Apollo Explore
$1,199
In this Apollo Explore review, we take an in-depth look at the Explore — a new single motor electric scooter from Apollo Scooters. It’s a long-range commuter with good power, a large comfortable deck, and excellent ride quality.
Technical Specifications
| Tested top speed: 29.9 mph* | |
| Tested range: 28.1 mi* | |
| Weight: 52 lb* | |
| Max rider weight: 270 lb | |
| Water resistance: IP54 |
Highlights
| Long range | |
| Good top speed | |
| Comfortable ride | |
| Heavy weight |
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Summary
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Our Take: Great Single Motor Commuter Scooter
Apollo scooters recently introduced its lineup of self-branded scooters. The Apollo Explore is the second-largest and second most powerful scooter in their lineup. With a single 1000-watt electric motor, it isn’t quite powerful enough to be a “beast scooter” — however, it is a fast, long-range commuter.
The Explore also has a game-changing feature — but it’s not part of the scooter itself. The game-changer is its 24-month warranty — an industry first and twice that of the best warranties we’ve seen. Not only is it long — it’s actually a pretty good warranty without a bunch of fine print. We’ll cover the warranty details in-depth later in the review.
Best Alternatives and Competitors
| Model | Top Speed** | Range** | Weight** | Price |
| Apollo Explore | 29.9 mph | 28.1 mi | 52 lb | $1,199 |
| EMOVE Cruiser | 30.5 mph | 47.0 mi | 59 lb | $1,399 |
| EMOVE Touring | 21.5 mph | 18.7 mi | 40 lb | $899 |
| Kaabo Skywalker 10S | 32.0 mph | 25.1 mi | - | $1,150 |
| Mercane WideWheel Pro | 26.7 mph | 19.3 mi | 56 lb | $1,299 |
** Based on our independent testing, which may differ from manufacturer’s claims.
Is It Good For Bigger, Heavier Riders? – Yes.
Big Dawgs are larger riders that are over 200 lbs and 6 feet or taller, often favoring oversized decks, tall handebars, pneumatic tires, and suspension.
Big Dawgs love the Apollo Explore’s smooth ride quality
According to our resident Big Dawg, the Explore caught him off guard.
Big Dawgs will love the fit and finish of this single motor scooter, making for a nice ride for the heaviest riders up to 270 lbs. Our 235 lb, 6’4″ rider hit a 28 mph top speed with ease, which is great, but better yet is that the Explore is smooth and soundless while riding.
If you’re a Big Dawg looking to ride with confidence on a single motor machine, the Explore is an excellent choice. In fact, the Apollo Explore is Ramier’s #1 top single motor electric scooter.
Apollo Explore Review
Performance Summary
| Acceleration (0 to 15 mph) | 3.5 seconds |
| Acceleration (0 to 20 mph) | 5.7 seconds |
| Acceleration (0 to 25 mph) | 9.6 seconds |
| Top speed | 29.9 mph |
| Braking distance (15 to 0 mph) | 11.0 feet |
| Range | 28.1 miles |
| Hill climb | 12.0 seconds |
Acceleration
The Explore has excellent acceleration — it reached 15 mph in 3.5 seconds, 20 mph in 5.7 seconds, and 25 mph in 9.6 seconds.
This is reasonably fast, and the Explore is the 2nd fastest single motor scooter we’ve tested. The Skywalker 10S reaches 25 mph in 9.1 seconds — just a hair quicker.
You can see all our independent, real-world electric scooter performance tests here.
Hill Climbing
Like its acceleration, the Explore is a solid hill-climber. It completed our hill climb test (200 ft, 10% grade, 165 lb rider) in 12.0 seconds at an average speed of 11.3 mph.
For comparison, the M365 or typical rental scooter will complete this test in 20.8 seconds at an average speed of 6.6 mph.
Top Speed
The top speed of the Apollo Explore is 29.9 mph, based on our real-world top speed tests.
Range
The Apollo Explore has 28.1-miles of range, based on our real-world range tests.
We test all scooters on the same urban test loop with a 165-lb rider. The circuit has frequent stops, hills, and rough terrain. The scooter is ridden in its fastest mode (least energy conserving) and as quickly as is safe.
Compare the Explore with real-world tests from other scooters on our performance comparison page.
Braking
The Explore has excellent braking — we tested the 15 mphstopping distance to be just 11.0 feet.
The Explore has front and rear mechanical disc brakes as well as a rear regenerative motor brake.
Both brakes felt relatively smooth — adjusting the rear one by hand was more difficult than the front due to it being tight.
