“eWheels' TurboWheel Dart Review
TL;DR: The Turbowheel Dart is the best value scooter if you're in the market for a rugged urban commuting solution. You get the most scooter for your money. While there is no perfect scooter, this is pretty darn close. If you're on the fence, buy it; it's totally worth it. If you want to understand why I'm emphatic about this scooter, the long read below goes in depth.
LONG READ BELOW:
The Intro:
The promise of affordable and reliable personal electric transportation has only just been realized in the past few years. This new market is flooded with startups and new designs and capabilities are coming to market all the time. One of the characteristics of this new market is that there is yet to be a single dominant design, standard, or manufacturer that combines all the positive elements that each new scooter design brings with none of the drawbacks. Electric scooters can be characterized simply along a single axis; at one end of the spectrum you can get extreme performance (speed, power, suspension, etc...), and at the other end you can get extreme portability (lightweight, dolly attachments, small size, etc...). Unfortunately, there is no current scooter on the market that can provide both extreme performance and extreme portability, either one must be sacrificed for the other. So the consumer is left with the decision of what tradeoffs they are willing to make to get the most out of their scooter. Their decision about how much of each thing they are willing to trade off is informed by their use-case; how they use the machine. Be aware that my glowing opinion of this scooter is based on how well it meets my particular use-case, so the old cliché holds true, "Your mileage may vary." However, I think that my use-case, which I will describe before giving my review, is fairly common among city dwellers, particularly on the east coast. You be the judge.
My Use-Case:
I live in Washington DC, but I'm from New York and it shows in this paragraph. The roads are more pothole than road, and more loose gravel than smooth asphalt. In winter they salt the roads like idiot lunatics if they even hear about the chance of snow. Half the time the salt sits there with no snow or rain and it creates a dust that coats the roads, and sidewalks, and cars. Otherwise, it rains lightly and mixes with the salt to form a corrosive slurry that destroys exposed electronics and bare metals. It's really humid most months, and the temperature variance between summer and winter is triple digit to single digit (Fahrenheit, of course). Also, the traffic is among the worst in the country, 50% because the city's roads were designed by an imbecile french-american in the late 1700s (Google it) and added onto by more modern idiots as time went by. The other 50% of traffic is because halfwits and goobers from three states: VA, MD, and DC (I know, not a state), drive in it every day, and they have no @&*#-ing clue what they are doing. Seriously. And I commute 3.2 miles each way to and from work in this shitshow every day of the year, barring serious snow, in which case I take the metro, or what normal people call the subway. Let's not talk about how bad DC's subway system is. Anyway, I'm 6' 3" tall and I weigh 215 lbs. This is really important if you're trying to figure out how the stated specs of this scooter might scale with your particular body size. Point is, I'm not as big as some, but I'm bigger than most, and frankly I'm pretty weak for my size as my lanky arms and FUPA can attest to. Most of my commute I have a dedicated bike lane that drivers often ignore, and parked cars routinely open their doors into obliviously. Also, I value speed and efficiency over safety because @#&! you and your helmet laws, I didn't wear one growing up and I'm not about to start now. I like to live dangerously. When I'm not on my scooter I have to carry it around either going up the stairs to my apartment or squeezing through the turnstiles at the gates of my office campus. I have to keep it hidden under my desk, because the safety nerds are scared of big lithium batteries (I get it, but the risk is seriously overblown, pun intended). The bottom line is I'm a big guy who likes to go fast down narrow streets with lots of potholes, loose gravel, corrosive salt spray, and I need to swerve around idiots who don't see me or don't care, and be able to brake really quickly in case my swerving isn't enough to save my dumb ass. Then I have to be able to deftly man-handle the scooter without messing up my lower back. I don't want to pay more than $1200.00 for a scooter; I just don't have the money for that. Lastly, I want the maintenance to be as easy and minimal as possible. I want to ride my scooter, not clean it, grease it, degrease it, adjust it, de-rust it, fix it, etc...
The Review Proper:
The above use-case is a tall order for most scooters in today's market. The Turbowheel Dart is the best yet at satisfying all these requirements. Is it perfect? No, but it's darn close. The critical element that this scooter gets right is balance. I mean the balance between extreme performance and extreme portability. Is it the most portable? No. Is it the best performer? No. But the balance of those two elements combined with the cost is spot on for how I want to use a scooter.
Instead of describing each sub-system of the scooter by itself, like suspension, motor, brakes, etc., I'm gonna try what I think is a more intuitive approach. I'm going to describe how it is able to overcome each unique obstacle/requirement presented by my use-case. Often times a single use-case requirement is satisfied by multiple scooter sub-systems working together. I think this is a more useful way of looking at it, because if all you want to know is specs and features you can just go to the eWheels website. They do a great job of listing all the relevant specs and features for their products, including this scooter.
