Electric scooters are all about ease of use, versatility and convenience. You can go anywhere; on roads and streets, making local errands fun, quick and easy. Electric scooters are cheap and affordable as it does not need gasoline or any petroleum-based fuels, this makes it environment friendly. The electronic we are going to see in this article is the Segway ES1 and the Swagtron.
Since the scooters are designed to make urban commuting easy, makes their weight one of the key characteristics to take into account. The Segway and the Swagtron has the same weight at 34 kg. The folded dimension is also considered for transporting or storing.
The ES1 folds down to 12.6 X 16.93 X 42.52 inch, and the Swagtron folds down to 19 X 17 X 41.5 inch. The Swagtron has a 145kg max rider weight while the ES1 only has 100kg max rider weight.
Both of this e-scooter has a motor power of 250 W. Both models are designed to take on inclines, and both models struggle if you are going to commute through a hilly area. The Segway has a top speed of 20 km/h on flat surface but with a second battery it can reach up to 25km/h. It has a 3 speed mode that can be set on the LED display. See also: Segway ES1 vs M365.
The first one is speed limit mode which is set through the mobile app, the second one is standard mode which gets up to the maximum speed and finally sport mode which get to maximum speed with faster acceleration. The Swagtron also has multiple speeds; it allows you to choose from 3 speeds. Speed 1 is you can reach 8 km/h, speed 2 is up to 16 km/h and speed 3 is the maximum speed of 29 km/h.
Neither model can commute more than 32 KM, so you might want to find other brands if you are going to use e-scooter to commute that far. The ES1 has a range of 26 KM while the Swagtron only has a range of 19 KM. Battery life and recharge time are also important factors. The Swagtron has a 158 Wh battery capacity with 3.5 hours to fully charge.
It has 4 battery protections which includes overcharge, under-voltage, overheating and automatic shut off. The Segway also takes 3.5 hours to fully charge but has a slight bigger capacity with 187 Wh. It also has 4 battery protections which include overheating, short circuit, over-current and over-charge.
The Swagtron has disc brakes, which has the best braking power, give excellent control and perform well in all conditions. It does need maintenance and usually the most expensive. The ES1 has foot brakes, it is known as a lightweight and simple brake. It requires no maintenance but tends to perform poorly when compared to other types, is slower to activate and need a specific riding position.
Swagtron has Pneumatic tires, which is more comfortable but can burst it is punctured by glass, nails or thorns. However the Swagtron has no suspension. ES1 has more durable tires and puncture proof since it has solid rubber tires but it will give a bumpy ride. It also has a front suspension which can help achieve smoother ride than the Swagtron. Both of these scooters are not suitable for off-roading or to be used on wet surfaces.
The Swagtron is made from aluminum making it sturdy, robust and quite light. The handles are hard rubber and some of the parts that cover bolts and junctions are plastic. ES1 is made of aircraft-grade aluminum and some parts are also covered in plastic though there is metal underneath them. The handles are made of foam which makes it feel very soft and cozy.
The handlebar on the Segway has a small LED that shows the current battery state, speed and speed modes. Acceleration and brakes are easily controlled with pedals on both sides of the handlebar. On the Swagtron handlebar there is a display screen that shows current speed, battery life and if you have paired your phone to the scooter. It has a bike-like hand-brake and an acceleration lever.
There is also a phone-mount on the handlebar of the Swagtron which makes it safer to check the phone while driving.
Both of the scooters can be managed through a mobile app. Through the Swagger app it allows to monitor current speed, average speed, battery life, track distance and time travelled, switch between gears and also turn on/off cruise mode. The Ninebot app for Segway can show the current mileage, remaining mileage, battery use, speed history, set cruise mode speed, custom speed limit on speed limit mode as mentioned before and battery recharge settings.
The swagger has front and rear lights to provide visibility at night or bad weather conditions. The rear disc brake of the Swagtron allows stopping in 4-5 meter on a dry surface when going on max speed.
The Segway has a front LED lights and back and sides reflectors which is safe enough for night riding. It also has a temperature sensor that will tell on the LED screen when the temperature is getting too high and the scooter will slow down so it would not overheat. There are actually two brakes implemented in the ES1, the front wheel has an electrical brake with anti-lock system and a rear manual brake.
Warranty is what everybody wants in purchasing products. The ES1 comes with a 1 year, 6 months battery, 3 months rear wheel and consumables warranty. The Swagtron only comes with a 1 year warranty.
Segway ES1 vs Swagtron
Conclusion
Overall, it is shown that both scooters have a lot to offer. For a scooter that is used for an urban commute, both of them have it in the bag. This time the winner of the e-scooter comes down to the ES1 with a longer range, a well thought brake system and an LED display on the handle bar are all the features that you couldn’t find on the Swagtron.