Shopping for a tram can be frustrating. Pay too little and you sacrifice the range and speed you need to climb steep hills. Pay and you’ll have a hard towing vehicle up a few flights of stairs when you’re done. Apollo’s latest escooter doesn’t break the mold — it sits firmly in the latter camp with fancy features and a premium price tag.
The City of Apollo 2022 To be a very nice scooter. It rarely worries me about range, I have no trouble climbing uphills, and it’s comfortable to drive — it even has turn signals! This is important, considering the $1,499 asking price. But it’s 57 pounds. Last week, I was visiting a colleague in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, 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 doesn’t thank me. If you live in a pedestrian neighborhood, this is not the scooter for you.
But if that’s not an issue, there’s a lot to like about Apollo City. There are a few questionable options that make it a bit odd, but it’s a nimble and steady ride that’s great for those who seriously consider an electric scooter their primary means of transportation. city.
City raincoat
There are two versions of this scooter: Apollo City 2022 ($1,499) and Apollo City Pro 2022 ($1,799). I tested the former, but the latter has dual 500-watt motors that allow it to run faster, with more torque, plus a more powerful battery for better range. It can also withstand a higher weight (220 pounds versus 265 on the Pro). Defect? The Pro is even heavier, weighing in at 68 pounds.
However, most people will be satisfied with the standard Apollo City’s performance. The single 500-watt motor never feels too slow to start at traffic lights, and its top speed of 27 mph is useful when you need that power to go up hills. It rarely feels restrictive. That said, just because the average car can hit 120 mph doesn’t mean it should — make sure you always run the legal speed limit for your city. Friend. (Apollo City Pro can hit 32 mph.)
The scooter itself has several modes where you can cycle to adjust the speed via the LED display, but I recommend using the Bluetooth companion app (optional) to limit the maximum speed of the scooter. You can view more cruise data here and even adjust acceleration and the regenerative braking system (which recovers some of the energy when you brake).
For the most part, I was able to achieve this by using the unique regenerative brake throttle on the left handlebar instead of the front and rear drum brakes. On city roads, it really doesn’t take long to stop when you’re traveling 15 mph. That said, I wouldn’t mind a bit more braking power using that 25 mph (I tested it on an empty stretch of a deep Brooklyn parking lot late at night). ). I stop, but the braking distance is more than I wanted to see. This won’t be a problem most of the time, but it To be strangely, the more expensive Apollo City Pro doesn’t upgrade the drum brakes to a more efficient hydraulic system.
