This is the SUV of off-road scooters - Engwe S6 test
Comfortable vehicle with high ground clearance and low price.
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Check out my video test too!
Introductory
Spring is slowly coming, and this is when manufacturers come out with their new electric vehicles. Engwe came up with a double take, because the S6 is not only a new scooter, but also the manufacturer's first electric scooter.
There have been quite a few bikes from Engwe on the market, and they have mostly tried to offer something new or more than other manufacturers' products. This is also why I was really looking forward to the S6, because if they always tried to give something new with their bikes, to be better, then they won't want to disappoint with the first scooter either.
Well, the fact is that they did cause some disappointment, but this is not related to the quality of the Engwe S6, but rather how it is. You will read about this in this article.
Unpacking, assembly, accessories
Well, the Engwe S6 is not a tiny scooter, but it is still big enough that you can walk a few meters with it if you really have to. The weight of the entire package is 31 kilograms, of which the scooter itself is 25 kilograms. The box is quite large, there are no handles or tongs on it, so it was not easy to carry this out into the garden.
Of course, unpacking is not a complicated operation, but in this case, assembly was not either. Even the installation itself is a strong exaggeration, because nothing needs to be installed on this scooter. I don't really understand why they added the toolkit. Of course, it's okay to give it, but there's no reason for it.
It is typical of the complexity of the assembly that the video I made of the operation was quite short. From the time I turned on the cameras and walked over to the closed box to the time I walked back to turn the cameras off, eight and a half minutes passed. During this time, I unpacked and assembled it.
In other words, I didn't assemble it, because I wouldn't call it assembly when I take off the impact protection, fold up the steering horns, set up the seat and adjust its height. It could have been installed if it had to be set on the brake, but it was not necessary either.
Let's just say that this was unpacking and installation at most, not installation at all.
There aren't many accessories, really just a few tools, a manual (I've seen this useful) and the charger. We don't get anything else, but maybe we don't need to.
External
Well, as I already wrote, the Engwe S6 is not a small scooter, as it weighs 25 kilos, as much as a smaller bicycle. You need the material because it's an all-terrain scooter. It has big wheels, a wide tread, very high ground clearance, and all-terrain tires. In this case, the big wheel means a 10-inch size, and the width of the tires is 6,5 inches.
So this is an all-terrain scooter for anyone to see.
There is no reason to be ashamed of the size either, when opened, it is 110 centimeters high, 25 centimeters wide and 110 centimeters high. In the closed state, of course, only the height changes, specifically it is halved.
The driven wheel is, of course, the rear (I can't emphasize enough, it's an all-terrain scooter), the brakes are disc brakes, mechanical, and there are front and rear ones. What is also present in the front and back is shock absorption. Two struts each are responsible for absorbing road imperfections.
The fenders are made of plastic, they seem quite thin compared to the fact that we will probably not only use them on asphalt. The body of the scooter is surprisingly wide, at least wider than scooters of this category are used to be. Of course, there are already wider ones around 1000-1200 watts or above.
It is interesting that on this scooter it is not only the width that immediately catches our attention, but also the lights. In other words, these are not normal lights, because 1-1 RGB LED strips light down/to the side, while the yellow indexes light up to the side. These do not flash, they have a running light. Let's say the positive thing is that they are at least yellow in color, as an index should be. Another positive is that there are two of these indexes per page.
There is a light at the front and at the back, the rear light is also a brake light. As you can see in the pictures, we also get a seat. The height of this can be adjusted, and the seat bar again only has vibration damping. Of course, the handlebars are also adjustable in height, and the steering horns can be folded down to make it easier to fit, e.g. into the trunk of our car.
Paper form
I have already described a good part of the capabilities given by the manufacturer for the exterior, but there are still a few items left on the list that I have to say. An example is the load capacity, which is 120 kilos for the S6.
The scooter has a 500-watt motor, and according to the manufacturer, the peak torque is 700 watts. This is a human ability, but still plenty manageable. According to the computer, we have 3 speed levels (I'm writing about this because it's a little strange...). The individual level is the "ECO level", which according to the description means 18 Km/hour. The second level is the "Regular level", which lasts up to 30 Km/h, above that is the "Sport level", which extends up to 45 Km/h.
