Send to a friendSteven Bremer February 1st, 2008 10:20 AM Link
That is a scooter, not a moped.
Two Wheels and 2000 Watts: We Ride the XM-2000 Electric Moped
Written By: Seyth Miersma
The average American citizen is more aware than ever that we live in a world filled with Chinese produced items. From home electronics, to clothing, to the much-publicized children’s toys, “Made in China” stickers are ubiquitous in almost every walk of life.
And though Chinese made parts have been found in the transportation industry for sometime, Americans as a whole are just starting to awaken to the idea of whole Chinese vehicles coming to our country. Which is why we were particularly interested when we discovered a small company selling Chinese-built, and all-electrically-powered, mopeds, right in our backyard of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
John Harding (pictured) is the owner and proprietor of Revolution Electric Vehicles here in Ann Arbor. His operation is about as small as sales ventures go, primarily utilizing his web site to connect potential customers to the “home office” of X-Treme scooters. Though his sales volumes may be tiny, Harding is a self-avowed EV “geek,” and was ebulliently informative when we visited with him to test out his XM-2000 Electric Moped.
Harding was refreshingly candid while discussing his EV scooters, willing and able to dish on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Chinese moped. At first blush, the XM-2000 seemed to be a perfectly nice machine. Retailing for $1999, the sporty EV moped could be directly compared with similar gas scooters of around 50cc displacement, though performance-wise the XM was a bit of a cut above.
On our very short (it was about 10 degrees out, thank you) test ride, the moped proved to have sparkling acceleration even when considering the above average size (6’5” 250lbs) of the pilot. The natural torque of the rear-wheel hub-mounted electric motor finds a really useful audience with a vehicle that is best suited for cross-town commuting, and urban transportation. The motor itself is a dual-winding unit, rated at 2000 watts, and good for a top end of around 45 mph.
Harding told us that in warmer weather, he regularly rides the bike 12 miles to his office without issue, and that it has an overall range of around 25 miles in good conditions. He also mentioned that when the batteries are properly “broken in,” that is to say not used at full-tilt right out of the box, their life cycle could be massively expanded.
Despite all the positives the XM-2000 seemed to have going for it, there were plenty of evidences of price-point engineering to be found as well. First and foremost to our eyes was the fact that the overall fit and finish left a bit to be desired. When compared to even low-end gasoline powered mopeds from Europe or Korea, the XM’s detailing, instrumentation, and plastics fell fairly short. Mechanically, even Harding himself called the EV moped an “80 or 90 percent solution,” noting that the manufacturers skimped with thinner gauge wiring, and sub-par batteries.
All in all we found the XM-2000 to be a capable machine, but one that will require a step-up in refinement before it can truly capitalize on its promise of providing clean, simple transportation, at just pennies per mile.
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13 Comments
Seyth Miersma February 1st, 2008 10:51 AM Link
Steven,
While the XM-2000 doesn’t have pedals, it is listed by the manufacturer as an “electric moped,” hence the headline. Point taken though.
John Harding February 1st, 2008 11:36 AM Link
If you call it a scooter then some think of stand on two wheel scooters like the Razor.
If you call it a moped people expect to see pedals. Most “moped” definitions in State’s laws don’t require pedals anymore.
If you want the closest legal definition I believe it is “motor driven cycle”.
But, hey, what’s in a name?
John Harding February 1st, 2008 11:37 AM Link
Oops - you’d think I could get my own website right!!!
ronald February 2nd, 2008 5:23 PM Link
how long do these electric mopeds last, i heard parts are not in america when they broke down ad batteries are almost as expencive as the mopds them selves. what do they mean by a batteries tilt oneside out of the box. do you sell them and do you mail them to hawaii.
Ducati Minor February 2nd, 2008 10:43 PM Link
That is a good question, ronald. David Edwards of Cycle World wrote an editorial review of the Vectrix electric scooter. The scooter retailed for $11,000 and, though the company claims battery live at ten years or 50K mi., the estimated cost for a battery replacement would be around $5,000. Edwards, in his review, also noted a five-mile uphill climb was counted as fourteen. In spite of all of that, I think electric scooters and bikes are a wonderful idea and do enough to cut air carbons to makeup for the rampant negative press.
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John Harding February 15th, 2008 4:10 PM Link
The original batteries in the XM-2000 are incorrectly specified for the task at hand. They are UPS style batteries with thin plates - as such they degrade quickly when used in a “high power” setting such as for an EV.
A new set of “power batteries” of the same technology would cost you around $450. These batteries, properly conditioned and properly managed, would last somewhere between 300 and 500 cycles with about 22 miles per cycle. In this definition a cycle is drawing the battery capacity from 100% to around 40% capacity. By not drawing it down as low you extend the number of cycles you can achieve. In other words you can expect between 6,600 to 11,000 miles when the right batteries and the right battery management systems are used.
A scooter such as the XM-2000 is unlikely to be ridden much more than 20 miles per day (and likely a lot less when averaged out over the life of the vehicle). I’d say a 3 year life for the batteries would be reasonable.
A LiFePO4 pack (Lithium Iron Phosphate) would weigh a lot less and last a lot longer - and cost a lot more initially. A LiFePO4 pack for this bike would cost anywhere between $1800 to $3000 with a life cycle claim of as high as 2,000 cycles.
The XM-2000 is no longer available - but I don’t ship to Hawaii anyway (sorry!).
david March 14th, 2008 8:10 PM Link
Wait… You get a review of a product you sell, and 14 days later they are unavailable? Sold out, discontinued, recalled by the manufacturer, I don’t get it. As a distributor, shouldn’t you be telling the manufacturer about these battery technologies and making them available to your customers as upgrades? It appears to me that you could compete head to head with the $10,000 bike at less than half the price (even using the expensive batteries). Throw in a bank of folding solar cells and double the range at a comparable price. I just don’t know.
John Harding March 25th, 2008 2:44 PM Link
David - the bike was already not available when Winding Road approached me about riding it. I told them that it was no longer available. Yes, the distributor and the manufacturer have been told about the battery and have assured me they’ve addressed it with the new model (see next).
The XM-3000 is coming out at the end of April. It has the Greensaver SP27-12 fitted as standard (the right battery for the job). It has a motor rated at 3000Watts, has a more powerful charger (10Amps vs. 3) and has regenerative braking. It will retail for $2000 - same price as the old XM-2000. See http://www.revevllc.com/xm3000.php
The XM-3500 is coming out in mid May. It has Lithium batteries, a 3500 Watt rated motor and a bigger frame (think Vectrix like). It will retail for $3000 - as far as I know it will be the least expensive lithium product out there. It uses Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries which are a much more stable formula than the Li-Ion batteries used in consumer electronics that had to be recalled because of “thermal runaway”. These batteries should last 3 to 4 times longer than the SLA batteries. See http://www.revevllc.com/xm3500.php
Michael Handy May 3rd, 2008 9:22 AM Link
John - Can we trust that information released about the XM-3500 is valid when it is released on the date that the XM-3000 is first offered for sale? I am concerned that this sounds like the ZAP company making promises, and they have come under scrutiny for their bad business practices. ZAP also has tried to use chinese products to promote themselves. Should we be concerned?
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