lithium battery, lightweight only 40 lbs. Mobility Scooter

I’ve owned the SmartScoot since August 2015 and I’m extremely pleased with my purchase. I had thoroughly researched lightweight mobility scooters and feel that the SmartScoot is, by far, the best of its type. The SmartScoot excels in a number of areas.Ease of TravellingTravelling with the SmartScoot has been easy. As mentioned in several articles, the scooter can be ridden to TSA checkpoints, cleared, and then on to the boarding gate. Most airlines allow the scooter to be driven down the jetway and parked and the Lithium Ion battery removed to be carried-on. I have folded the steering wheel under the seat and folded the seat back down. In this configuration, no parts other than the battery need to be removed for airline travel. Baggage personnel then carry the scooter from the jetway and place it with the luggage in bag well. Most all airline and airport personnel are familiar with small scooters and battery handling requirements and understand that the SmartScoot complies with UN PT. III Section 38.3 requirements. Most airlines publish online specifications for baggage door dimensions and even most commuter planes are large enough to accept the scooter in its folded configuration. The scooter comes with a luggage rack for carry-on bags and a foldable basket for miscellaneous items.SpeedSome of the scooters advertise a top speed of approximately 3.7 miles per hour, which is about the speed of most grocery store scooters and is barely walking speed. The SmartScoot provides the ability to select one of 3 speeds and has a top speed of approximately 7 miles per hour. This is a very important feature when traveling longer distances or getting around a store quickly.WeightThe SmartScoot weighs under 40 pounds with all parts, seat and battery, aboard. This light weight allows for easy transport of the scooter in a van or in the trunk of most mid-size cars. On a recent trip to Phoenix, the scooter fit easily into a Nissan Altima rental car.Single tube coupling of front and rear wheelsSmartScoot uses a single sturdy center tube to join the front wheel carriage to the rear wheel carriage. Other scooters utilize two lighter weight tubes running from the front to the back. The single tube design allows the driver to place their feet on the ground directly below the seat. While SmartScoot does have a reverse switch it is also desirable to be able to use your feet to manually move the scooter small distances forward, back and sideways. The ability to use your feet is a great benefit when maneuvering in small places.Turning radiusThe SmartScoot is very maneuverable under power with a turning radius approximately equal to the overall length of the scooter. As such, it easily reverses direction in an area smaller than the typical grocery aisle.BrakingWhile researching travel scooters, some contributors commented about the need for increased braking power with some scooters. However, I have found the brakes of the SmartScoot to be fully adequate. The SmartScoot brakes are adjustable and therefore can be set to match the weight of the rider, commonly encountered inclines and the speed at which the scooter is driven.Rear wheel vs. front wheel driveThe SmartScoot utilizes front wheel drive. While rear wheel drive may benefit from the increased traction provided by the weight of the rider being directly over the wheels, I have not had any significant problem with SmartScoot’s drive configuration.StabilityThe rear wheel width is adjustable providing high stability at its maximum width and reasonable stability at its minimum width. The ability to reduce the width provides for ease access to narrow areas. At its minimum setting the SmartScoot fits through shipboard stateroom doors. Many other scooters must be parked in common areas, away from stateroom entrances.Manufacturer credibilityIt was reassuring to know that these folks stand behind their product. My SmartScoot was delivered with the horn not functioning. One call to the manufacturer, Innovative Mobility, resulted in an offer to return the scooter at their expense or to send replacement parts. I opted to have them send me the parts and they also sent detailed instructions to easily perform the repair. There was one other problem about 7 months ago and that too was handled promptly. I believe that Innovative Mobility is a credible company, run by honest people.

My scooter arrived yesterday. When I opened the box to start assembling it, I noticed that their were no “white” tie down cables that required cutting! All the big pieces of cardboard inside the box, used to keep the scooter from moving while being transported,were loose. The inside cardboard also had large holes in them that looked like they came from the scooter parts moving around, punching holes in the cardboard. Some scratches were on the scooter probably because of the parts hitting each other during transporting.The scooter did not looked used, as plastic still covered the throttle and the battery was still in its own sealed cardboard box. However, it did look like it was definitely taken out of the box. Maybe it was used for display? Or this scooter was opened then returned? Parts are missing.Besides all the white cable ties not there, and the loose cardboard with holes, the scooter manual and the allen wrenches are missing and also the LED Headlight is missing! The charger was there but loose in the box. The basket and luggage rack wire were there. The packaged scooter was double boxed and there were no holes on the outside of the boxes for parts just to fall out. Parts had to be taken out and not replaced, and the entire scooter not secured in the box.The SmartScoot website has a downloadable assembly manual, but I found the the YouTube videos about installing the SmartScoot basket and luggage rack better, as they show exactly how and where to install them.I liked the fact that the SmartScoot is lightweight and stainless steel (rustproof). It is a high-grade stainless steel as I tried a magnet on it and the magnet did not stick. Many outdoor grills say “stainless steel” but magnets do stick to them (low-grade stainless) and the grills still rust over time. I also like the fact that the rear wheels can expand for better stability, and contract for small doorways and stores.SLIPS ON GRAVEL AND GRASS; I am a full-time RVer and stay at campgrounds, many of them that have gravel roads and grassy areas. If I was to make an improvement on on this scooter, I would make the front drive wheel more “knobby”, and maybe a little wider, so that it would be able to grip gravel roads and grassy areas. Another Idea would to have two drive motors put on the back wheels. This would make the scooter an "ALL WHEEL DRIVE" and would definitely not slip on gravel or grass. A conversion to extra back drive wheels would not me hard. This SmartScooter has all the features I was looking for, with the exception of it slipping on grave roads or grassy areas. I may check with a local mobility scooter repair shop to see if anything can be done to make the scooter more versatile to the campgrounds I go to.

I've owned my SmartScoot for several months. It is powerful and lightweight. I can pick it up. It also looks good. I've taken it on dates to nice restaurants. It gathers plenty of comments. It has allowed me a step towards a more "normal" life. I am 6'2" 230 pounds. It hauls me up my steep inclined driveway without any trouble. It's fast too. You have to be careful with the throttle. It will spin the front wheel. Also no backup alarm! Thank you! All of that is the positives. 5 stars for that.The accessories are pretty terrible. The handlebar mounted shopping cart is too small and doesn't fit well at all. Gets in the way of the front brake lever. Certainly not big enough to shop with. I put a tall cavas grocery bag in it to gain shopping capacity. That wasn't thought out well at all.The stainless steel "loop" for luggage is also sucks. It pops out too easily. Falls off. There are two places to mount it. One in front and one under the seat. It doesn't turn with the front wheel. That means if the luggage is too tall, you can't turn the handlebars freely. It would have been "Smarter" to have two rails that connect to the two mounting places. That way it would be more adaptable to add capacity for shopping or luggage. Easier to strap stuff to as well. They want $70.00 for a second loop too. Eh....The cane mounting cups up front could go away too. They ruin the lines of the design. Instead of having them welded on, they should have been a mechanically mounted option. They are catching dirt and are in the way. Thought about having them cut off. Probably would lose a pound of weight too.Great scooter really well thought out. I wish I could say the same for the needed accessories....