Los Angeles is awful to get around. But this scooter made it work!
Last month, I had the chance to visit Los Angeles and attend Micromobility America, a yearly industry tradeshow focusing on e-bikes, e-scooters, and other small-format vehicles. To get around the city for a few days, I borrowed a VMAX VX2 Extreme from VMAX’s Los Angeles distribution center and it made all the difference in navigating a city that is notoriously hard to get around.
My regular readers and viewers will know I’m an e-bike first guy, but that I won’t say “no” to any form of micromobility. I’ve ridden almost everything, so you can bet that I count electric scooters in my stable, too, even if it’s predominantly comprised of e-bikes. And I must say that there’s something nice about being able to stash your scooter in the trunk of an Uber or under a train seat when necessary.
While in LA, I was excited to finally get a chance to review a VMAX scooter, since I’ve followed the company’s US expansion with interest over the last year or so. As a Swiss-based company, VMAX first found success in Europe before expanding into the US with larger and more powerful models.
The company let me borrow a VX2 Extreme electric scooter, which is a 25 mph (40 km/h) scooter that is surprisingly powerful. It doesn’t look much bigger than a dirt-cheap GoTrax or similar budget scooter, yet it is much faster and more powerful—to the tune of 1,600W of peak power.
You can see how it rides in my video review below, or keep reading for the whole story.
VMAX VX2 Extreme Video Review
Becoming a scooter guy in LA
LA is notorious for being difficult to navigate, and even if you have a car, that doesn’t mean you’ll be getting anywhere quickly. Depending on who you ask, the public transportation system is either a trainwreck or somewhat decent, though no one will tell you LA has well-developed public transit.
That’s why I knew I wanted to be able to rely as much as possible on my own independent transportation while in the city, and a scooter made sense. With the VMAX’s 25 mph top speed, I could keep up with most city traffic, yet I could still easily stow it to fit in the trunk of a rideshare car or stash it in my hotel room without drawing much notice from the front desk.
My trip started with visiting VMAX’s distribution center in downtown LA, which had me taking a 30-minute walk that was both refreshing and a great reminder of how slow it is to get around a massive metropolitan area on foot alone. Don’t get me wrong – I love walking and I also use jogging as my primary form of exercise. But a pair of shoes just isn’t a very fast or efficient transportation method in a big city.
After getting to tour VMAX’s large warehouse and see how they fulfill customer orders from all over the US (as well as get a look at several different models they offer), the team let me borrow a VX2 Extreme and sent me on my way. My next stop was an event down in Costa Mesa near Irvine, which Google Maps told me would be a 43-mile (69 km) journey from Downtown LA, and which just so happened to be the exact range of the longest range version of the VX2 Extreme scooter (it comes with three battery options of between 28-43 miles of range depending which battery size you choose).
However, those range ratings are rarely at the scooter’s maximum speed and power level, which I intended to be rocking for most of the trip. But Google Maps suggested to me that it would be an easy train ride instead, with just a couple miles of scooting to and from the train station on either end. Awesome!
I scooted on over to the train station and arrived just in time… to miss the train by two minutes. No worries, back home there’s a train every 10 minutes or so. I checked the train schedule and to my horror, the next train wasn’t scheduled for more than two hours from now. Thanks, LA.
I didn’t have that kind of time – I’ve got a micromobility conference to get to! So I had to swallow my pride and order an Uber. Fortunately the scooter folded up and fit easily in the trunk along with my travel backpack and my camera backpack. That’s not something I can normally do on my e-bikes!
Forty-something miles later, I was in Costa Mesa with time to spare, which I spent happily burned by scooting around. It was my first chance to spend more than a couple of rushed minutes riding the scooter more pleasurably to get a real feel for it. The VX2 Extreme doesn’t have suspension but still felt quite good on the city streets, even when hopping the occasional curb or speed bump.
The build is obviously quite robust, without giving me the rickety feeling I get on cheaper quality scooters. And the power is surprisingly potent. When I put the scooter in its highest power setting, known as Beast Mode, I would often accidentally wheelie it while starting, since I tend to keep my rear foot on the board and push off with my front foot. Those wheelies were fun, but I decided to mostly scoot around in one notch below the highest power mode, as that felt more reasonable for everyday riding. But it’s nice to know you’ve got more power than you need, instead of merely maxing it out 100% of the time.
