Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter review

REVIEW – I was excited to test out one of those Electric Scooters that one sees almost everywhere nowadays. However, I was not aware of any that support a 250-pound rider. The Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter not only supports 250-pound riders but exceeds that supporting riders up to 265-pounds. Read on to see how it performed with a 6’6” 250-pound primate in tow!

What is it?

The Caroma E68 PRO Folding Electric Scooter is a 500W folding electric scooter that can handle larger body masses, such as mine, and included an optional seat.

What’s in the box?

• E68 PRO Folding Electronic Scooter
• Battery Charger
• Seat – attached
• Included Allen Wrenches (3X)
• Multi-Color User Manual

Hardware specs

Click to expand Specs

The following specs were extracted from the website.

Brand	‎Caroma
Color	‎E68 PRO-Dark Blue
Age Range (Description)	‎Adult
Special Feature	‎Folding
Weight Limit	‎265 Pounds
Product Dimensions	‎45.7″L x 19.7″W x 46.9″H
Number of Wheels	‎2
Model Name	‎E68 PRO
Wheel Material	‎Rubber
Frame Material	‎Aluminum
Item Weight	‎44.9 Pounds
Handlebar Type	‎Adjustable
Handle Height	‎46.1 Inches
Wheel Size	‎10 Inches
Wheel Type	‎Solid
Grip Type	‎Ergonomic
Brake Style	‎Front Braking, Rear Braking
Warranty Type	‎Limited
Charging Time	‎5 Hours
Recommended Uses For Product	‎Commuting
Range	‎25 Miles
Package Dimensions L x W x H	‎47.3 x 21.3 x 10.2 inches
Package Weight	‎52.1 Pounds
Material	‎Aluminum
Suggested Users	‎unisex-adult
Manufacturer	‎Guangdong Qiude Health Technology Co., Limited
Style	‎Dark Blue with Seat
Included Components	‎‎Accessories, Instruction manuals, Charger
Size	‎Large

 

 

Design and features

The Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter is a folding scooter, like most, if not all, scooters in this class of scooters. The folding operation is very straightforward. Simply open the folding mechanism lock, located near the base of the handlebars, and fold the handlebars down toward the back tire. There is a hook on the right side of the handlebars that will latch to the top of the rear tire fender. One will have to extend the handlebars fully for the hook to reach that latch. Once latched, one can conveniently carry the scooter, using the latched handlebar as and a scooter handle. This is a heavy scooter, so it still could be troublesome to carry up hills, stairs, or for long distances.

The Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter has three set top speeds, called gears in the manual, of 10, 15, and 20 mph, which are accessed by using either the upshift ‘+’ or downshift ‘-‘ buttons, which are accompanied by a beep. The display updates to show which gear the scooter is currently in. This indicator, a small circumscribed ‘S” on the left side of the display, will display a prescribed color based on which gear is set. The colors are white for 10 MPH, yellow for 15 mph, and red for 20 mph. I found the color very difficult to detect, as the white is not that white, which is also true for the yellow. In addition, the indicator is too small, in my opinion. One almost has to change the gear to see what the indicator changes too. The gear setting limits the speed of the scooter when twisting / pushing the throttle to full. For me, 20 mph is fast on a scooter. The 10-inch solid tires are smooth. However, being solid and with no suspension can sometimes be rough, depending on the riding surface. One literally feels every little inconsistency in the riding surface.

One feature that I really found interesting is the cruise control which allows the rider to accelerate up to a given speed, hit one button, acknowledged by a beep, and the scooter will maintain that set speed, within reason, of course, until the brake or throttle is hit. The manual states that once in the cruise mode the upshift button ‘+’ or downshift button ‘-‘ can be hit to either increment or decrement the scooter’s speed accordingly. While the Cruise Mode worked fine, it did not seem to respond as the manual stated with respect to either of the upshift or downshift buttons as hitting either, while in Cruise Mode just exited the Cruise Mode.

I was impressed by the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter’s lighting. Not only are there front and back lights, but there is also pulsating underneath/side lighting, activated by holding down the light button for 3 seconds. The one gripe I would say is that sometimes when you turn the scooter on, the lights (front & tail) are on, and sometimes they are not. I would prefer for the front and tail lights to always be on upon power up. You may notice in the pics that the lights were off, which is just not what I expected.

While the E68 PRO has both front and back brakes, there is only one bicycle-style brake lever located on the left handlebar. As expected, hitting the brakes will cut the power to the scooter’s motor. In addition, hitting the brakes will pulse the taillight and the scooter’s underneath/side lights. Adding any attention to the activation of the brakes is just good.

The Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter was outfitted with an adjustable seat to allow the rider just to sit and ride the scooter kind of like a very, very small motorcycle. I must confess that I did not really try this out much. Being as tall as I am, I also have big feet, and the seat was just in the way for me to stand on the scooter comfortably, with one foot in front of the other, so I completely removed it. A seat is an option, and unless one knows they will sit and ride most of the time, I would not opt for it. In addition, after removing it, I am not sure how easy it will be to reinstall the seat, given the way it was originally installed on the scooter.