The throttle is turned by turning the handle, we don't have a throttle. This is very nice for me, a motorcyclist, since it is the same on the motorcycle, but it may be better for others if you have to pull or press small levers. So I don't see this as a negative or a positive.
It is important that the battery has an above-average capacity. According to the description, this means a 48-volt system and a capacity of 15,6 Ah. The manufacturer says that we can travel 60-70 kilometers on a single charge, with a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour. According to them, the highest climbable slope is 12 degrees.
Experiences
As you can see the figures are quite impressive for a 500 watt scooter, so you can imagine that I was quite curious about the scooter. Then I got something completely different from what I expected.
I have to start the story by saying that since last spring I have been driving an all-terrain vehicle blessed with similar capabilities. It is also 500 watts, and the battery has the same capacity and voltage. So, there really shouldn't be too many differences between the two machines, but as it turned out, the two are heaven and earth.
I wrote this because it might be easier to understand why the S6 was a surprise.
Let's start with the fact that both scooters have several gears. In practice, this used to mean that we can switch between gears with a switch, and depending on the selected gear, the top speed is set, and in the best case, the torque and, with it, the acceleration as well. At least this is the usual solution, and my own scooter is also like this.
However, the Engwe S6 is completely different. There is no switch here. I alluded to this above when I said that the manual came in very handy, because after turning it on for the first time, I looked everywhere for the leveling switch, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I even thought about all kinds of ugliness, they hid it somewhere or something like that, but it didn't happen. I took out the manual, then stood there scalded for several minutes, because it turned out that there were no buttons. It's simply that I turn the throttle, and as the speed increases, the gear indicator changes from one to two, then to three.
In other words, in Hungarian, there is a big horse tour here, not speed reasons. The speed goes up until I pull the throttle and reach top speed. It is slightly idiotic to talk about any gear ratios and ECO mode here, because they only exist in theory. So it behaves like an automatic transmission car. You start from zero, after which you speed up. The difference is that you don't even have to click here, just a number changes up and down on the display.
The other interesting thing is the top speed. According to the factory data, the end is 45 kilometers per hour, which is even believable with the 500-watt, 700-watt peak torque motor. But it soon became clear that this was not true either. Okay, I'm not 75 kilos, but I couldn't get above 38 on a flat road. He also went downhill with forty. Well, I tested how far the speedometer spins up when I lift the rear wheel. Up to forty... I mean, without load, up to forty with the wheel spinning in the air, so there's no way you'll get forty-five here.
Unfortunately, the math doesn't add up when it comes to the distance that can be covered on a single charge. The maximum I can say in defense of the S6 is that I have not yet come across a single scooter where the factory data would have even been in a satisfactory relationship with reality. It would have been nice if the S6 broke this trend, but it didn't work out. As I calculated, 30-35 kilometers is possible from the consumption, but it is difficult to give a more precise estimate, because it depends a lot on the driving style, the speed, the terrain and the weight of the passenger. I obviously did not spare the machine, since the goal was to complete the test, not to drive it as little as possible.
If this is how I started, then let's continue with the bad things (there will only be one more), let's leave the good things for the end, because that's what will happen!
The first time I got up and started walking, I quickly pulled aside because there was a strange hissing noise coming from somewhere, the height of which changed depending on the rpm. Of course, a bunch of worse-than-worse scenarios immediately ran through my mind as I looked for the source of the noise. In the end, it turned out that the front fender was sizzling. As I mentioned above, it is made of quite thin material, the solution, that is, the repair, was that it had to be adjusted. I would be surprised if this does not have to be repeated sometimes with prolonged use.
What was even more strange to me was the acceleration. I kind of expected more.
Now I'll describe what it's like to ride my scooter. If I step on the gas and don't prepare for it in advance, i.e. don't lean forward, I have to grip the steering wheel so I don't fall backwards. When I brake, the situation is the same, I have to shift my body weight back in time if I don't want to fall over the steering wheel during intense deceleration. My own scooter bounces, wobbles, wants to get rid of me when I go on a forest road. I can feel the power (even if it's "only" 500 watts), so it feels like a wild all-terrain scooter, on the road it even goes under me with 45, but with XNUMX in essentially all conditions, except for uphills.