As the winter sun set quickly, it gave me my first chance to check out the lighting and turn signals on the scooter. Those turn signals are actually quite bright during the day, lighting up the handlebar ends up high for better visibility, as well as motorcycle-style turn signals down low on the rear of the scooter. The rear turn signals are flexibly mounted, meaning they can bend and bounce back into position instead of breaking when they inevitably hit something.
The turn signals were weirdly impressive. You can see in the image above how the lower ones light up the road and the upper ones are quite visible by sticking out to the sides on the handlebar ends.
Normally, I deride most e-bike and e-scooter turn signals because they’re typically diminutive and unclear, mostly serving as a flashing light so close to the vehicle’s centerline that they don’t achieve their goal of actually indicating direction. But VMAX has done a great job with these, as they’re both attention-grabbing and clearly indicate that you’re about to turn—which is important when quickly riding around cars at night.
I also found the speed of the scooter to be both a blessing and a curse. I forgot that LA weather isn’t always “Santa Monica in June”, and I was absolutely freezing in my hoodie – the only garment with long sleeves that I had packed.
Flying fast at 25 mph down wide Costa Mesa roads wasn’t helping, with that airstream cooling me even further. I had to decide between going faster to get to dinner sooner at the risk of turning into an icicle along the way or slowing down to cut the windchill. Unfortunately, the battery was so large that I couldn’t use the efficiency argument to encourage me to slow down, so I just continued bombing it down to the Balboa Peninsula at 25 mph, meeting up with friends to offer freezing cold handshakes and high-fives. Dinner was great, but the ride back was even colder. I thought I might go slower climbing the hills on the way back from the coast, but the dang thing zipped up the hills fast enough to keep my fingers feeling like they were encased in ice. But hey, at least the fast speed meant I could shorten the trip as much as possible!
The next day, I scooted to the show in the morning and found that the fairgrounds where it was hosted were closed off at most entrances. I guess they do this to limit how cars can enter (and ensure everyone gets charged to park), but I was an elitist with my own right-sized transportation and not about to let things like traffic control stop me!
Some scooting across the weeds and carrying the 45 lb (21 kg) scooter over a couple barricades later, I was in! I’m not saying you should ride in places you aren’t allowed, but just that there’s an advantage to being able to take creative routes when the vehicle you drive weighs as much as your leg.
I locked up at a bike rack and made it to the show in record time, taking full advantage of the fact that micromobility vehicles often allow you to chart your own path.
That was how I got around for next two days, putting around 30 miles (50 km) on the scooter. I charged it each night at my hotel, but I never used more than 30% of the battery, so I’m not sure I really needed to charge it all.
Ultimately, the VMAX VX2 Extreme scooter proved to be an ideal way to navigate the city. I took it on many rides, both for my morning and evening commute, as well as to meet up with friends and simply scooting around for pleasure. It always offered me more than I needed, both in terms of power and range, and felt comfortable while doing it. The 10″ tubeless pneumatic tires have enough squish to give me some comfort on rougher patches and are large enough diameter to handle all the sidewalk cracks and minor potholes I threw at them.
Basically, I was pretty darn happy with it. Of course you pay more for such a well-built scooter from a Swiss company, to the tune of $899, but it seems quite fair to me. It’s a long range and incredibly powerful scooter that hides in a surprisingly portable package, easy enough for me to toss in a vehicle or carry over a chain barricade. And with the extra features like safety lighting with turn signals, the 1,600W of peak power, the easily readable 4″ color TFT screen, the weather-sealed drum brakes combined with electric motor braking, and the stable folding design, the scooter treated me better than well for my three days riding it around central and southern LA.
VMAX has other even more affordable models starting from around $400, but I’d say the VX2 Extreme is a great Goldilocks option that offers more power and range than most people need in a portable package at a fair price.
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Delta Air Lines is teaming up with Dutch aviation startup Maeve Aerospace to take its idea for a more advanced, fuel-sipping hybrid-electric aircraft powertrain from the drawing board and into regional commercial service.
