Electric Scooter P-Settings Database
Disclaimer: This P-settings database is currently in beta. Change p-settings at your own risk; data is based on manufacturer’s data but there are no guarantees of accuracy. Contact us for corrections or additions!
The P-setting database for electric scooters includes programming presets for all scooters from the Scooter Database that have an EYE trigger throttle or QS-S4 trigger throttle.
P-Settings By Throttle Type
Many electric scooters have LCD finger throttles with pre-programmed settings (P-settings) that allow you to adjust features like cruise control, zero-start, and speedometer units (mph/kph). Learn how to access P-settings for LCD finger throttles, which you can adjust, and which presets you should not mess with.
LCD Throttles
The two main types of LCD trigger throttles are the EYE throttle and QS-S4 throttle. To access P-settings, you use the available buttons on the dashboard to get to the menu, toggle through features, and adjust values up and down.
Electric scooters most often include 10 to 15 P-settings, including some presets which should not be adjusted. Presets that should not be adjusted are battery voltage, battery voltage protection, motor magnets, and automatic scooter voltage shut-down. These presets affect how the motor and battery are calibrated and should not be adjusted unless you understand the functions.
Common P-settings
P-settings allow scooter riders to customize their ride. The top 5 programmed features in both types of LCD finger throttles are:
- Cruise control
- Speedometer units
- Start mode (kick-to-start or zero-start)
- Power level
- Acceleration
Other common P-settings for electric scooters include electronic brake strength, LCD brightness, auto-off time, and wheel diameter.
Manufacturers often skip using some P-setting positions, so there may be 20 positions available but only 14 have programmed settings. Ordinarily, instructions for how to access P-settings and adjust designated features are included in the scooter instruction manual.
Pro tip: Many LCD throttles include a USB port on the back of the display that provides low-voltage charging. Some sellers and scooter riders on reddithave reported malfunctioning LCDs and/or throttles after plugging in a mobile phone. These USB ports are typically very limited in the amount of current they can output, and we don’t recommend using them for charging external devices, as they are mostly intended for flashing the LCD.
EYE (EY3) Throttle P-settings
Currus scooters, Minimotors scooters, and the Kaabo Wolf Warrior use an EYE throttle and have 14 identical P-settings. With the EYE throttle, some P-settings are lettered.
Accessing Settings
There are three buttons on the EYE LCD display: Mode, Power, and Setting/Multifunction (❍). To access the P-settings menu:
- Power on your scooter.
- Long press the Mode button (3 seconds) to get to the P-setting menu.
- Use the Mode button to toggle through and select P-settings.
- Use the Multifunction button (❍) to adjust values.
- To save settings, allow LCD display to timeout (3 seconds) or long press Mode to exit the P-setting menu.
All standard P-settings for EYE LCD finger throttles are in the EYE LCD Throttle P-settings table.
EYE Throttle P-settings: MiniMotors, CURRUS, Kaabo Wolf Warrior
For the EVOLV scooters, setting P20 is programmed for communication protocol, default: 4. All other brands/models do not have a program for P20.
P-settings for EMOVE, Kaabo and Nanrobot
EMOVE, Kaabo, and Nanrobot scooters use the same standard P-settings in the same order, detailed in the table below. Kaabo electric scooters include three additional P-settings, and some models of the base Kaabo Mantis require a code to access the advanced menu. Here are the models with the same QS-S4 throttle and P-setting programming:
Not including the Wolf Warrior 11 which has an EYE-throttle.
Table for EMOVE, Kaabo, and Nanrobot
| Setting | Feature | Notes |
| P0 | Wheel diameter (do not adjust) | Default: 8 to 10 (varies by model) |
| P1 | Battery voltage protection (do not adjust) | Default: (varies by model) |
| P2 | Motor magnets (do not adjust) | Default: 10 to 30 (varies by model) |
| P3 | Speed signal (do not adjust) | Default: 0 or 1 (varies by model) |
| P4 | Speedometer units | 0: kph1: mphDefault: 0 |
| P5 | Start mode | 0: zero start1: kick to startDefault: 0 |
| P6 | Cruise control | 0: off1: onDefault: 0 |
| P7 | Acceleration | 0: fast1/5: slow Scale is 0 (fast) to ⅕ (slow)Default: (varies by model) |
| P8 | Power level | 1: slowest100: fastestDefault: 100 |
| P9 | Electronic brake strength | 0: off1: mid3: maxDefault: 0 |
| PA | Lifetime odometer reset | Long-press Mode button to reset to 0 |
| PB | Auto-off time | 0: not set60: 60 minDefault: 5 |
| PC | LCD brightness | 1: low2: mid3: highDefault: 3 |
For Kaabo scooters, P8 is the electronic brake strength (0: off, 1: on, default: 1) and P9 is the power level (default: 100).
P-settings for FLJ, Joyor, Qiewa, Weped, and Other Brands
Other brands that also use the QS-S4 throttle include FLJ, Joyor, Qiewa, and Weped. Joyor provides scooter user manuals and P-setting instructions on their website. P-setting instructions for the FLJ, Qiewa and Weped are less detailed and available online.
