A 30 mph full-suspension electric scooter that looks striking and rides great: Kugoo Kirin G3 review
There are so many electric scooters these days that it’s becoming hard to keep them straight, so let’s complicate things even more by throwing another one into the mix! It’s time to take a deep dive into the Kugoo Kirin G3 electric scooter and see how it stacks up against the rest of the market.
Kugoo Kirin G3 tech specs
- Motor: 1,200W rear hub motor
- Battery: 52V 18Ah (936 Wh)
- Top speed: 31 mph (50 km/h)
- Range: up to 40 miles (64 km)
- Weight: 56 lb (25 kg)
- Load capacity: 265 lb (120 kg)
- Suspension: Front and rear spring suspension
- Brakes: Front and rear disc brakes, rear motor braking
- Extras: Front and rear LED lights, LCD touchscreen display, right thumb throttle, odometer, rear kick plate, sturdy folding bolt to lock out folding, kickstand
- Price: $1,099
Kugoo Kirin G3 video review
To see the Kugoo Kirin G3 electric scooter in action, take a look at my video review below!
How fast can it go?
The Kugoo Kirin G3 is a fast electric scooter, reaching 31 mph (50 km/h) at full bore.
I did find though that when the battery was partially depleted, I sometimes struggled to hit 29 or 30 mph. Even so, it still felt quite fast at those speeds.
You can put the scooter in lower power modes that limit the speed, but I mostly kept it in the highest power mode. You can always limit your own speed by using less throttle, so I imagine that you’ll likely use the highest power level, too.
The only time I can think of that it would be helpful to use a lower power mode is either in the rain when you want to be extra careful, or when letting a novice friend borrow the scooter for a test ride.
How far can it go?
The Kugoo Kirin G3 is rated with a maximum range of up to 40 miles (64 km), thanks to the large 52V and 18Ah lithium-ion battery housed in the deck.
The thing about that range, though, is that you’ll likely only see a true 40 miles if you’re riding much slower.
If you’re like me and hitting the top speed on every straightaway that can allow it, you’ll never see a true 40 miles of range.
But if you can average closer to 20 mph, you might actually get close to that 40 mile figure.
What about the components?
The scooter itself actually feels quite well made. You don’t get some of the nicer parts like hydraulic disc brakes, but the mechanical disc brakes still feel plenty punchy. They bite down hard and give good stopping power.
The full-suspension absolutely makes for a better ride, and I even had a blast going off-road with the scooter.
The screen on the Kugoo Kirin G3 is large and easily readable, though I’m not sure I like the idea of a touchscreen. There’s a reason that most electric scooters have physical buttons near the handlebar ends – it’s so you can easily access the inputs without taking your hands off the bars.
With the touchscreen, you have to basically let go of one bar end if you want to play with the controls in motion. It’s also hard to hit the button accurately when the scooter is bouncing around since there’s no physical button to feel for. You’re just stabbing at a moving screen, which feels like a serious miss to me.
Other than that, though, the main build quality and component choice decisions seem on point. I even like the bicycle bell included in the brake lever and the smattering of LED lights spread around the scooter to keep it visible at night.
Can it fold easily?
The folding mechanism is quite robust, which is critical in a fast electric scooter that will surely see some serious jarring around at high speeds.
There’s a massive bolt in the front end that is screwed through the stem, which also does double duty as a reflector. It’s there to lock the scooter in the upright, unfolded position. The only way for the scooter to fold on you while riding is to somehow break through a 1/4″ steel bolt – good luck with that.
The downside is that it takes much longer to fold this scooter than almost any other electric scooter I’ve tested, but if I had to choose between fast folding and secure folding, I’ll take the latter every time.
The only other odd thing about the folding is the way it locks in the down position. There’s an orange strap that loops around the rear kick plate. It works fine, but it doesn’t feel like the most elegant solution. It also means that the strap flaps around while you’re riding, as you can see in my video at the top of this article.
Maybe having a waving orange flag is a safety feature, not a bug. It’s all a matter of perspective!
Sum it all up for me!
All told, I’d say the Kugoo Kirin G3 is actually quite nice to ride. For its $1,099 price, it feels like a fair deal.
The scooter is fast, powerful, and comfortable to ride, even at high speeds.
It handles nicely and has a sturdy design. I even like the orange on black color scheme that continues right through to the orange flapping strap.
For a quick and powerful scooter, it gets the job done and looks pretty darn good while doing it.
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British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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