What powers your scooter
What kind of charger does a mobility scooter use?
The battery in your Pride Mobility scooter powers your ride, but what powers your battery? All of our scooters are equipped with rechargeable batteries that come with off-board chargers. Just like a mobile phone, your scooter plugs into a wall outlet to charge. The energy is then stored in the battery for later use.
First, we’ll lay out the difference between on-board and off-board chargers. We’ll then explore the differences between several off-board chargers. The variations in the battery and charger impact how far your scooter can go.
Are all off-board chargers the same?
No. The battery and charger will differ based on your mobility scooter model. Pride Mobility scooters use chargers that range from 2 to 8 amps. Amps measure the energy rate transferred to a device. The higher the amps, the faster the charge.
At 8 amps, our Ranger has our fastest off-board charger. It also comes with our biggest battery. The Ranger comes standard with a pair of 75 amp-hour (Ah) batteries. There is an option to upgrade to two 100 Ah batteries.
The bigger the battery, the longer it lasts. Mileage is also impacted by several factors including the weight of the device and its rider. At its 159 kg maximum weight capacity, the Ranger can travel up to 18.6 miles with the 75 Ah battery or up to 24 miles with the 100 Ah battery. If the rider weighs 90 kg, the Ranger can travel between 24 to 29 km per charge, depending on the battery.
Models like the Colt Deluxe 2.0 and Zero Turn 10 use a 3.5 amp, off-board charger. The battery sizes are different, which will change performance. The Colt comes with two 40 Ah batteries. This model has a 159 kg weight capacity and a 25 km range. The Zero Turn has two 40 Ah batteries that can travel 42.4 km at its 181 kg limit before needing a charge.
A smaller 2 amp off-board charger is used on models like the Go Go LX. This travel-ready scooter can cruise 38 km on its dual 18 Ah batteries. The weight capacity of the Go Go LX is 147 kg.
The Quest has a 12 Ah lithium-ion battery option, which can get 16 km on a charge from its 2.5 amp off-board charger.
Lithium-ion technology is advancing quickly and being used in more applications. They hold a stronger current for longer. These batteries are also much smaller and lighter than sealed lead batteries that are standard in all the scooters discussed above. As the Quest shows, a smaller lithium battery provides more juice. Lithium batteries can be charged using on-board and off-board technology. Currently, Pride Mobility lithium-powered scooters use off-board chargers.