If programmed settings are not included in your e-scooter instruction manual, try reaching out to the manufacturer if you need more guidance.
If you have an electric scooter with a programmable LCD throttle and P-setting instructions that’s not covered in this article, please share with us and we’ll update our database.
Where can I find p-settings for my electric scooter?
Most manufacturers provide the programming instructions and p-settings for electric scooters in the user manual. If they are not provided by the scooter manufacturer, sellers often include a webpage detailing how to access and adjust p-settings on their website.
You can also check the manufacturer’s and seller’s pages for the scooter, search on reddit, check out YouTube tutorials, and try community forums for p-setting guidance.
Which p-settings should I change as a beginner scooter rider?
If you’re just getting comfortable riding an electric scooter, we recommend disabling cruise control and enabling kick-to-start. Cruise control automatically turns on and maintains your speed after holding the throttle for 5-8 seconds, which can be jarring if you’re just getting used to accelerating and braking. The kick-to-start feature requires that you kick the scooter up to at least 1-1.5 mph before you can engage the throttle. Depending on the power and configuration of your scooter, sudden acceleration can take some getting used to. Learn more beginner tips in our scooter riding guide.
What happens if I adjust the features that are labeled “do not adjust”?
In general, those values are set specifically for each scooter model and should not be adjusted, as it will change the scooter’s configuration. If you are mechanically inclined and understand how adjusting the values alters the performance of your scooter, you can make changes to the P-settings – but should do so with expert guidance and caution. For example, if the setting for the wheel diameter is incorrectly programmed, the speedometer will be configured incorrectly and will not display accurate speed. For the EYE LCD throttle, there are a number of preset values without explanation, so you may need to reach out to the manufacturer for more explanation before retooling.
Check out our current ESG Editor’s pick of the best electric scooters on the market!
How to Fix an Electric Scooter: Common Problems and Solutions
Finding the right electric scooter can be tough, so when you do find the best one for your needs, you want it to run correctly. Often, this means keeping a charge on the battery and being careful. However, some issues may arise where the scooter no longer works.
When this happens, you may think that you have to throw away the machine and buy a new one, but you can actually learn how to fix an electric scooter so that it runs again. There are common issues that you might run into, and we look into each one and the solutions.
A Word of Caution
While many of these scenarios are easily fixable with few or no tools, it is important to be safe. If you don’t feel comfortable performing a task, you may want to call a professional. They will take all precautions for safety and may have a background in troubleshooting electric scooters.
How to Fix an Electric Scooter
You’ll find a variety of problems that may come with owning an electric scooter. We’ll talk about each one and give you a solution to try. In most cases, it will work for you.
A Dead Battery
You may not realize it, but there’s a difference between a battery that is low and one that’s dead. When the battery is low, you can turn on your machine but can’t get it running. This happens because the battery isn’t getting enough power to run the motor.
When you’ve got a dead battery, your scooter won’t even turn on and will be lifeless. It’s not going to respond at all.
The Solution
Since a dead battery is one of the most common problems found with electric scooters, you’re sure to find a solution. All you need to do is charge it. Just note that it might take a longer time to charge because your battery is fully drained.
To revive it, you’ll need to leave it on and charging for a long time. Plus, you should ensure that it sees a full chargeback to the green; that is, if you have a scooter with an LED indicator light. Generally, it’s best to recharge the battery before it dies so that it doesn’t take as long.
If a charge isn’t enough to jump the battery, you may want to purchase a voltmeter. This device will check your battery to see if it is charging or not. Batteries can lose their charge and power with use and time, so if it isn’t charging, it’s time to replace it.
Runs for a Short Period
You may run into the issue where your scooter does run well, but it slows down or stops completely after a while. When you go to check the charge, the batteries are worn down. Of course, if you’re going uphill, your speed will reduce naturally.
On the contrary, if the scooter slows down on the flat ground, you probably have an issue with the battery. This shouldn’t be a cause for concern, though.
The Solution
Often, your scooter will die prematurely because the batteries are old. They may not hold a charge for long, and it might take longer to recharge them. If that happens, you should consider replacing the batteries to fix the problem.
You should also check the tires. If your tires are flat or have low air pressure, this could cause the speed to reduce with time. Air up the tires or fix them and see if that helps.
Kill Switch On
You may not realize it, but your electric scooter probably has a kill switch to help save energy. Most manuals recommend that you turn it on when you’re finished riding for the day or while it is charging.
Many times, if your engine won’t start, you should check to see if the kill switch is still in the on position. Do this before you check for a low or dead battery. You’ll find the switch on your scooter’s engine.
The Solution
Find the kill switch on your engine. Turn it to the off position and then try to start the engine.
Blown or Flipped Fuse
Scooters run on battery power, so you may find that it is common to have various electrical problems. If you flip the fuse for the ignition, the scooter won’t respond when you turn it on. You may also have a flipped or blown main fuse.
The Solution
Check to see if the main or ignition fuses are flipped. If so, set them to their “on” position once more. Then, try to start the engine.
