The Best Electric Scooter for Commuting

The biggest problem with electric scooters is reliability. That’s the main reason why the top pick in this guide has made the cut. It’s high performance for a decent price, but most importantly, it’s far better quality than all the cheap trash out there.

I mean, let’s be honest. Most scooters out there really are complete trash. Sure, they might have a high top speed or some fancy extra features, but you honestly couldn’t care less about these things. All you want is something that’s actually good.

So, let’s start by taking a look at the best electric scooter out there. This will be the option that’s going to be suited to most people, and there’s nothing that comes close in terms of that combination of reliability and performance unless you’re willing to spend over twice as much.

However, if you’re looking for a true long-term option that’ll literally replace your car for longer journeys, then the vehicle-grade Boosted Rev will be more what you’re looking for. I’d only recommend this if your commute is longer than 8.5 miles, or if you’d just like to have the absolute best e-scooter you can get.

Anyway, let’s look at the best choice that doesn’t cost a bomb.

The Best Electric Scooters for Commuting Reviewed

Best Electric Scooter for Commuting: Hiboy S2 Electric Scooter

To start with, this scooter has large, solid tires with perforations, which is what all solid tires should be like. It makes them so much grippier, because they’re able to maximize the amount of tire that’s in contact with the road by flexing against the road like air filled tires do.

The larger-than-usual size of the tires is also absolutely essential for a commuter scooter. Small tires simply can’t deal with bumps and cracks in the road.

Basically, these design choices bring the S2’s solid tires to the level where they completely blow its competitors’ air filled tires out of the water. It’d take some really high quality air tires to beat these, and that, of course, would be expensive.

You’ll also especially want to avoid any reasonably priced scooter that has air filled tires because they’re an absolute pain to change if you get a puncture. Let’s face it, you’re not going to be carrying a spare tire and the tools you need with you to change it to and from work every day.

There’s also the problem with air leakage that’s really common with many air tire scooters – again, because they’re often not quality, road-worthy products.

Of course, even with perforations, solid tires don’t do much to soften the ride, which is why it’s important to get a scooter with proper suspension, like the dual rear suspension this one has. Otherwise, you’re pretty much limited to really well paved roads, or you’ll feel every single bump and dip in the road.

And don’t even think about using a scooter without suspension in Illinois or New York – even if it has air filed tires. The exception to this, of course, being the vehicle-grade Boosted Rev featured in the next section, though it costs about four times the price of this one for it to be that good.

As for the performance of the Hiboy S2, they do say it’s able to travel for 17 miles at a top speed of 18.6 mph under certain conditions, but that’s under those magical “certain conditions.” The actual figures are more like an 8.5 mile maximum range and a top speed of 15 mph.

Remember that you have to get home from work again once you’re there, so that means you can use this scooter for commuting if your work is up to 4.25 miles away, assuming you can’t charge it when you’re there.

If you can charge it when you’re there, then that significantly opens up the range you can use this scooter for. Since it’s a 6-hour charge time, so you can easily use up the full 8.5 mile range, go about your day, and then use the full 8.5 mile range to get home again.

One thing to note is that this scooter has regenerative braking, so the battery life is pretty consistent. You don’t have to worry about using up more battery than usual and getting stranded if you’re stopping and starting on a particularly busy day. That’s a huge one.

The brakes themselves are a brake disc on the back wheel and an eABS on the front wheel. ABS means an anti-lock braking system, like you can find in every modern car. It basically just means you can’t accidentally brake too hard and skid instead of stopping.

After all, the last thing you would want is to skid and fall off your scooter while you’re on a road with cars or a bike path with cyclists around. That’s why this is a must-have safety feature.

Speaking of which, it also has headlights, side lights and tail lights (including working brake lights). Again, these are essentials you won’t want to do without. When it gets to the time of year where it’s getting darker earlier and you’re setting off to work while it’s still dark, you’ll absolutely need to use them.

Other than that, you can lock the scooter using the app, but I’d still highly recommend getting a hard D-shaped bike lock because I doubt that would stop someone trying to carry it off.

As for its durability, the body of this scooter is much more solid than you might think. It’s made from some very thick steel that, granted, does make it heavier than you’d expect, at 28 lbs, but it’s not so much as to be a real hindrance in any way.

