Buying an electric scooter can be frustrating. Pay too little and you’ll sacrifice range and the speed you need to climb steep hills. Pay and you’ve got a hulking vehicle that’s hard to lug up a few flights of stairs once you’re done driving. Apollo’s latest e-scooter doesn’t break the mold – it sits firmly in the latter camp with its nice features and high price.
The Apollo City 2022 is a very nice scooter. It rarely gave me range anxiety, I had no trouble going up slopes and it’s comfortable to drive – it even has turn signals! This is important, given the asking price of $1,499. But it’s 57 pounds. I visited a colleague in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, last week, and had to carry this thing up three flights of stairs because I was paranoid that someone would steal it if I left it outside. My back didn’t thank me. If you live in a walk-up this is not the scooter for you.
But if that’s not a problem, there’s a lot to like about the Apollo City. There are a few questionable choices that make it a bit quirky, but it’s an otherwise nimble and stable ride that’s great for anyone seriously considering taking an electric scooter as their primary mode of transport around a city.
City Slicker
Photo: Apollo
There are two versions of this scooter: the Apollo City 2022 ($1,499) and the Apollo City Pro 2022 ($1,799). I tested the former, but the latter has a 500-watt twin motor that makes it go faster, with higher torque, plus a more powerful battery for better range. It can also handle a higher weight capacity (220 pounds versus 265 on the Pro). The disadvantage? The Pro is even heavier, at 68 pounds.
However, most people will be happy with the performance of the standard Apollo City. The single 500-watt motor never felt too sluggish when pulling away at traffic lights, and the top speed of 27 miles per hour is handy when you need that power to get up hills. It rarely felt restrictive. That said, just because an average car can hit 120mph doesn’t mean it should — make sure you’re always driving the legal escooter speed limit for your city. (The Apollo City Pro can hit 32 mph.)
The scooter itself has a few modes that you can cycle through to control speed via the LED display, but I recommend using the Bluetooth app (not required) to limit the scooter’s top speed. You can view other ride data here and even adjust acceleration and regenerative braking (which recovers some energy when you brake).
For the most part, I got by just fine with the unique regenerative brake throttle on the left handlebar instead of the front and rear drum brakes. On the city streets, it doesn’t take much to stop if you’re driving 15 mph. That said, I wouldn’t have minded if I had used a little more braking power when using those 25 mph speeds. (I tested it in the middle of the night in an empty parking lot deep in Brooklyn.) I stopped, but the braking distance was more than I would have liked. This usually won’t be a problem, but it’s odd that the more expensive Apollo City Pro doesn’t upgrade the drum brakes to more effective hydraulics.
This post Apollo City (2022) Review: A City-Friendly Electric Scooter
was original published at “https://www.wired.com/review/apollo-city-2022”