Delta Air Lines announced a new partnership with Maeve Aerospace meant to accelerate certification and deployment of the startup’s next-generation hybrid-electric regional aircraft – a move that could reduce the company’s fuel consumption on those routes by up to 40% compared to ICE-only assets.
“Delta is proud to collaborate with Maeve to help shape the next chapter of regional aviation and accelerate progress toward a more sustainable future of flight,” said Kristen Bojko, Vice President of Fleet at Delta Air Lines. “As we work toward the next generation of aircraft, we look to partners like Maeve who embody the bold, forward-thinking innovation we champion at Delta – solutions that advance aircraft design, enhance operational efficiency, elevate employee and customer experiences, and cut emissions. While driving toward transformative technologies that strengthen our network and redefine regional air travel remains a key priority, we’re equally focused on safety and a more sustainable future of flight.”
The collaboration positions Delta among a growing list of carriers investing in lower-carbon emission aviation tech as regulators, passengers, and activist investors alike push for cleaner operations.
Maeve M80 hybrid
Maeve introduced its M80 hybrid-electric, 80-seater aircraft in November of 2023 as a sustainable, cost-effective aircraft designed to satisfy the operational needs of the majority of regional operators and airports.
As designed, the M80 promises an operating range of more than 900 miles (~1,500 km) with 40% higher fuel efficiency than conventional aircraft. Similar in concept to the way Toyota’s Prius uses its electric motors to accelerate and cruises on a small ICE engine, the Maeve’s hybrid engine architecture provides additional electric power assistance at low altitude, high-drag flight.
The M80’s electric motors can also be used during taxiing operations on the ground to reduce surface-level carbon emissions while also supporting a more efficient integration of more electric aircraft systems. Two facets of the aircraft’s designs that are specifically called out by Delta’s press material as being of extreme interest to the commercial carrier.
“It’s a privilege to have Delta as a partner in the development of groundbreaking technologies and processes,” shared Martin Nuesseler, Chief Technology Officer at Maeve Aerospace. “Their expertise in fleet innovation and commitment to aviation sustainability is unmatched, and we’re proud to work together to tailor the MAEVE Jet for the US market.”
SOURCE | IMAGES: Delta.
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Utilities, state governments, and private developers are racing to roll out faster, more powerful EV chargers. At the same time, automakers and tech giants across the globe are pouring billions into R&D to develop batteries that can take ever-higher levels of power. But what if there’s a better, easier, cheaper, and more effective way to cut emissions?
What if, instead of faster chargers, we pushed for SLOWER gas pumps?
I want to start this conversation by pointing out that there’s a precedent for this idea. Back in 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule that limited the rate that gas service stations could pump fuel to a maximum of 10 gallons per minute (gpm), with the stated goals of reducing evaporative emissions and promoting safety by ensuring the integrity of the nation’s refueling infrastructure.
Officially dubbed “61 FR 33033 – Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Controls Applicable to Gasoline Retailers and Wholesale Purchaser-Consumers; 10 Gallon Per Minute Fuel Dispensing Limit Requirement Implementation,” the rule was finalized in January of 1993 and went into effect in 1996. Now, almost thirty years later, I think it’s time to revisit 61 FR 33033 in a way that helps reduce emissions even more.
To zero.
The pitch
The basic idea is this: instead of “just” asking for utility rate-payers and State or local governments to help cover the costs of rolling out an increasingly huge EV charging infrastructure that will never be big enough to convince the red hats it’s ready, anyway, we focus our lobbying efforts on slower gas pumps in blue states. Like, significantly slower gas pumps.
By reducing the maximum pumping speed from 10 gpm to 3 gpm, we could increase the minimum time to fill up a half-ton Ford F-150’s 36 gallon fuel tank (yes, really) from under four minutes to nearly twelve (12). Factor in the longer wait times ICE-vehicles would have to endure waiting in line to refuel, as well, and we’re talking about a 20-30 minute turnaround time to go from just 10% to a usable 80-or-90% fill.
Y’all see where I’m going with this?
Everybody wins
Way back in 2022, oil giant BP claimed that its BP Pulse electric vehicle chargers were “on the cusp” of being more profitable than its gas pumps. Now, three years and several technological leaps since, BP is investing billions to expand its EV charging infrastructure – and it doesn’t take a genius to realize that they’re expecting a positive ROI.