This should work unless the fuse is blown. If that happens, you will need to replace that particular fuse. While you can do this yourself, we always recommend that you go to a professional for a blown fuse.
Engine Heats Up
When your engine overheats, you may get quite worried. Luckily, most new models have a safety mechanism that shuts it off to prevent more damage from happening.
If this occurs, though, you will feel the heat when you get close to your engine. Hot engines indicate that the battery is hot because that’s what powers it. Therefore, the battery lifespan will be decreased, and it could fail completely.
The Solution
The first step is to turn off your engine and let it cool off completely. Then, check for any damaged wiring or fuses. This could indicate an electrical controller issue, which we’ll discuss later.
If there are damaged fuses or wiring problems, the engine might still run. However, there will be excess pressure put on the battery, which could cause significant and irreplaceable damage.
Such excess power will cause your battery to overheat and break down. While you can tell if the engine is overheating, you can’t fix this problem yourself. It’s best to send it in for repairs as soon as you can.
No or Weak Acceleration
Sometimes, when you’re riding along, you will give the scooter power, and it will seem slow to go. Other times, it won’t move at all. If this happens, there are a few solutions.
The Solution
If you can barely get the scooter to move or it won’t go at all when you touch the accelerator, then you may have an electrical controller or fuse problem. You may have an electrical issue, or the fuse might be blown or flipped.
When that happens, the engine can’t draw power from its battery, and the scooter won’t move. Usually, when that happens, it’s considered a mechanical issue. This means you will need to send it to a professional for repairs.
Electrical Controller Issues
Every electric scooter will have an electrical controller, which is a board that fits all of the fuses and wires.
If a foreign body or water gets in contact with that area, the circuits could be affected. Thus, the engine might act up, or it might not turn on at all.
The Solution
Though this can seem a little daunting, you can try to secure wires that might have gotten loosened. You can also check for any popped transistors. It’s very rare, though, that the transistor is the problem.
If that is the case, it is quite easy to replace. If that’s not the cause, you may need to send it in for diagnostics and repairs.
Brake Lever Switch
Similar to the kill switch, the brake lever switch might get turned on accidentally. This device is connected to the scooter’s throttle control system. Once it is applied, it will deactivate the whole system.
If that fails, then the brakes will lock up on the scooter, and it shuts itself down. It’s a safety feature that can save lives, but it can also fail at times.
The Solution
Often, the wiring can become loose. Check for any loose wires and reconnect them. If that doesn’t work, then you may need to seek professional repairs.
Faulty Speed Controller
A speed controller is an essential component on your scooter to help it automatically keep its speed within a predefined range. It is similar to cruise control in vehicles and reduces the need for your effort while ensuring the reliability of your ride.
While this is essential, the part is also prone to breaking. If that happens, you can fix it yourself.
The Solution
Here are the steps you need to take:
Turn on the scooter
The first step is to turn the scooter on so that you can confirm whether or not the speed controller is working. Once on, you can find out which part has an issue.
Test your speed controller
To determine if the speed control has a problem, you’ll need to check the electrical wiring. Make sure to check the switch, fuse, and circuit breaker. Sniff around the engine to see if fumes are present because that could indicate the risk of fire.
Dismantle your speed controller
Once you’ve found out which part of the controller is the issue, you can dismantle it. That way, you can gain access to the interior. Tighten any loose wires and replace broken ones.
It might not be the wiring that’s the problem. Check the circuit breaker and fuse, replacing them if needed.
Reassemble everything
When the scooter is fixed, you’ll need to put the speed controller back together. Use caution here because it is quite easy to make a mistake. Reattach all the parts and screw them back on tightly.
Test your scooter
Now is the time to turn on the scooter and drive it a short distance. This will tell you if you fixed the problem or not.
Faulty Battery Charger
If your battery charger is faulty, your scooter isn’t likely to start. After a while, it will require a charge and won’t get it. It’s easy to check for a faulty charger.
The Solution
All you have to do is plug the charger into an outlet and watch the indicator lights. If they’re not illuminated, then your charger could be defective; this is the easy way to test it.
If you’d like a more in-depth check, you can use a voltmeter or multimeter to test the battery charger’s output. Just note that before you check your battery, you should find out the voltage for the battery’s output to your scooter.
Generally, scooter batteries have a 24V, 36V, or 48V voltage. The goal here is to see if the charger outputs a higher voltage than your battery. If there is no voltage at all or if it is just a little over the battery, your charger is defective, or it’s too high a voltage for the battery itself.
This is an easy fix. Just buy a new battery charger and make sure the voltage is comparable to that of the battery. Also, make sure that the outlet voltage is compatible with the battery and charger.
A Few Other Things to Consider
Though we have talked about many common issues, the solutions might not be what you need. Hence, we will talk about some other things to try. For example, if the motor doesn’t engage, you should push the scooter to about 3mph, all while applying the throttle.
That said, if the scooter shuts off while you’re driving it, you should turn off the power. Wait a few minutes, and then press the engine’s reset button. Almost all electric scooters feature a reset button.
If the power switch doesn’t light up, the motor isn’t going to engage when you kick start it. Therefore, you’ll want to check for and reconnect any loose wires beneath the deck plate. If no loose wires are found, you might need to replace your power switch or reset button.
It’s also possible that the machine stops working after you charge it. If that happens, you might need to replace the battery. You can also secure it safely, lift the back end, and spin the rear wheels manually while using the throttle.
Conclusion
We understand that you want your scooter to work at all times, but mechanical things can act funny or stop working. Fortunately, you just learned how to fix an electric scooter.
Most of the problems were considered common, and they might be included in your owner’s manual troubleshooting section. Some of them might be a little rarer. Regardless, we offered solutions for each issue so that you can diagnose and repair it yourself.
How To Make An Electric Scooter Faster [14 Tricks]
We’ve all been there – the road is straight and clear, no pedestrians, no traffic, no obstacles, and you decide to just go for the glory. You push the throttle to the maximum, and still… you’re only going at 12 mph. You even see the old lady with her cane moving right alongside you.
Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to make your scooter faster, oftentimes even faster than its advertised maximum speed. For some scooters, it’s just a cool little extra upgrade. For many others, especially the more common ones, or the ones on the lower price end, it is a game-changer, if not a lifesaver.
Let’s go into more detail over all the ways you can speed up your scooter. We will start with the easiest ones to apply, moving towards the ones that require you to change your scooter.
- Different ways of making your electric scooter faster
- Risk-free methods
- Modifying methods
- Advanced methods
- 1. Make sure your scooter is fully unlocked and you are in the fastest mode (risk-free)
- 2. Charge your battery to 100% (risk-free)
- 3. Turn off the lights and other components that drain the battery (risk-free)
- 4. Reduce the load (risk-free)
- 5. Clean the wheels (risk-free)
- 6. Add the second battery if your scooter supports this option (risk-free)
- 7. Renew your battery (risk-free)
- 8. Remove the speed limit (modifying)
- Risks of removing the speed limits
- Battery optimization risks
- How to know if your motor and controller will support a stronger or an extra battery
Different ways of making your electric scooter faster
To make things easier to understand and apply, the ways to make your scooter faster are divided into three types:
Risk-free methods
These methods are all safe ways to get maximum speed from your scooter. They don’t require messing with its internals, don’t pose any risk of defects to it, and will not void your warranty.
However, they will typically just remove some obstacles that prevent your scooter from reaching the maximum advertised speed. If you want speeds higher than those, you will have to play around with your scooter’s internals and dig a bit deeper. Before you do that, make sure you’ve gone through all of the risk-free methods and you can get at least the maximum speed that you should be getting without risking messing up some of the mechanical parts.
Modifying methods
If you are determined to modify your scooter in order to speed it up, you should know what you’re getting yourself into first.
All the modifying methods serve one purpose – to enable you to go faster than the scooter manufacturer intends. If you’re really after getting the most out of your performance, you will first have to remove the speed limiters.
If you want to go even further, you will have to do some additional battery optimizations, either upgrading the battery to a more powerful one, adding an extra battery, or both.
All of those processes may void your warranty and damage your scooter.
Advanced methods
Finally, there are a few other mechanical methods to get a little more power out of your scooter. They also include opening up your scooter and doing serious changes to its internals, so they should only be considered as a last resort.
Tips to make your electric scooter faster
These are all the ways you can increase the speed of your scooter.
Make sure your scooter is fully unlocked and you are in the fastest mode (risk-free)
To the more experienced rider, this one will be obvious.
But I’m still surprised by the number of people that keep complaining that their scooter was slow, only to later find out that they’ve either not done the setup properly, or are not in the fastest possible mode.
If your scooter has been unusually slow from the beginning, it is likely that you are facing one of these issues.
Some scooters start in a sort of a locked mode, most often to comply with local laws and regulations for scooters.
Most often, you need to connect the scooter to the mobile app and create your profile there. You should then be able to unlock the maximum speeds.
Also, almost every electric scooter has more than one driving mode, usually three. To be able to go at the maximum speed, make sure your scooter is in the fastest mode. The modes in the modern scooters are usually toggled by double or triple pressing the power button on the screen.
Go through your manual or a tutorial about your specific scooter. The instructions are usually very simple to follow.
Charge your battery to 100% (risk-free)
Your speed will greatly depend on your battery.
While the power of the motor itself, and the power of the battery will be the primary factors, the battery charge level often plays an important role too.
The voltage of a battery drops as its charge drops, and the drop in voltage is directly causing a drop in performance. This is true for both lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, but especially so for the latter. Luckily, most modern scooters have lithium-ion batteries, so this will not be as pronounced as with scooters from 10 years ago, for example.
Many scooters enter power-saving mode when the battery is getting close to being empty. To save power, they often limit performance and the maximum speed at which you can go.
For some scooters, there might be a drop in top speed even if the battery level drops below 90%.
People have reported this over and over again – when their batteries are near empty, or sometimes even half full, their scooters just don’t perform as well.
Charging your battery to the fullest will make sure your scooter gives you the maximum speed it is capable of. If you can’t find the exact charging time for your scooter, see the scooter charge time guide, or the scooter charge time calculator.