Side note, check out this YouTube video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tQyEEeieqM). It tells you how to change a bunch of useful settings on your scooter including acceleration and electric braking force. You can find some of this information on the eWheels website but there are settings described in this video that you can't find on the eWheels website or the user manual. I'll refer to it throughout the review as the YouTube video from now on. Let's begin!
1) Going Fast: One of my use-case criterions is I like to go fast. With my weight (215 lbs) I can go 22 mph on flat ground, and 15 mph on hills with a 15-20 degree grade. Downhill I can do 28 mph. Granted these speeds do not come close to what the higher end scooters or electric unicycles can achieve, but for some perspective this is fast enough that the wind noise in your ears makes it hard to hear things around you, and without goggles your eyes will water from all the wind. Now if you weigh less than me, those numbers will go up. Good for you! From a dead stop I can get to 15 mph in about 3 seconds. From 15mph to 22 mph takes an additional 3 seconds. I broke it up like that because often times there's not enough room to get a full 6 seconds of uninterrupted acceleration before I have to slow down for a car or pedestrian. So often times I'm cruising around 15 mph and then I burst up to 22 mph, then come down to zero. The YouTube video shows how the acceleration can be adjusted on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the fastest acceleration. The numbers I'm citing above are with the acceleration set to 5.
2) Braking Fast: I like speed, but I also like living. Power is useless without control. If I'm doing 22 mph on the road, I need to be able to stop quickly in case someone opens their door into the bike lane or a kid darts out into traffic. On level ground I tested emergency braking (stopping as quickly as possible) from a max speed of 22 mph. I went from 22 mph to 0 mph in 30 ft. That is very good when you consider my above average weight (compared to the average user) and the scooter's above average speed (when compared to other scooters of the same weight). The combination of front disk brake, rear drum brake, and electronic braking is what allows the scooter to stop with authority.
A note about the electronic braking; I learned from the YouTube video that you can adjust the intensity of the electronic braking under the settings menu of the dash board. It ranges from 1-5, and there is no reason not to max it out at level 5, just don't charge the battery to 100%. This way the battery can soak the additional current generated without overheating when the electronic braking is engaged. If the battery is at 100% and you feed additional current to it when you apply electronic braking you'll overcharge the cells and risk damaging the battery thus reducing its useful lifespan or worse (potential fire hazard). I did skid to a stop during my brake test, which is not ideal because a locked rear wheel that enters a skid actually takes a longer distance to reach a full stop. An Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) would fix that and there are some scooters that come with ABS standard, but that improved performance comes at a cost. The scooters that offer ABS standard weigh in from 44 lbs to 95 lbs (dualtron spider - dualtron thunder) and cost between $2450.00 and $3850.00. Both the weight and the cost exceed the requirements of my use-case, the weight by only a little when considering the spider, but the cost by quite a lot.
One upgrade that would be worthwhile is changing the mechanical cable brake lines that come with this model to hydraulic brake lines. Hydraulic brakes multiply the braking force the calipers can exert and they do so without fatiguing the user's grip on the brake levers. The cable brakes are fine, but aggressive braking habits like mine stretch the cable quickly and require more frequent maintenance to ensure that the brake lever action remains tight. Not ideal from a maintenance standpoint but the brake lines are very easy to adjust on this model.
3) Smooth Nimble Ride Over Rough Urban Terrain: The front and rear shocks combined with the 8.5 inch diameter air tires means that I can handle asphalt, loose gravel, small bumps, cracks, divots, dips, and the occasional trolley car tracks without worrying or losing control. I only have to swerve or slow down to avoid potholes and anything with a lip (like a steel construction plate) that is greater than 1 inch thick.
I can also lean into turns at speed thanks to those air tires gripping the road. This thing even handles all dirt/gravel roads and short grass. It's a little dicey on short grass but if you're just cutting a straight line (no sharp turns) across a city park, it's no problem. Also, the shocks are so bouncy that with a little practice you can easily take on speed bumps and other unpleasant small bumps or cracks without slowing down. Technically, you don't need to do anything special to handle a speed bump made for a car with your scooter, but if you want to save your front shocks a little you can pop a small wheelie so that your front tire hits the flat of the speed bump instead of the base of the bump, thus reducing the shock felt by the front spring. This wheelie maneuver is a lot easier to perform thanks to the super bouncy suspension and very torque-y motor.
The deck plate is wide and long enough that I can ride in a variety of stances from one foot in front of the other (I'm a size 11.5) to both feet side by side (lesser known but equally important my shoe width size is E) and anything in between. All in all it is a very comfortable ride, and the vibration is so little that my feet do not get tired or sore from riding.