You don’t have to take my word for that, though. You can take big oil’s. “If I think about a tank of fuel versus a fast charge, we are nearing a place where the business fundamentals on the fast charge are better than they are on the (fossil) fuel,” BP head of customers and products, Emma Delaney, told Reuters.
Those fundamentals revolve around amenities. If you’re popping into a gas station for a three or four minute visit, you’re probably getting in and out as fast as you can. But if you’re there a bit longer? That’s a different story. You might visit the rest room, might buy a snack or order a coffee or suddenly remember you were supposed to pick up milk on your way home, even – and that stuff has a much higher margin for the gas station than the dino-juice, totaling 61.4% of all fuel station profits despite being a fraction of the overall revenue.
The other big winner, of course, is literally everyone. The forgotten costs of fossil fuels cost Americans billions in healthcare bills and environmental clean up each year, and untold trillions of dollars of military spending (to say nothing of the toll on three generations of American blood spilled in the Middle East to secure an affordable supply of oil).
With this plan, ICE-holes and Hemi zealots can continue to have their gas (if they decide it’s worth the wait, so be it). Meanwhile, the well-adjusted normals figure out real quick that it’s better, cheaper, and easier to charge at home.
The rest will take care of itself.
What do you guys think? Does this low-cost, high-impact idea to cut the time delta between refueling your gas car and recharging your EV have legs? What concerns do we need to address before we take it to Gavin and JB? Let us know, in the comments!
Original content from Electrek; featured image by Wikimedia user Coolcaesar, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Just weeks after writing about John Deere’s tried-and-true Gator side-by-side and extolling the virtues of its two-plus decades of design stasis, the engineers at Deere have launched a pair of new, li-ion Gator models that offer all-day power to move people and things all over your property in true, go-anywhere Gator fashion.
John Deere is quick to point out that these new GX side-by-side utility vehicles are not golf carts. Fair enough – while they;re not quite in the same go-anywhere league as Deere’s TH 6×4 Gas or TE 4×2 Gators, the Gator GX and GX Crew offer more than enough capability to handle just about anything you’ll find on a typical campus, golf course, or job site.
To that end, the sturdy composite dump bed, comfortable and supportive high-back foam seats seem credible enough at first glance. And, if you give the new Deere UTVs a second glance, you’ll see a 367-L (13-cu ft) cargo box can haul more than 800 lbs. (~365 kg) of mulch, nursery plantings, building supplies, firewood, animal feed, or tools.
These are serious machines, in other words, ready to get down and do some serious work, but without the noise, vibration, and harmful exhaust emissions of gas.
“The Gator GX lineup offers property owners the opportunity to increase productivity around their properties with less noise, less maintenance and more versatility,” said John Deere Go To Market Manager Eric Halfman. “These utility vehicles are intuitive and durable while offering users the comfort, reliability and convenience they expect from a John Deere Gator.”
The key component in the new GX and GX Crew is the new, 5.4 kWh, 51.2V lithium-ion battery that sends power to a high-efficiency electric drive motor with responsive torque and smooth acceleration. An onboard charger allows for convenient charging anywhere with a standard, grounded 120 outlet, eliminating the need for handling fuel or trips to the gas station and fully charging the 5.4 kWh battery over night, with more than 8 hours of continuous operation on tap that’s extendable with clever use of the new Deere’s regenerative braking.
These new electric Gators are available in classic John Deere green or grey metallic, and start at $17,499 with a whole suite of available accessories to make upfitting a breeze. The company says they’ll be available for order at your local John Deere TriGreen dealer in Q1 of 2026.
Electrek’s Take
I imagine that applying the Gator name to a vehicle that I’d call a glorified golf cart makes me feel something similar to what the Mustang guys feel whenever they see a Mach-E drive past. As such, I’ll give myself the same advice I give them: the people who make the thing decide what makes it worthy of the name, not you.
As such, I’d better get used to it. The good news there, of course, is that it seems like Deere’s latest Gator is going to be more than good enough to win me over. Eventually.
SOURCE | IMAGES: John Deere, via Charged EVs.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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