Setup

The setup for the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter could not be any easier than it was. Literally, the only thing that needed to be done was to unfold the handlebars, place the seat post in the seat tube, and attach the left and right handlebar tubes into the handlebars pushing in the warhead buttons. I never knew the name of those little silver buttons that exist on so many things, such as in most telescoping poles, and now I know. They are called warheads. Well, at least that is what Caroma calls them.

Performance

Overall, I felt the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter performed very well. One of the warnings in the manual is to become familiar with the scooter before attempting any hills, and living in Indiana, where I am, there were none, so I really could not test out how strong the 500W motor was pushing me (big guy) up a significant hill. That said, I found the scooter to be responsive. I never felt that I was out of control starting the scooter and take offs and stops were very smooth.

With respect to braking the E68 PRO, it felt like the rear braking somehow involves the motor although I am not sure how exactly. It just sounds like it and feels like it when applying the brakes. The front brake is clearly a friction-based brake, and it sounds like it when the brakes are applied. Overall, the braking is very smooth. The one caveat I think for using a scooter like this is to always use the brakes to stop, vs putting one foot on the ground to stop as the mass of the scooter is pretty significant, and it can get away from one if one thinks they can just put a foot down and hold the scooter in place as if it was one of those small portable Razor scooters from back in the day.

Charging the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter is spec’d at a full charge at 5.5 hours, and my test after the range test described below was close to that. The charger seems to be the standard charger that accompanies many gadgets like this, be it E-Bikes or Electric Scooters. I measured that charging power at under 100 Watts, so the E68 PRO can be recharged by a small portable power station or even a vehicle’s 120 V outlet should it be so equipped.

As mentioned above, the selected gear in the display is small, and the colors are not that different, in my opinion. This is a pretty important piece of information, and I would like to have had it much larger on the display. Lastly, with respect to the display I would like the display to have also included an odometer of some type.

Finally, I did a range test for the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter with all the lights on. Again, remember that I am a big guy, approaching the weight limit of the scooter, and I am tall, which can be like a sail when windy, and it was a little windy during this test. My goal of course, was to see if the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter could achieve the 20-mile range that is specified.  I should say going in, that I did not think it would be able to do this, given my size, but it really did not do that bad, all things considered. I used the Apple Watch’s bike workout to track the distance since there was no onboard odometer to take the measurement. During the test, I tried to monitor the battery level and take note when each segment disappeared.  During the test, I mostly set the gear setting to 15 mph, running on cruise, although I did not always engage the cruise at the full 15 mph.  I did test the accuracy of the display speed with an app on my watch, and they both said the same thing. I ran the scooter up to 20 mph. This was on a slight downhill and not against the wind.  Change either of those variables and I am not sure it would reach its top speed with me on board.  One thing of note is that the height of the footboard of the scooter is 7 inches off the ground, putting me at a towering 7’ 1” tall when I am riding.  I did notice that I seemed very tall, compared to the walkers and bike riders on the people trail I passed, where I did most of the testing.  So, if you are short in stature, you might enjoy that extra half a foot in height that you will gain riding the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter!  OK, back to the range.  I lost the first bar at just under 5 miles of riding.  The second bar fell away at a little over 9 miles, and the third bar disappeared at 13 miles. The fourth and flashing bar did not actually go away, but the battery was at an almost unrideable level at 13.64 miles.  I could barely go at this time, so I just quit the test.  Here are some images from my Apple Watch for the ‘bike’ trip.  As you will see, I averaged a little over 9 mph for the whole trip, and you can see the speed breakdown for each mile of the trip in the image gallery that follows.

What I like

• Smooth Ride on a smooth surface
• Cruise Control
• Scooter Lighting, but it should always start up on.

What I’d change

• Some form of suspension, be it air tires or shocks.
• Display resettable Trip Distance
• Specific support for typical bike chain/locks.

Final thoughts

The more I rode the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter, the more I liked it. As my experience with the E68 PRO grew, so too did my confidence riding it, which led to me riding at ever faster speeds. For me, I think some kind of suspension system is a must. Bumps are felt all the way through. I was hoping I was not causing harm to the frame as I rode over cracks, sidewalk separations, etc., at speed. I understand the maintenance-free nature of solid tires, but boy, the ride can be very rough with nothing to dampen out those even small bumps in the road.

These scooters seem like a great replacement for walking somewhere, but I do not see them replacing a bike, especially an electric one. I just find the bike safer and more comfortable to ride, even over distance, especially as the speed increases and the riding surface degrades from perfection.  At 50 pounds, it is heavy and awkward to carry around, so one would need to lock it up at your destination, but alas this is a problem.

I wish there was specific support to lock the E68 PRO up to something, as I feel it would not last long outside of even a convenience store if left unattended for a brief period of time. I found this rather cool looking lock, that does work, but as you can imagine, there might not be anything close to where one is stopping to lock the Caroma E68 PRO Electric Scooter up to.

Price: $349.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Caroma.