to have to worry about the battery charge running out or holding up traffic while climbing hills.  The 30+ mile range is plenty for my needs.  It's a fun ride, and for the price, I would say that it's definitely a great deal.

I purchased the RMartin EVD because I was interested in electric vehicles, and quickly became convinced that 2 wheelers were a much more efficient and cost effective entry point, and there were actually brand new products available right now. I have looked at the Vectrix, which is a very high end scooter with an equally high end price of about $10,000. I nearly purchased a Extreme XM-3500, but I found the EVD and quickly cancelled my order. Both bikes have very similar appearance, but the specs vary in a few key areas:

XM-3500
20 x 40 aH Thundersky Lithium Phosphate batteries
3500 watt, 3 phase brushless DC motor
Chinese made ABS hydraulic disc brakes made in Taiwan

R. Martin EVD Lithium
21 x 60 aH Thundersky Lithium Phosphate batteries
3000 watt, 6 phase brushless DC motor
Improved ABS hydraulic disc brakes made in Taiwan

I currently have approximately 1100 miles on my EVD, which I use to commute to work about 3 days a week. I have never ridden or seen an XM-3500 in person, but I can't stress enough that I feel the 40 aH batteries would be undersized for the XM-3500, especially with a higher watt rating on the motor. With the EVD I see some voltage droop when accelerating or going up hills, but it is very moderate. On colder days expecially, I would think that wiht the XM-3500 you would get a huge voltage drop when you accelerate. It would also cut down your range considerably. The 6 phase motor is marketed by R. Martin as a big advantage because it is smoother, and it seems smooth to me. I have seen several complaints about soft or mushy brakes on the XM-3500, but am quite pleased with the EVD's brakes. So far my experience with the Thundersky batteries and charger have been very good.

The specs on the new XM-4000 and XM-5000 models seem closer to the EVD (with the exception of the motor wattage), but they are considerably more expensive than the $4500 + shipping that I paid for the EVD.

Another big difference between the two is that I have seen countless online posts about bad customer experience with Extreme, where my personal experience with Randall at R. Martin has been very positive so far.

I am very pleased with the appearance of my scooter, which I got in the Red/Black option. Several other people have mentioned that it looks cool as well.

The performance of my scooter is very good. It is actually a lot of fun to ride. Acceleration is brisk below 30 mph, and slows down as you approach the top speed of 50 mph on the flat (measured by gps, speedo indication is approx 4 mph higher at 50 mph actual). Range varies dramatically with speed, but I have gone 44 miles on a single charge, and much of that was going 40-50 mph and stopping at frequent stoplights along the way. Based on my calculations and some estimates, a 60 mph range would be possible if you could minimize stopping and accelerating, and kept the speed down to 30-35 mph.

In actual day to day usage, I have been recording the power used to charge the scooter with a Kill-a-Watt meter. So var I'm averaging 1.03 cents per mile in actual cost from my electric utility company. So driving 1100 miles cost me about $11 in electricity.

The only issues I have had so far were a small plastic panel that was cracked (I believe during shipping, although I'm not sure, because I didn't notice it until I'd had it about 2 months) which cost $15 to replace, and a circuit breaker which failed, and cost $12 to replace. The only thing that I would caution someone about is the need to ensure that the battery cells are kept equalized (at the same state of charge). I will say that I have a system of checking the batteries on my scooter that is quick and easy, but if you aren't familiar with circuits and don't own a multimeter, this type of vehicle may not be for you.

I'd definitely recommend checking out the EVD if you are looking at a high performance electric maxi scooter at a reasonable price.

Hi

 

I wanted to add a quick review from the UK on this bike. Over here its called the elecscoot and has roughly the same spec as what is available in the US. My model has a battery management system that allows you to set output voltages from the batteries etc and the usual switchgear, underseat storage etc.

 

What has prompted me to start using the bike for commuting is the current tube strike in london. There has been grislock on the streets, hunreds of people at bus stops and lengthy commutes for a lot of people. I figured, 'get on my bike' and made my way in. Without getting into stats and measurements etc, i would just like to say that the performace of this bike is equivalent to a 80-100cc petrol scooter. Its just got a different propulsion method. I kept up with london traffic no problem (average speed is 7mph, ha ha) and when there was some open road, the bike kept going past 40 mph and i would have easily got to 50mph if i had the chance.

 

My only gripe at this stage is range. On high power i only get around 30 miles range, which is more than enough for my commute and local trips. I think it may improve with more recharges and as the battery becomes more efficient but its the only thing i can fault on the bike. The fact is, until battery technology becomes smaller, lighter and higher capacity, this is about the best you can get when it comes to electric personal transport. I would think you could upgrade the battery pack fairly easily once better versions are available, try doing that with a petrol bike!

 

I think this type of bike will become a success as it would enable people who ride scooters to make a painless transition to electric, and entice people, like me, who wanted to trade in their car for a eco friendlier alternative.

 

Cheers