4) Riding Time (Charge Duration): I've run this scooter down from 100% full to one battery tick mark left (approx. 20% or less capacity) and I can get about 12 miles on a charge going full speed all the time. It does start to get a little sluggish when it gets down to two battery tick marks remaining, but it's not a problem for my commute. One little idiosyncrasy of the battery display is that it displays the real time amperage draw of the battery, not its total capacity. What that means is that when the scooter starts at 100% and you start accelerating from a dead stop the battery display goes from full tick marks down to two tick marks. This means it's drawing a lot of current from the battery, which is totally normal, it's just not an accurate representation of the actual total capacity of the battery. To get that information you just need to come to a stop, wait five seconds and whatever the battery indicator level is at is the actual total remaining capacity. Not very intuitive from a user experience standpoint but easy to code into the microprocessor.
5) Low Maintenance and Easy Maintenance: As long as you don't ride this scooter in heavy rain or large puddles (unless you mod it like I did, see more below), the only maintenance you need to do is adjusting the brake cable tension as you feel it getting looser. Both front and rear brakes can be easily adjusted both at the handlebars (not recommended for major adjustments) and where the brake line meets the caliper (recommended for most, if not all adjustments). The hardware is solid and can withstand multiple adjustments over the life of the scooter. The screws that secure the brake line to the calipers are heavy duty. The front brake uses a M6 screw with a M5 driver (beefy), and the rear brake uses a Philips head screw (either #3 or #4) that is definitely beefier than a #2 Philips head. Granted the Philips head screw can be more prone to stripping, but so long as you use the right size driver you won't have any problems tightening and loosening that screw.
Other than the brakes, you can choose to occasionally wipe down the road grime that will build up on the deck and other parts that are near or contact the road. If you do decide to run this thing in all weather conditions, you'll want to go the extra mile and seal it up good and tight. As an addendum to this review I created a YouTube video (not the one I've been referencing in the paragraphs above), here's the link: (https://youtu.be/0HWms51U2x8) I'll summarize the contents of the video in the next section below as the mods I made have a lot to do with improving the durability, specifically the weather resistance of the scooter.
6) Durability (Construction Quality and Weather Resistance): Don't let the fact that I modded this scooter lead you to think this is not a well-built machine. It is very well built when you consider that it was never intended for all weather use and manufactured (like all commercially sold goods in this world) with profit in mind. This is a well-made scooter. I am OCD and have a background in mechanical engineering and a general love of taking apart the things I own to either break them permanently or, hopefully, make them better. In this case I got lucky and made this great scooter even better. I'm going to cheat a bit and refer you to my video for this section because it does a much better job of describing this aspect of the scooter than I can with just words alone. If I were to write up my thoughts on the build quality of the scooter this paragraph would be longer than the entire review thus far, and you're already a damn hero for reading this much, I don't want to push it. Be warned, the video is very thorough and long (who would've guessed, right?), but it details mods that I think most anybody can do as well as some mods that require a more...adventurous tinkerer. I think they will really help to extend the life of the scooter and make it useable in a much wider variety of climates, particularly wet, possibly salty climates like Washington, DC. Again the URL for the video is https://youtu.be/0HWms51U2x8
7) Easy Portability: This is the one area where I sacrificed some of my trade space so I could gain value in the other areas described above. At 39.5 lbs this scooter is by no means light. With no dolly attachment that comes standard it can be a pain to haul around when you have to climb stairs or go through turnstiles. I've been able to take it with me to work and overcome all the physical obstacles without much issue; I just have to be careful to grip the stem in the right spot where the center of gravity is so that it rests evenly in my hand. In the folded configuration the locked folding joint is very stiff, which makes carrying it a lot easier. If the scooter were somehow magically 10-20 pounds lighter without sacrificing performance, this would be the greatest scooter on the planet hands down.
The folding handlebars are top notch, and when tightened properly offer no play during riding. The quick lock for the telescoping stem is also solid, and when adjusted to the proper tension holds the stem in place very tightly. It's also nice because there are no preset detents in the stem and so you have infinite adjustability of handlebar height within the top and bottom limits of the stem extension tube. The stem extension tube is smooth and featureless. It would have been nice if they embossed some gradations along its length so that you could quickly return the unfolded scooter to your preset handlebar height without guessing where that is each time you unfold it. That is easily overcome by either painting or scratching a mark onto the stem extension tube to mark your preset handlebar height.