That's pretty much what I expected from the Engwe S6, but I got something completely different.
I thought for a long time about describing the experience that the S6 provides in the article, and then I thought of the SUV analogy. The SUV (mainly with two-wheel drive) is an urban off-road vehicle. It looks like an off-road vehicle, the wheels are big, the ground clearance is high, the suspension is comfortable, the ride is comfortable, but they are not very good in terms of off-road capabilities. Of course, you can also go off-road with an SUV, you can drive on hard-trodden dirt roads, but don't venture on rougher terrain, because you won't like it.
Well, the Engwe S6 is just that. With a heavy heart, I have to admit that despite the plastic fenders and fender sizzle, it's a much better put together scooter than my own. It's hard to explain why I feel this way, but somehow the body of the scooter seems more stable, the handlebars less wobbly, so the whole machine somehow seems much better built than my own. The ride comfort is first-class even if I use it standing up, even if I sit down. I don't claim that the shock absorbers have a crazy big role in this, I suspect that it's more the large tires that dampen the vibration, but the struts are definitely useful. The main thing is that it doesn't shake my soles apart, and that's a shame on longer trips.
The seat itself is damn comfortable. I think it's the most comfortable I've ever sat in among Chinese electric vehicles. Added to this is the shock absorber built into the seat post, and the ride will be amazingly good even sitting on the Engwe S6.
I also tried it on a harder dirt road, and it was essentially flawless, although the shock absorbers hit 1-1 times, but it wasn't terrible, it took a lot of work. To be honest, I didn't miss speeds over 40 kilometers either, cruising around 25-30 kilometers per hour on the asphalt was much better, and 30-35 on a dirt road dotted with muddy patches gave me enough adrenaline to make me not want to go any faster.
The bottom line is that my own scooter is more of a wild, team animal, with harder suspension, narrower steps and a slightly less stable frame, while the S6 is a cruising SUV, where speeding is not the point, nor is it one of the jump from one bump to another, but to comfortably cruise around with it, but if it's really necessary, you can also venture out on dirt roads with it.
You will see an example of this in the video above, I hope it will be noticeable that you can also go with this scooter, although it is better with mine.
Conclusion
The Engwe S6 is a good scooter, especially for the price they charge for it. It's a deceptive scooter, because you'd expect it to tear the string (as much as 500 watts can tear it), instead we get a comfortable, awkwardly accelerating but quickly stopping, horribly manoeuvrable beast. In this way, my grumbling about the gears is not so important anymore, since this scooter does not want to go wild. I step on the gas, carefully (at least careful compared to mine, nimble compared to a 350 watt) it accelerates as long as you want it to, then it just goes, just goes, just goes until the soufflé runs out of the battery.
I think what I wish most now is that my own roler and the Engwe S6 can somehow be merged into one. For my wild self, the body of the S6, with its wide trepni, comfortable seat.
Overall, the S6 was a disappointment for me, at least in terms of the fact that I got something completely different from what I expected. However, if you read this article and based on what was written, you decide that you need a scooter that is stronger than average, with more torque than average, but unlike me, you are not looking for adrenaline rushes while riding, then you will not be disappointed.
The Engwe S6 is a real comfortable SUV among all-terrain scooters!
If the capabilities described in the article suit you, i.e. you are primarily looking for a scooter for civilized traffic, but mostly for off-road teaming, then you will love the Engwe S6. I can't guarantee that every now and then you won't have to tighten a screw or adjust one of the fenders. Along with this, the Engwe S6 has become a livable piece, and the price is also appropriate.
You can order the Engwe S6 from a European warehouse, VAT is already included in the price, and there will be no customs clearance. You can count on a delivery time of 5-7 working days from the order. Delivery is free, the price of the scooter is BGHOC01 with a coupon code it will be HUF 217 by clicking here:
