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Getting a good deal on an electric scooter can be difficult, but finding an affordable scooter that can also travel longer distances is damn near impossible. Yet, TurboAnt’s V8 electric scooter is able to offer the distances afforded by twin onboard batteries and costs $600. It delivers a smooth ride and is especially suitable for scooter newbies.
Design
The TurboAnt V8 is a two-wheeled scooter that can reach a capped top speed of 20 mph and is able to support riders up to 275 pounds. The scooter features a 450-watt front wheel-hub motor and the entire setup weighs 47 pounds.
The scooter arrived mostly assembled; I only needed to attach the handlebars. The build quality is solid — it’s rated at IP54, meaning it can get wet but not drenched — and it’s made to maximize road handling. The handlebars are nice and wide, which helps riders maintain better control over bumpy surfaces. The handgrips are decent and have a single brake lever that engages both the rear mechanical disc brake and the front electric brake. The deck is covered in rubber, and my size 12s fit on it comfortably. It has a decent ground clearance of just over 4 inches.
The scooter does fold down and its folding mechanism is particularly impressive. It’s a single latch that locks the bars up or down and can be done with one hand. Another thing worth pointing out is the kickstand. All too often I’ve seen scooters with frail kickstands that won’t withstand a slight breeze, but the V8’s kickstand is wide and sturdy.
The TurboAnt V8 can be folded with one hand.
Features
The V8 is a rare find for its price because of its dual batteries. One battery is housed in the deck and another in the steering column. Each is a 36-volt, 7.5-amp-hour battery, but only the one in the steering column is removable. They can be charged separately in about four hours via a charging dock for the scooter’s removable pack and a traditional, integrated charge port. Using the latter, you can charge both batteries on the scooter in about eight hours.
TurboAnt says the V8 can get up to 50 miles on a full charge. The scooter can operate on one battery, but the range will be cut in half. If you’re considering this for last-mile trips, it might be worth leaving the removable battery at home, because it adds weight to the front, and makes the front stem thicker and harder to carry around when folded.
Read more: Best Electric Scooter for 2023
Come nightfall, the scooter has lights in the front and rear of the deck, and a light in the handlebar. When applying the brakes, the rear lights flash and there’s a bell to alert pedestrians. The handlebar-mounted display has a brake pressure gauge and also shows your speed, battery levels for both batteries and a throttle gauge. However, there’s no trip gauge to keep track of how far you’ve traveled and there’s no iPhone or Android app to give you more trip data. Also, the display is difficult to read in daylight.
The rear hub houses the 450-watt battery.
Performance
There are three ride modes for the V8 scooter: eco, comfort and sport. In testing, I found TurboAnt’s claim of a 50-mile range to be optimistic — it might be possible riding in eco mode with a lightweight rider in zero wind conditions and on a flat surface. But I got around 20 to 30 miles during my testing, which is still impressive for a sub-$1,000 scooter.
The ride on the V8 was comfortable and smooth, though, in part because of its 9.3-inch pneumatic tires and rear spring suspension. When moving, it feels sturdy and there’s no creaking. The scooter is quiet, too. It’s not the fastest to accelerate nor is it great on hills. You will experience some incline slowdown, especially if you’re closer to the 275-pound max supported weight. Importantly, though, there was no speed wobble at top speed, and the unhurried acceleration is actually a plus for beginners.
The TurboAnt V8 has a good mix of performance, design and features for its reasonable price. The second battery is definitely useful to have for longer rides. But if you need to carry it a lot, the battery pack in the steering column makes it uncomfortable to lug around and there are better scooters if carry comfort is a must-have. But they most likely won’t be able to go the distance of the V8.
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