Review: is the latest Segway e-scooter worth the $1,800 price tag?

The new Ninebot KickScooter MAX G2 Powered by Segway was a smooth and sturdy ride, but is it worth the nearly $1800 price tag?

Given that the test model that was sent to me broke down temporarily on the way home from the first long test drive, it’s difficult to give it “must buy” status.

Segway has been around since 1999 – originally an American company named after the two-wheeled upright people carrier invented by engineer and inventor Dean Kamen.

In 2015, it was bought by a Chinese company and competitor, Ninebot.

Easy to assemble

E-scooters are rapidly growing in popularity around the world as people look for more sustainable ways to get around in big cities. New Zealand is no exception, with most major centers having street hire brands such as Lime and Beam available to buy.

The Ninebot KickScooter Max G2 was easy to assemble. Without looking at the instructions and being mechanically inept, I was able to unfold the handlebars and secure them with four small screws and I was good to go.

Like all these scooters, it was pretty much self-explanatory: you’ve got a thumb-controlled accelerator, left-handed brake, plus turn signals and a high-pitched electronic horn to warn people of your approach.

The Ninebot KickScooter has a simple LCD screen that shows some important information such as speed and battery life. However, it is difficult to read on a sunny day.

There’s an internal power supply so all you have to do is carry the cable around to charge it.

Unfortunately, the cable is ridiculously short. I had to dig up an extension cord to reach an available outlet in the garage and plug it in. From a quarter full, it was fully charged in four hours. It takes about six hours to fully charge.

After charging and after a few preparatory laps in the parking lot, I was confident to take the Ninebot on a real trip to test its capabilities.

From Hillsborough to Avondale

My journey began on a very steep hill in Hillsborough that proved too steep for the Ninebot.

Shortly after I set off, I was passed by an exhausted cyclist as I got out to push the scooter up the final incline. To be fair it’s an incredibly steep hill and I’m over 100kg so I’m a bit closer to the 120kg weight limit than many users would.

Additionally, the 900 watt motor claims it’s easy to ride only on 22% hills, and even though my hill isn’t straight Additional category (beyond categorization), it goes way beyond that.

As soon as I rode on the flat, I picked up speed pretty quickly. The ride was incredibly smooth due to the fantastic suspension and dual adjustable rear shocks.

I was able to handle bumps and small bumps on the road and sidewalk, with the suspension soaking up most of them.

This gave me peace of mind that I didn’t have to slow down for every bump in the Auckland road as I felt stable and balanced regardless of the road condition.

Eventually, just as it started to rain, I turned onto a loose gravel road, my wheels skidded and I skided slightly, so I turned around and got back onto solid tarmac.

The scooter is designed for both loose and firm terrain and the 10 inch (25 cm) pneumatic tires should no doubt have been able to cope with gravel as well, but I was reluctant to try again as I didn’t want to hurt myself or damage the scooter.

On the flat I was able to reach a top speed of 32 km/h with the motor and thanks to the robust construction and large flat deck I had the knowledge that I was in control and could steer the scooter safely at that speed.

The Ninebot has mechanical drum brakes at the front and electric brakes at the rear, and these were quite responsive. At high speeds they groaned and by the end I felt like I had to compensate for my deceleration and braking distances more than I would have liked.

The journey home

The Ninebot had no trouble getting me the 7.5km to Avondale. Aside from having to learn a bit about braking time, I felt pretty safe driving at around 25 km/h.

I decided to take a different route home. My trip to Avondale was mostly on back roads and bike lanes, but I wanted to see how the Ninebot felt next to cars on the busier main roads and experiment with the turn signals.

Again, thanks to the deck’s suspension and stability, I had the confidence to ride alongside cars at a good pace on a bumpy road.

The turn signals were a nice touch and were easy to toggle on and off with your left hand. However I don’t know how visible they were to cars behind me, they were on the end of the handlebars and may have been obscured by the person riding the scooter.

I was about halfway home when the scooter started losing power. Confused because the LCD screen was still showing half the battery life, I wasn’t sure what was happening when the scooter slowed and came to a stop.

The LCD then started flashing the red error code 51, which after some roadside Googling indicated a fault or problem with the battery. I restarted the scooter and managed to go a little further before the same thing happened again.

This continued throughout my drive home until I stopped and turned off the device for about 10 minutes. Eventually I managed to get home, but it was a frustrating end to an enjoyable and sturdy ride.

I folded the scooter to put in the trunk of my car to take to work the next day.

It was a simple process, but it is not easy. Weighing in at nearly 25kg, presumably due to the battery size, it didn’t feel like the kind of scooter you could fold up and take on the bus or train.

Also, I had to fold down one of the seats in the car because it didn’t quite fit in the trunk of my Hyundai hatchback.

ADVANTAGES

• Excellent battery life for longer distances (40-50 km in mostly flat terrain).
• Powerful and quiet motor.
• Good top speed.
• Robust design.
• Amazing shock absorbers and suspension.
• Reflectors and lights for night driving.
• Easy to assemble and fold.

Disadvantages

• Too heavy and big to carry from place to place comfortably.
• The brakes weren’t particularly responsive.
• Battery failed on the first long drive.
• Loses a lot of speed on hills.
• The LCD is difficult to read in sunlight.
• More expensive than many other options.

I would happily recommend this scooter as it has quite a bit to offer, but given the current price and the fact that it broke down on my test ride, it’s hard to recommend you spend money on this particular make and model.

Despite the fact that it was sturdy, had great battery life, and the suspension was impressive, in my experience (and a quick Google to find other people with similar issues) there’s no guarantee you’ll get home without incident.