A slight gripe is the red latch pedal that locks and unlocks the folding mechanism. It's a little short to be easily stepped on by my foot, and it's even harder to access it when trying to unfold the scooter. It requires a little finesse to get the proper pressure on the foot pedal and you have to jiggle the stem slightly to get it to unfold. Folding requires that you put forward pressure on the handlebars while depressing the pedal before it fully unseats the locking pin at which point you can tilt the stem and handlebars into the folded position. This precise and slightly finicky folding action is the result of an intentional adjustment I made to the locking pin set screws. I adjusted these screws so that the locking pin would seat itself tightly in the locked position. I did this to minimize the play in the locked joint as much as possible while riding; I hate slop in the folding mechanism while riding. That slop can also be dangerous because if you're too aggressive you could unseat the pin while riding or damage the base of the stem. So a tight mechanism comes at the cost of slightly finicky folding and unfolding. A few practice rounds of folding and unfolding the scooter and the motions become very easy.
8) Cost: There is no other scooter that offers this much bang for the buck when comparing its feature set with others in this price and weight range. It also met my criteria for being below $1200.00, and it has a full one year warranty with the eWheels company, which is better than most scooter manufacturers offer. The warranty even covers the battery, which is really great!
Final Thoughts for Masochists Who like Reading: I have never written a review in my life, I'm sure it could be better. I bothered attempting this because I believe in this product and equally importantly I believe in one of the owners of the eWheels company, Jason (don't know his last name). Just to be clear, we are not associates or friends, and I get no kickbacks of any kind for endorsing his business or this product. So, how can you believe in a guy and you don't even know his last name? Good question, the answer is easy, he has consistently provided the best customer service of any scooter manufacturer/vendor that I have ever contacted, and in my efforts to find the right machine for me, I have contacted many of them. Every single time I have called (and I have called him a lot) he has answered, without fail, and provided patient and enthusiastic advice. He appreciates his customers, is very knowledgeable about his stock, and makes a real effort to improve the quality of the products he sells. So if you're debating between buying this model and something comparable offered elsewhere, you would do well to add another consideration to your equation, customer service. It's something that can be hard to quantify, but it is worth a lot. His service is the best I've seen in this industry and if for no other reason, that alone should tip the scales of your decision in his favor when considering your purchase. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I really hope it helped.”
“At the time of this review I've had the scooter for 43 days and have ridden 210 miles on it. The build quality is excellent, with a fantastic ride due to the suspension and the air-filled tires. Acceleration is quick, and the top speed is very fast (I've gotten up to 21mph on the highest speed mode). eWheels support has been fantastic with immediately addressing any questions/issues I have had--this is a big selling point as my previous scooter (not a TurboWheel Dart) was from an overseas vendor who continues to be unresponsive 3-months later to part failures covered under their supposed 'warranty'. The only major downside to this scooter is its weight (~40lb) which can make it challenging to lug around for extensive periods of time--however this downside is easily offset by the quality of the scooter. Despite having a nice screw-cap mechanism for the handle bars they routinely become loose over time, however the manufacturer has mentioned in the comments of their youtube video to "wrap some white Plumbers tape on the screw part of the handlebar and you should be fine" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-di_FadvRwQ). A nice unadvertised feature is that this scooter has a cruise control feature that is omitted from the manual, but discussed by the manufacturer in a youtube clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tQyEEeieqM). While the video is discussing a slightly different model, the cruise control feature (setting 'P17') is identical. If you're looking for a serious commuting scooter, I would recommend the TurboWheel Dart with no reservations.”
“This scooter rides like a dream. The suspension is excellent, the scooter has good speed and decent maneuverability around corners. Brakes have terrific stopping power, to the point that I nearly top-sided it when I came to a sudden stop. The acceleration is smooth and quick. I would highly recommend this scooter to anyone looking for a commuting option.”
“Weight: Very light as advertised. I am 200 lbs and prefer heavier scooters like the Hornet, just my preference/opinion.
Suspension: Smooth, feels more plush than the Hornet and while far from DT Spider it is very comfortable.
Portability: A+, easy to fold and cary.
Lights: Very well built front light, part of chasis. Ambient light enhances visibility at night. Rear lights are also part of chasis and serve it's purpose well.
Acceleration: Feels faster than it's big brother Hornet but I advised caution since the brakes are less responsive.
Brakes: I will try to adjust, make sure is working well before you take this rocket for a spin.
Fender: Plastic not metal but sturdy.
Charger: Stock charger is slow, get the fast charger from ewheels website.
Overall: Very happy with purchase, highly recommend this scooter. If you need >30 mile range get the Hornet.”
“This scooter is awesome! Coupled with the fast charger, it is the perfect commuter vehicle. It's weight is not prohibitive and is the perfect balance between power and size. For sub $1k it's truly a bargain and it's so compact you can take it with you anywhere. 10/10!”