Turn off the lights and other components that drain the battery (risk-free)
Related to the above, you want to make sure that your battery can be used for your performance as much as possible, and for auxiliary functions as little as possible.
I’ve noticed this myself, and seen countless reviews and Комментарии и мнения владельцев online that confirm it as well. For a lot of models, the maximum speed will suffer when the lights are turned on. This is true even for cars, as lights are one of the biggest consumers of batteries, and cars usually have even bigger batteries.
Now, a warning: safety must come first! If you’re driving at night, especially in areas that are not well lit, don’t turn off your lights. Those few extra kilometers per hour are not worth risking your safety.
For maximum speed, just make sure your scooter’s lights are turned off during the day, or potentially turned off if you’re riding in a very well-lit area.
The same applies to the other resources that require energy in your scooter.
Reduce the load (risk-free)
It is a fact of physics – the less weight your scooter needs to pull, the faster it can go. If you lose unnecessary weight, you can expect your max speed to go up.
Another safety warning – never get rid of your helmet or other safety equipment just for the sake of going faster! Again, really not worth it, and it won’t do much anyway.
However, you can reduce some of the load if you plan your trips. I’ve noticed that I can’t hit my all-time highs on my Xiaomi M365 Pro if I have an 8 kg backpack on me and I’m pulling full grocery bags.
Also, I noticed that when I was heavier, my scooter performed worse in general. It moved slower, the battery got drained faster, and even the rides were less stable. Just for reference, I was about 210 lbs / 95 kg, and when I dropped down to 181 lbs / 82 kg, it seemed like my scooter has been brought back to life.
Finally, you can replace some parts with lighter ones. Removing some metal parts and replacing them with plastic ones will take off some weight, although that’s not something I would advise, as it may also reduce the stability and the overall robustness and structural integrity of the scooter.
Clean the wheels (risk-free)
This one time, my scooter was having real trouble going over 17-18 km/h, even on a full battery, during daylight, in the Sport mode (the fastest one).
I was wondering for a bit and then I started troubleshooting.
After a few minutes of inspection, I noticed a hardened piece of chewing gum mixed with dirt, leaves, and tiny pieces of wood stuck between the rear wheel and the fender.
After I removed it, my scooter could reach its maximum speed without any issues again!
Usually, you will notice if something gets stuck in the wheels because it will make some unusual noise.
But if you’re suddenly going slower than normal, make sure that there is nothing stuck in the wheels and that they are as clean as possible.
Add the second battery if your scooter supports this option (risk-free)
Some scooters have the option to easily install a second battery.
Of those, some are even almost useless to serious and power users without the second battery (I’m looking at you, Ninebot ES2).
The scooters that allow for a second battery are the ones that will get a big speed increase from it. Their motors and controllers are built to handle an extra power source, and adding one will not fry them.
You will never get to maximum speed without the second battery in these models.
Now, keep in mind that we’re talking about adding a second battery when the scooter supports that feature – adding an extra battery to scooters that don’t support that out-of-the-box is more involved, and covered later in this post.
Renew your battery (risk-free)
If you’ve had your scooter for a while, you’ve probably noticed that the capacity of the battery has been getting reduced over time.
This is unavoidable even with modern batteries – they suffer wear and tear with every charging cycle. Estimations vary, but your battery will wear out anywhere from 20% to 50% over 1000 charges.
Some people will hit that number in less than two years. The average scooter has a battery life of between 2 and 3 years.
As mentioned, a lot of your speed will depend on your battery. If you’ve had your scooter for a few years and you’ve noticed a significant drop in maximum speed, it is likely that your battery has started to wear out.
Renewing it will be a lot cheaper than buying another scooter.
Remove the speed limit (modifying)
There are two ways to remove the speed limit.
One is through installing custom firmware.
The other is by physically removing the speed limiter.
Installing custom firmware is by far superior to the physical method because it doesn’t involve physically changing your scooter. Firmware for the most popular models is pretty well-tested, and fewer things can go wrong.
The downside is that not all scooters will support this method. Older models will usually require tinkering, and some newer models may not have custom firmware for them yet.
Anyway, for the ones that do have custom firmware, the process is relatively simple.
These are not all the scooters that can be modified through software. If your scooter is not on this list, do some research online to look for custom firmware for it.
If there isn’t one, you will likely have to physically remove the speed limiter, or do another adjustment that will allow you to go faster without buying extra parts.
As you will soon see in these tutorials, they do require getting your hands dirty a little, and some DIY skills.
To see the exact steps on how to do this and find out more, see my step-by-step guide on how to remove an electric scooter’s speed limit.
Risks of removing the speed limits
The speed limiters exist for a reason. Usually, the scooter is physically able to move faster than the advertised speed, sometimes by a lot. The scooter manufacturers put the speed limiters there both for the rider’s safety and for legal reasons.
Traffic laws for electric scooters apply, and some places already have special laws for them. They put a limit on the speed with which you can drive an electric scooter, and the manufacturers set the speed limiters on the scooters to be compliant with the law.
This means that it is possible for you to be inviting legal trouble if you remove the speed limiter. Make sure you are familiar with your local laws and you know what you’re doing.
Beyond that, manufacturers probably know their products a lot better than we ever will. While the motor may be able to achieve higher speeds, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the scooter as a whole is prepared to handle those speeds.
So another warning: if you decide to remove the speed limiter, gradually try out higher speeds you are comfortable with, and make sure the scooter handles them well. Take your time here, there’s no need to hurry.
It is also highly likely that if you increase your speed limit, you will need to adjust your brakes to the new speed limits too.
Also, be aware that removing the speed limiter will drain your battery faster.
Finally, be aware that modifying your scooter in this way always poses some risk to the electronics in it. They can either get damaged or totally fried, and leave you with a useless scooter.
Millions of people around the world remove the speed limiters without issues, but it’s not a walk in the park as many other resources online claim it to be. Know the risks, and know that you are doing this at your own risk. You have been warned.
Upgrade your controller, if it’s the limiting factor (modifying)
While upgrading the motor would be too much of a hassle just to increase the speed, I’ve seen quite a few people upgrade their controllers.
This is the right move when the motor can actually support more voltage, but the controller cannot and is the bottleneck for the top speed.
People buy aftermarket controllers and they either install them in place of the original one, or install them alongside the original one outside of the frame and use custom software to switch between them. Not a simple procedure, but doable with some basic electronics knowledge.
Add an extra battery, even if your scooter doesn’t come prepared for this (modifying)
Most scooters don’t have the feature to support more than one battery out of the box.
Adding an extra battery may benefit them, but you have to be sure you know what you’re doing. It is a very complicated process, and the possibilities for something going wrong are countless.
If you’re adding a second battery, or adding a third one to ones that support two, you will have to further customize your scooter and get frames for the additional batteries and see how to connect them.
When adding an extra battery, you usually do it by connecting the new battery to the old one. This is known as installing the batteries in series.
While it does increase the voltage output of the battery (which is ultimately what will give you the speed increase), it doesn’t do it by that much. But you will get a bump. The biggest gains will come in your range though.
The following video is a good guide on how to add an extra battery to the Xiaomi M365 Pro.
Upgrade your battery (modifying)
Without a doubt, the maximum speed is primarily determined by the motor power, and changing the motor completely doesn’t really make sense. You’re better off buying a new scooter.
But the battery current and voltage directly increase performance as well, and often that plays a big role too. Leveling up your battery will give likely you a boost in speed if you go for higher voltage.
However, remember that your motor, your controller, and the circuitry, all must support the higher charge and voltage. Make sure you go through the specs and learn about these values before deciding to upgrade your battery.
Battery optimization risks
If you want to speed up your scooter, you may have to do some battery tinkering, either upgrading the existing battery to a more powerful one, or adding an extra battery.
But this might not always make sense.
You will have to check the power, current, and voltage of the battery/batteries, the motor, and the controller. The motor and the controller must be able to support the extra juice the new battery will be providing to them.
Sometimes it will be possible to get more speed by doing this.
Other times, the only thing you will be able to achieve with more battery power is increased range only.
The rest of the time, none of those will be possible and you will have very little incentive to touch the batteries at all.
How to know if your motor and controller will support a stronger or an extra battery
Let’s go over an example to clarify when does it make sense to play around with the batteries.
Let’s look at the Xiaomi M365 standard model.
It comes with a single battery with a 37 V voltage.
The motor and the controllers, however, can support up to 63 V of voltage.
While it’s not wise to come that close to the limit since we might blow a fuse, we can safely go up to 50 V of voltage with the batteries.
Without going into too much detail, that means that we can either upgrade the battery to one with more voltage (48 V is a good common choice here), or install a second one in series with the first one, which is the simplest configuration, and get a bit more voltage but also a lot more capacity.
However, what if the max voltage of either the board or the motor was something like 40 V? With the battery at 37 V, that’s already too close to the limit. The scooter would not really support adding an extra battery, nor replacing it with a stronger one.
Change the sprockets (advanced, only in chain-drive scooters)
For starters, this method applies only to scooters with a chain-drive model. Except for mostly Razor scooters which are primarily for kids, and possibly some Uberscoot models, most modern scooters are hub-drive. If you want to learn about the difference between chain-drive and hub-drive motors, check my guide on electric scooter motors.
In chain-drive scooters, you can make your scooter faster if you install different sprockets instead of the ones that come with it. By putting larger sprockets on the front and smaller ones on the back, you should be getting more speed.
There are too many downsides to this method for me to ever really consider it.
First of all, you are almost guaranteed to lose your warranty.
Second, unless you are a DIY type of person, you will either mess something up or you will need to rely on an expert.
Third, the chain and sprockets that you will need might be hard to find, or even need to be custom-made.
Here’s a video of a guy who really knows what he’s doing. He makes his own sprockets, and understands exactly what size they need to be, and more importantly, why. He is working on his Razor E300 scooter.
Clean the motor (advanced)
I would not recommend you do this yourself, since you risk damaging the mechanics of the scooter, and you will likely void your warranty in the process.
But it is possible that dirt, dust, grease, or some other pieces of junk prevent the motor to run smoothly.
