What to Consider When Choosing an Electric Scooter Supplier?

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Here we list three critical aspects to consider when choosing a reliable e-scooter manufacturer to support your business.

It would help if you focused on how your supplier does their daily QC during the production process, how they choose and test the key parts to assemble the e-scooter, and what certifications they have got.

Quality Control

Quality is the most critical factor in determining the business’s success or failure. It would be best to consider it seriously before working with a scooter factory.

You will want to check the factory on how they do the QC process daily work. It would be best to notice how many inspections they do during the process, from getting raw materials to the finished products.

For example, We Aurora Electrico have been at least five times inspection including IQC incoming inspection, IPQC inspection, OQC, and finished item QA inspection before shipping to ensure the quality.

And it would be best if you kept an eye on how many test instruments the manufacturer has as they are the assurance for finishing the QC process.

Motor performance test machine, battery capacitance tester, high voltage tester for scooter chargers, and drop tester to simulate the vibrations during transportation are inside our factory to show how we have been making high-quality electric scooters.

Want to see how we do quality control for E-bikes? Check here

Parts of Electric Scooters

You need to know the details about key parts your supplier has been using to produce the e-scooter, such as which brand they are using and what spec they can perform.

The factory’s brand components to produce the scooters can largely influence its final build quality. 

Critical components for the electric scooters are:

Battery

Large battery capacity ensures a longer riding distance at a less charging time. 

The highest quality battery pack international manufacturers are countable. They are Samsung, LG, and Panasonic. These batteries can only be found in extreme performance high-end electric scooters.

For the reason of continually rising cost. The generic Chinese manufacturer battery is widely used in most budget and commuter e-scooters.

The main difference between Chinese batteries and famous brands is quality control and stability.

(Most commuter and budget electric scooters are made from Chinese manufactured batteries for the continually rising cost, while few factories buy and import Samsung, LG, or Panasonic batteries from Korea and Japan). 

Go and check what battery brand your supplier is using to produce scooters. And if the Chinese battery now is the only option, try to find good reputable manufacturers using quality batteries with stringent QC management.

Motor Controller

The controller is the brain of the single e-scooter that controls and regulates the flow of current from the battery to the motor in an electric scooter and gives overload protection for the motor. The nucleus module is between the scooter’s battery, controller, and motor. 

An international notable speed controller like VESC Project might be a great option, while some Chinese controllers also work great for the consideration of cost savings.

But at least select a reliable controller supplier among China’s many controller manufacturers. Some famous controller producers in China with good reputations are Xbot, Santroll, Lenzod, and Aurora Electrico.

Motor

Most quality scooters are equipped with BLDC(Brushless DC motor), which is more efficient, durable, quieter, and less overheating than brushed motors.

Generally, the more power a motor can produce, the better performance like top speed, carrying more loads, accelerating quickly, and climbing hills ability the scooter will have. 

However, the wattage of the motor can not tell the whole story of the motor efficiency. Two motors with the same rating wattage of 300W can only suggest that both of them can consume 300W power.

Still, it doesn’t mean they can produce the same mechanical energy in equal efficiency. What’s more, the measure way to the motor wattage is different from different makers.

So don’t just look at the amount of power when suppliers quote specifications for the motor. Apart to ask them whether they mean peak power or continuous power when quote(As some suppliers quote the peak power as their motor power, which is 2 to 5X greater than sustained power but is not the useful measure for comparing motor performance), finding a reliable motor supplier is essential.

Certification

UL2272 and CE EN17128:2020 are the two most common certifications for electric scooters.

An electric scooter with UL2272 means it has been independently passed a strict series of safety tests developed by UL specifically to evaluate the safety of e-scooters. It can tell how resistant an e-scooter is against high temperature, impact, and other conditions. The test includes electrical, mechanical, and environmental tests.

Although the UL2272 doesn’t explain, a scooter has better performance and quality as it missed non-electrical safety tests like build quality and stability.

The performance of an electric scooter, however, it is still the most authoritative safety certification to prove a reputable scooter manufacturer in terms of strict quality control measures in place. At least, a scooter with UL2272 minimizes the risk of fire incidents caused by poor batteries.

EN17128 is a similar standard to UL2272 that requires the general guarantee of safety. EN17128 is mainly used in Europe, and the member states include French, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, Netherlands, Swedish and more

Certifications explain that manufacturers have taken their products through various performance tests to ensure safety, durability, and a comfortable riding experience.

Final Toughts

Besides the 3 parts mentioned above, there are other aspects that need to consider a bit, such as the experience of the guy whom you communicate with, the reputation of the company in the past years, their attitude to deal with the after-sale disputes, and more.

It’s also necessary to have field trips to the factories, to see their production facility with your own eyes and talk with them face to face.