I’ve recently gotten into e-scooters. This post contains an assortment of my various findings, opinions, notes and such.
Switch boxes
This switch box sucks.
- It’s bulky, stands too much from the handlebar, making the buttons hard to reach.
- The buttons are hard to distinguish when not looking.
- The buttons are completely raised from the handlebar, I was accidentally pushing the horn button like every time I wanted to push the e-scooter, scaring everyone in the vicinity, myself included.
This switch box also sucks.
- It’s again quite raised from the handlebar (but not as much as the previous model), making the buttons relatively hard to access.
- The buttons are quite hard to press, this is especially annoying with the turn signals buttons, making me focus more on pressing the damn buttons rather on the actual turning.
- Without looking, it’s very hard to distinguish which turn signal button you’re actually pushing, so there’s also that.
This switch box actually doesn’t suck as much.
- The buttons are not raised from the handlebar and are actually quite good to reach.
- However there’s the problem that you don’t have any feedback on whether the light switch is on or off.
Permanent smartphone on the e-scooter
I have this idea of having an old cheap smartphone with pre-paid data attached on the scooter at all times. These are the potential uses of such device:
- GPS/dashboard (without having to worry about breaking your expensive phone)
- Dashcam
- Theft alarm (when someone moves the scooter, an app could raise and alarm and even call your number)
- Seems like there’s no app made specifically for this purpose yet (there are motion alarm apps, but haven’t found any that calls/sends SMS). However, you can patch something together with Tasker.
What I want to be improved on e-scooters generally
- We really need proper turn signals. Dedicated orange lights, visible from every angle, bright enough for day and with an ergonomic control box.
- Electronic brakes are a cool thing. It’d be great if the sensor for engaging them would not be binary, but would engage the brake smoothly as you’re pulling the brake lever.
- I’d really love to see removable batteries more.
Kaabo Mantis 10 Pro+ specific