If you are getting reduced speed, take your scooter to a scooter workshop or to your manufacturer. They will run diagnostics on it and possibly clean the motor for you.
Rewind your motor (advanced)
This is a really complicated mechanical procedure, and one that you should only consider if you believe your motor is already damaged, or are really desperate for more speed.
Rewinding the motor can include changing the density of the copper wire in it, the magnets in the motor, the number of twists of the wire, the size of the armature… sounds fun, right?
Chances are, if you don’t know about this already, you will want someone else to guide you or do it for you.
A lot of expensive, professional equipment is needed for this process.
But it is possible for this to increase the speed of your scooter as well.
If you decide to go with this option and entrust it to someone other than shops authorized by your manufacturer, you can kiss your warranty goodbye.
How much can faster can I make my electric scooter?
For most scooters, the increase in top speed will be between 3 to 9 mph / 5 to 15 kmh. However, some owners have managed to increase their speeds by 15 mph / 25 kmh, and in certain cases even more.
Should you increase your scooter speed?
As we saw, there are a few downsides to trying to increase the cap on your scooter’s speed.
It is possible that there are legal limitations in your region, and you should always take that into account.
Apart from that, there are some safety issues as well. Some scooters have really powerful specs, and you should be at least somewhat experienced to handle their maximum speeds. With great speed comes great responsibility!
Finally, there is always the ever-present risk of damaging your scooter if you go with the riskier methods. As mentioned, the companies don’t like you to poke around their products too much and will void your warranty if you modify the scooter in any meaningful way. Meaning, you might end up with a broken scooter, and one without a warranty.
However, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Millions of people all over the world have successfully increased their speed limits without any consequences and are now happy users.
My advice: go for the non-intrusive, risk-free methods first, and only go for the customizations if that’s not enough. Avoid the most advanced customizations, they will probably not be worth the trouble. If you want a fast scooter that bad, you’re better off looking at fast scooters that come prepared for high speeds out-of-the-box.
Want to get FREE SCOOTER tips, exclusive discounts and promotions, and unseen scooter hacks? Join the Scooter Secrets club.
Plug the charger into the wall first
Unless the manual states otherwise, plug the charger into the wall first, before plugging into the scooter. This is the safest bet for protecting the charger and its output capacitors.
The charger will get hot during the charging process, which is completely normal.
Place your charger on edge, uncovered, on a non-flammable surface that will get plenty of airflow.
Connect the charger plug to the scooter’s charging port
Power your scooter down and remove the protective cover on the charging port.
Make sure both the port and connector are dust free and blow out if necessary.
Pay careful attention to orient the charger correctly. Most chargers are keyed so they will only go in one way, but some are poorly designed and you can still short the connector.
Plug the charger into the port on your electric scooter.
Wait for scooter to charge
Charge until the indicator light on the charger turns green and promptly disconnect.
For most chargers, the light will turn green before fully charged. If your scooter has a built-in voltmeter or battery display you will notice you’re not quite at 100%.
If you need maximum distance, you can continue to charge until you hit 100% or use as-is.
Use our charging time table to estimate charging time.
Pro Tip: Operating your battery between 30% and 80% of full charge will greatly increase your battery life (see tip #2).
Promptly disconnect the scooter when charged (don’t leave plugged in)
Disconnect the scooter from the charger first, then unplug the charger from the wall outlet.
Charge as often as needed.
These tips to max out your battery life.
Tips For Max Battery Longevity
These are the most important tips to prolong battery life, ordered from most to least important.
We’ve noted which recommendations are helpful, but impractical and excessive.
When storing for long periods, keep your scooter at 40% charge in a cool, dry place
Storing lithium ion batteries fully discharged is absolutely terrible for their longevity and #1 killer of good batteries.
Storing fully charged or discharged will accelerate battery degradation
For longer-term storage, like during winter months, store at 40% charge. Due to self-discharge, you’ll need to check and top up the battery every 4 to 8 weeks to keep it at this level.
Store your scooter in a cool and dry place. Storing above 30 C / 86 F will decrease life. storing fully charged at elevated temperatures is especially bad.
Operate your scooter within 30% to 80% of its battery capacity
You can prolong the battery life by operating it between 30% to 80% of its capacity. This is called the sweet zone and can increase battery life up to 4X.
For individual cells, this ends up being between 3.36 volts (30% of capacity) and 3.96 volts per cell (80% of capacity) is optimal.
We’ve produced a chart below that shows what the final voltage will be on a given scooter at optimal charge.
Optimal Voltage Charging Chart
Charge when the battery is between 32 F and 113 F (0 C to 45 C)
Absolutely do not charge your scooter when the battery might be below freezing temperature. For example, if you’ve been storing your scooter in a garage or outside where it is below freezing.
Wait until the battery has warmed up above freezing to charge.
Charging the battery at elevated temperatures ( 113 F / 45 C) can shorten its life, but is not as damaging.
Don’t leave your charger plugged in after charging
Disconnect your charger once your scooter is fully charged (or charged up to 80% from tip #2).
