Scooter Battery Help!

OfftheTrack

Sorry for the long post...

I have a 2 1/2 year old Pride GoGo Elite Traveller Sport which I bought for walking my Spaniel, Bella. I’m a wheelchair user with CP who can’t push myself far unless it’s a really smooth surface. I’ve used scooters off and on before but always felt a little self conscious but getting Bella has changed all that.

I love walking her, twice a day roughly 2 miles in the morning and 1 in the evening daily on average. We also do longer walks maybe 2 to 3 times a week which can range from 3 to 11 miles. I don’t like easy tarmacked walks either, I love pushing the scooter through mud, rough terrain, etc. and I can pretty much quarantine that no other scooter (or boot scooter anyway) has gone where my little scooter has gone. So nipping to ASDA or around a precinct isn’t what I use it for!

About 6 months after buying it I bought higher capacity batteries with a 17 miles range. Now, I drive and all this MPG is rubbish, it’s done on a rolling road and never converts onto real road driving, we all know that. Using the scooter how I do, the longest, fairly roughish walk I do is 12 miles which is 5 on tarmac, 2 on really rough track with a very step incline and the final 5 on a decent walking path but again with steep inclines and descents. These higher capacity batteries tackled that with no issues, I was highly impressed with my little work horse to be honest!

After a year I noticed they weren’t holding their charge, I wasn’t getting the distance anymore and Bella was like, we’re going back to the car already Dad hahaha. So I bought some more, same batteries, same company. First use I did a 6 mile walk which includes a slightly rough mile through a wood, same kind a path through some fields for a mile, down a long tarmacked drive and then 2 miles around a country park which isn’t tarmacked but it’s not rough either. I did it no problem but the battery indicator was on orange by the end whereas, when the old batteries were in their prime, I’d still have 1 to 2 green lights at the end of that walk but I just thought they’d need a few more charges to get to full capacity. Which they did!

So fast forward to the last week of last September and again the batteries weren’t performing as they should and I know they’re not old but they’re punished so I decide to have it serviced by a local company who said the scooter is fine, they can tell it’s used a lot but it’s fine (which shocked me hahaha), one battery is fine but the other is giving a 40% output (there’s 2 batteries in the unit/pack) and after talking to the bloke, he was surprised I wasn’t stuck in the middle of nowhere. He said he’d get me the real batteries and not dodgy Chinese ones and fit them for £300 which, I thought was a little dear BUT, I punish them and if they got me another 3 to 4 years of decent walks, it’s worth it.

First walk I did with the new batteries was a 2 mile walk around my local country park and I was… disappointed, I did it no problem but the battery meter was on the last green. I couldn’t do the 6 mile walk as the ground was to wet to go through the wood. We did a few other walks and they were muddy but the batteries were, not what they should be.

So then I went away for 3 weeks to visit family before Christmas and I set a timer plug to charge the scooter for 12 hours once a week. Came back and I was still unhappy with the range/charge. Yesterday I did the 12 mile walk with my friend, 6 miles in I was on 1 red bar, I made it back to the car with 3 instances of my mate having to help me up a steep incline. I know these batteries are rubbish but I’ve had them since the end of September and no companies going to exchange or even except they’re faulty now.

I guess I’m asking, what should I do? And for all of you think, as I would, buy an all terrain scooter. I would love too but a, they’re so dear and b, I can walk from the drivers seat to the boot to get my chair out and the the scooter, with and all terrain, I’d need a trailer and I couldn’t walk to it to get it out. I do keep wondering how I could do it though.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @OfftheTrack! I'm so impressed you get so much out of your scooter. I had a similar model a few years back, but I never took it as far off road as you. It's great that you can get out with Bella and enjoy your walks

One thing that I used to find with mine was that they would run out quicker if they were kept somewhere cold or if I was out in cold weather, but that might just be anecdotal for the batteries I used at the time. I was also advised to let them run right down to almost empty before charging as little top ups weren't good for them, but again, I'm not sure how valid this advice was!

Do you ever take more than one battery out with you at once? I know they're very heavy and bulky and it might be difficult to carry them along with you, but I just wondered whether that would help you worry less about running out of charge if there was some way to carry a back up. 

I'm afraid I don't have much advice other than that, but hopefully some of our members will be along soon and might be able to share their experiences too.

OfftheTrack

Hi Rosie, thanks for the reply.

You brought up a couple of good points there; with the charging, I do agree that as with most batteries, a full discharge should be done regularly to keep them working at full capacity but the bloke I bought it from at the shop (which has since gone into administration), plus the guy who serviced it, both recommended charging after every use, even if I just went to the end of the road and back. Although I just tend to stick it on overnight.

The cold could be a factor, it's kept and charged in the garage. I can't say I've noticed a difference but I could bring the battery inside to charge for a week to see if that makes a difference, thanks,

A friend of mine suggested taking a spare battery but as you say, they're heavy and bulky. I'll try taking an old one on one of my regular walks to see if I can carry it, probably on the foot board comfortably.

Bella's moaning at me, time for our morning walk!