Mobility scooter manufacturers ensure that their vehicles go out of the factory with the highest quality. From safety, performance, and comfort, they’re ensuring that these scooters can provide what buyers expect. But of course, like every product, some of them hit the market with issues, including quality and performance.
For mobility scooter buyers, one of the top issues they experience with their equipment is the problem with speed. This article will explore if this issue is real, has a significant impact on riders, and what users can do about it. We will also find out if this equipment can still perform well and provide decent mobility despite its slow performance.
Mobility scooters can go slow for different reasons, including battery issues, tire pressures, and the wrong mode choice. But even with this ‘slow’ problem, the good news is easy solutions are available to fix them without costing users so much. Also, the problem does not mean the whole equipment would be useless because only select parts cause this problem.
Another thing that users need to know is that this problem may come from manufacturers (or) from the users themselves. Mobile scooters can slow down because of wrong usage, confusion, and irresponsibility in using them. These reasons may be tough to hear, but both of us cannot correctly face this problem without digging into the real reasons, right?
Reasons Why Mobility Scooters Turn Slow (And How to Avoid Them)
Low Battery
Since batteries power mobility scooters, batteries will slowly lose their power while riders are using them, especially on long distances. And of course, while its batteries lose power, the scooter’s performance will also slowly decrease, including its speed. Decreasing voltage from batteries causes the engine’s ability to go slow, which, in turn, also slows down the scooter’s wheels.
How To Avoid It
Users must avoid reaching 20% battery power on their mobility scooter because it might not be enough to return to their destination. One bar on display usually represents 20% battery life, where the vehicle would start slowing down. Riders should also avoid exposing their scooter to freezing temperature and direct sunlight to save battery power.
Wrong Choice of Mode
Most mobility scooters come with different power modes, and the lowest is usually called “1”, “beginner,” or “eco.” The vehicle’s lowest mode limits the engine’s full speed at only 5-10 miles per hour (mph), slower than its average speed. And users tend to accidentally push the “beginner mode,” making the vehicle perform much slower.
Without knowing that they’ve pushed the button, they quickly assume that there’s something wrong with their scooter. Some have no choice but to endure this slower mode because they don’t know how to fix this “technical issue.”
How to Avoid It
Users must familiarize themselves with how their vehicle works, and by ‘familiarize,’ I do not mean learning how to troubleshoot it. I mean making time to learn the basic operations of their mobility scooter because they will spend a lot of time riding it. They can ask the salesman before purchasing it, or they can regularly ask their carers about the basic things on their scooter.
The different speed modes in a mobility scooter are basic operations, but most riders tend to forget it. If they learn how their vehicle works, it will give them the freedom to bring out the many benefits of their mobility partner.
Tire Pressure is Slow
Low tire pressures cause mobility scooters to slow down because wheels have less air causing tires to deform while spinning. But it happens slowly, and users can only feel its significant impact when the tires are left unchecked for a very long time.
How To Avoid It
Mobility scooter users or their cares must do a weekly check-up on the vehicle’s different parts, especially tires. There must be someone who can monitor the quality of the scooters’ tires to prevent them from affecting the engine’s performance. In this way, minor issues in the wheels won’t become bigger because they are being monitored and maintained regularly.
Software Update Problems
Yes, even mobility scooters have software or an ‘operating system’ like your PCs and laptops, called ‘firmware.’ It is low-level software that has a simple job of giving the vehicle’s motor commands on how to cooperate with other parts. Manufacturers update their firmware for vehicle improvement, which sometimes causes glitches or problems.
How To Avoid It
Software updates sometimes affect mobile scooters’ performance, making them slower (which are not intended, of course). When this happens, users or carers need to contact their scooter’s manufacturer to get a reliable solution. Quick-fix solutions are available on the internet, but users shouldn’t trust these data because they might worsen the issue.
Conclusion
Mobility scooter users should not face their vehicle’s technical problem alone and bring someone to look at them. The slowing issue may come from different reasons, and by fixing them alone, users might only make these problems even bigger.
Citations
Why is My Mobility Scooter Going Slow?.
