What you're looking at here is the NIU KiQ3 Pro — the latest electric kick scooter manufactured by Chinese eMobility company NIU Technologies.
Before I do, I would like to point out that I’m a complete e-scooter newb. Sure, I’ve seen them advertised online and watched a few videos of hipster Instagrammers piloting them through SoCal streets to some hipster coffee shop, but until last week I had never actually seen one in the metal. So when local distributors Go Electric sent me this box-fresh example to test for a few days I didn’t know what to expect. First impressions were excellent.
Finished in a menacing shade of matt black, the KiQ3 Pro is powered by a 350W motor built into the rear wheel. It’s juiced by a 48V 486Wh lithium-ion battery pack that, as I mentioned before, is sandwiched inside the deck. If these numbers mean nothing to you, just know they’re good enough to give this scooter a claimed maximum cruising speed of 32km/h on a flat stretch of road. Unfortunately here in SA — and Europe — this has been reduced to 25km/h due to legislation.
As important as moving forward is coming to a stop and in this respect the KiQ3 Pro is equipped with front and rear mechanical disc brakes as well as regenerative braking on the rear axle that can be set to three levels of aggression — weak, medium or strong. So how long did it take? Well, door to door it took me about 17 minutes — a mere seven minutes slower than it would take me in a car. Of course this would be reduced if I could somehow unlock that extra 7km/h top speed .
In the case of the KQi3 Pro this would be a fairly simple thing to do as you could probably fashion one from an old sack or car cover. It need not be very big either as the scooter’s lengthy handlebar stem folds down and clips into the aft most part of the deck, making it surprisingly easy to hump around. It’s fairly hefty though — a whisker over the 20kg mark — so you won’t want to be carrying it long distances.
Did we learn nothing about hybrid working or WFH during lockdown ? That it saves fuel and doesn't harm our pockets ? We don't have to sit in traffic like before lockdown ? SMH.
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