Perhaps to girls it’s a little heavier than ideal, because it weighs practically 50% more than a bike, but at the very least you’re never going to be lifting it up or anything. It takes up far less space than a bike anyway, so you can just ride it straight to your garage and fit it in wherever you can.

It can fold down to save even more space, like most e-scooters can, but it only stops the handles from sticking out so much when you store it away. It’s not like the whole thing gets that much smaller.

Other extra features include a dashboard display to show you your current speed and the battery level, which is useful; cruise control for staying at a constant speed, which is situationally useful, like if your commute involves a long, boring stretch of straight road; and an option to choose between “comfort mode” and “sport mode,” which I find hilarious.

The sport mode basically makes it accelerate as fast as a family car doing a gentle take off, which is pretty darn fast when you’re on a scooter. Just remember to wear a helmet at all times, even if you’re on comfort mode.

The only real upgrade from this would be something that has more power, but you couldn’t get anything comparable unless you were willing to pay at least double the price of this one.

The power it has is plenty for most people since the maximum capacity is 260 lbs, and with the realistic 8.5 mile range we talked about earlier, it’s better than its competitors, who also dramatically overstate their scooters’ capabilities.

Besides, 8.5 miles is pretty far. It’s enough where, if you were going further, you’d probably prefer to take a car anyway.

What We Like:

• Well-Designed Solid Tires – With solid tires, you don’t have to worry about punctures, which would be a nightmare to have on the way to work, since it’s not like you’ll be carrying a spare with you. They’re also large and with perforations in them, like all solid tires should be. The perforations completely negate the stiffness of solid tires by letting them flex to grip the road like air filled tires do. That does wonders to soften the ride.
• Dual Rear Suspension – This, combined with larger-than-usual size of the tires, means you can deal with bumps in the road just fine. That means you can use this scooter in realistic road conditions, rather than the fairy tale ideal conditions most scooters require in order to not be a wobbly, dangerous mess.
• Really Thick Steel – It does make it weigh a fair bit, at 28 lbs, but the solid construction of the whole thing makes it feel like the vehicle it is, rather than some toy.
• Plenty of Range – The actual, realistic range for this one is 8.5 miles, which beats its competitors’ actual ranges. Just bear in mind, it seems all the e-scooters out there have hugely overestimated capabilities, so if you see something that appears to have more range, it doesn’t mean that it actually does.
• Safety Lights – This scooter has headlights, side lights and tail lights that include working brake lights. It’s dangerous when a scooter doesn’t have these. They’re absolutely essential.
• Regenerative Brakes – The range on this scooter is pretty consistent because stopping and starting all the time doesn’t eat up your battery life. The energy from braking just gets converted back into more battery. This is what you’re looking for when you’re commuting. You don’t want to get stranded because of an especially busy day.

Things to Consider:

• Whether It Has Enough Power for You – An 8.5 mile range is enough for most people, and there’s no alternatives as good as this one unless you’re willing to spend over twice as much. However, if you’re really invested in getting a scooter to replace your car for longer journeys, then the vehicle-grade Boosted Rev is more what you’re looking for.

Check the latest price on Amazon.

Best High End Scooter for Commuting: Boosted Rev

Now, this one is an actual vehicle. I mean, you can tell that by just looking at it. The Boosted Rev is in a league of its own. It puts other electric scooters to shame.

Basically, the key takeaways here are that the reliability of the Boosted Rev is absolutely unmatched, and it has an absurdly long range of 22 miles. If you want your commute to be an absolute breeze for the next several years, then this is the vehicle you’re looking for.

And while it can go up to 24 mph, I wouldn’t recommend actually going that fast. Sure, it can handle those speeds, but I’m not sure I could. 15 mph is already more than enough.

I really like how stable the ride is. It’s better than any other scooter out there, perhaps because of how wide the tires are. The tires are air tires, but they’re such high quality that it doesn’t matter.

Really, you’re just paying a premium price for a premium product. In this case, you get more than you pay for, like if you’d compare a go kart to a real car.

What We Like:

• Even More Reliability – Again, reliability is the single most important factor for e-scooters, and this one is as reliable as a brand new car. I can’t really fault any part of it.

Things to Consider:

• The Price Tag Matches What You’re Paying For– It’s practically four times the cost of the Hiboy S2, but speaking in purely practical terms, it has two and a half times the range, and a top speed so high that you’ll probably be too afraid to ever use it.

Check the latest price on Amazon