Leaving it plugged in after it has finished charging will result in corrosion of the cathode and decreased capacity.
Don’t fully discharge your scooter in less than an hour
If you have a fast scooter and want to go fast, discharging the battery quickly will be unavoidable.
However, if you’re really concerned, you basically don’t want to discharge the battery at a rate that will entirely deplete it in less than one hour (this is referred to as a C-Rate of 1.0).
On sustained high speed runs or under heavy torque loads like accelerating up a steep hill, you are likely, if not momentarily, going above this ideal discharge rate.
Our recommendation is to enjoy your scooter and not worry about this too much.
Don’t fully charge your scooter in less than an hour
Lithium ion batteries will last more cycles if you charge them more slowly (known as C-rate in technical battery terms).
For optimal battery longevity, it is best to fully charge a battery in not less than 1 hour.
For most scooter and charger configurations, you won’t be able to exceed the charging rate.- even with dual quick chargers.
How to Use a Quick Charger
Quick chargers give you greater control and feedback for charging your scooter. They allow you to control the charging rate and amount of charge to prolong battery life.
If your fast charger has a wall voltage adjustment toggle, set it appropriately (110 V or 220 V).
Plug the quicker charger into the wall
Adjust the charge rate setting, typically from 1 A to 5 A.
Adjust the charge depth setting from 80% to 100%.
If the charger has a switch, turn it on.
Plug the connector into the charging port of your scooter.
Charge until the quick charger display reads the target voltage.
Dual Charging
Typically, higher performance scooters with larger batteries will have two charging ports. This allows the addition of a second charger for even faster charging.
Charging using a second charger will follow the same steps as above, but for the second charger.
Myth 1: It is necessary to charge the scooter after every ride
It is not necessary to charge your scooter everyday or charge after every ride. The best practice is to keep the battery between 30% to 80%.
However, if you’re going on a long ride then give the scooter a full charge.
Myth 2: You should fully charge a scooter before riding and fully discharge before charging
You do not need to fully or charge or charge at all before riding.
You should charge when you need the range for a ride and not for any ritual reason.
You do not need to fully discharge your scooter before charging. Li-ion batteries don’t have “memory” like NiCd or NiMH batteries that would require full charge/discharge to maintain capacity
How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Scooter?
It takes between 4 and 20 hours to charge an electric scooter, but charge time greatly depends on battery capacity and chargers used.
You can use the charging time table to estimate how long a battery will take to charge from 0% to 100%. To use the table find your battery capacity (in Ah) and the current output on your charger (from 1 Amp to 5 Amps). Most smaller scooter chargers are 1 A to 2 A while bigger scooters (or dual chargers) will be 2.5 A to 5.0 A.
Charging Time Table
How Long Does An Electric Scooter Battery Last?
An electric scooter battery will last 300 to 500 cycles or 3,000 Mi to 25,000 Mi of range before losing a significant capacity.
Verifying Charger
If you lost your charger, need to replace it, or not sure if you have the right one, then follow the tips below.
Check the connector to make sure it is the appropriate type of fit into your scooter’s charging port.
Verify voltage and current by reading the print on the charger. It will say something like DC Output and give a voltage and max output current.
Connector Types
DC coaxial power plug
- DC coaxial, barrel-style charging connector
- Comes in a variety of lengths and diameters
- Common on smaller, less powerful scooters, including: GOTRAX, Xiaomi, TurboAnt, Segway Ninebot
XT60
XLR
- Circular, three pin connector often used in audio applications
- Common
- Used on some Inokim scooters
GX16-3P
- Circular, three pin connector with threaded collar
- Very common in mid-range to larger scooters
- Used on Apollo, Kaabo, Zero lineups
How do your scooter’s batteries age?
Lithium ion batteries age when internal corrosion occurs within individual battery cells. This is a normal process that occurs during charging and discharging but can also be accelerated through improper care.
During charging, lithium ion is shuttled onto the graphite anode. During discharging, the lithium ion is released from the anode.
Over charging, completely discharging, and extreme temperatures accelerate the plating of the lithium ion to anode, degrading it.
Why is it important to store partially charged?
During storage battery cells will continue to lose charge. Below 2.7 volts/cell the battery seriously degrades and can even become unstable and potentially hazardous.
Why is plugging the charger into the wall first the best practice?
Plugging your charger into the wall first, before plugging it into the scooter is the safest bet for charging if you don’t have reliable instructions.
The charger has an output capacitor that is sitting 0 volts of potential when not plugged in.
If you connect the unpowered charger to your scooters battery, which is typically at 36 V up to 84 V (depending on scooter) it will discharge a huge amount of current into the 0 V capacitor. This can result in sparking and cause damage to the charger.
By plugging the charger in first, you are bringing the output capacitor voltage much closer to that of the battery. When you plug it in, the voltage difference will be much smaller and you shouldn’t get a current spike.
Why shouldn’t you leave the scooter plugged in after charging?
Once fully charged, the extra charge will cause plating of metallic lithium onto the anode in the battery. This metallic lithium will accumulate in time and degrade the battery capacity by blocking the flow of lithium ions and consequently electrons.