The regen brake kicks in as soon as you start to pull down on the brake lever — you can tune the strength of the brake in the Apollo Explore P-Settings.
From the safety perspective, we love to see triple-redundancy in the braking system. The Explore gets top marks for this.
Ride Quality
Overall, ride quality on the Explore is excellent. It has large pneumatic tires and a spring suspension in both the front and rear.
The spring suspension is well-balanced — not too stiff and not too soft. The scooter handles rough roads and potholes well. The suspension doesn’t creak or rattle when activates on bumps. Ride quality is exceptional on smooth roads, and the scooter is stable at top speeds.
The spacious deck gives ample standing room, which is essential for comfort on longer rides.
Apollo Explore Features
Portability
The Apollo shines in the size department — you can fold the scooter into a 46-inch by 10-inch by 17-inch package. However, its significant weight — 53-lbs — means that it is not ideal for frequent lifting.
The scooter can transform into such a compact package using a stem and handlebar that collapse.
The stem has two mechanisms: one that folds it parallel with the deck of the scooter and locks into place — allowing it to be carried with a single hand. The second mechanism allows the stem to telescope up and down.
When locked into place, the stem is quite stable, with minimal play caused by the long lever arm. The folding mechanism is easy to use and locks into place with an audible click.
The folding handlebars use a screw-type mechanism. These are typically safer than spring-loaded ones — you don’t risk forgetting to lock the handlebars.
However, even after tightening them, you’ll notice they have a tendency to loosen up on longer rides. We’ve seen this on every scooter with this type of mechanism — it’s not a big deal, but we would prefer them to stay locked in.
Cockpit
The Explore handlebar/cockpit area is super simple — you have two brake levers and the trigger-style throttle.
The Explore uses a QS-S4 trigger throttle with an integrated color LCD that shows speed, odometer, and battery level. Through this display, you can change regen braking strength, adjust power mode and control the lights — among other things.
Admittedly, we don’t love the trigger-style throttle — yet, it is ubiquitous in nearly every scooter above . We prefer a thumb style throttle over trigger-style because the latter can cramp your hands on long rides. However, we do appreciate the optional cruise control, which helps give your hand a break on long stretches.
Lights
The Apollo has some built-in lights that will help you to be visible to others on the road. However, their low position is not optimal for helping you see far ahead.
The Apollo comes stock with LED headlights and button lights on the deck. There is also side deck lighting and impressive stem lighting. The rear fender has a reflector, but not a light.
We recommend and additional lights to help you see the road ahead.
Read more about riding an electric scooter at night.
Tires
The Explore features dual 10.0-inch by 3-inch pneumatic tires manufactured by HOTA. The diameter of these tires helps to roll over — rather than get stuck in potholes. Being air-filled, they also assist the suspension in providing a smoother ride. The larger width of the tires makes the ride feel very stable — the scooter tends to stabilize itself. The tires have rounded profiles that help the scooter still feel nimble.
Another benefit of pneumatic tires is that they tend to perform better in wet conditions, compared to solid (airless tires). The rubber is more supple and provides better traction in all conditions.
The tires have inner tubes, making them more prone to getting flats than tubeless tires. We recommend adding tire sealant to your new scooter’s tires to reduce your chance of getting flats.
See our guide on tire slime for more information.
Deck
The Explore has a spacious deck which provides 20.0-inches by 9.0-inches of standing room. The deck also has 5.0-inches of ground clearance. The deck-to-handlebar height is adjustable from 27.6-inches to 38.4-inches.
Warranty / Post-Purchase Support
The game-changing feature of the Explore (and other Apollo scooters) are its fantastic two-year warranty.
The warranty has different terms in the first and second years. However, we read through the fine print, and the warranty is very fair — even generous.
First year: All manufacturing defects are fully covered. If the scooter needs to be returned for repair (rare), Apollo will cover the shipping cost. Normal wear-and-tear components (brake pads, tires) are covered at cost for parts (labor is free). “At cost” means you pay what it costs Apollo for the part with no markup. For wear-and-tear, you will have to cover the cost of shipping, if necessary. Most wear-and-tear items can be fixed by semi-handy owners with basic tools.
Second year: All manufacturing defects are covered for the cost of the parts (labor is free). If you need to ship the scooter back for repair, you must cover the cost. Normal wear-and-tear is also included at cost for parts (labor is free), and you must cover shipping, if necessary.
You can read the full text of the Apollo warranty here.
Build Quality
Overall, the build quality of the Explore is very good. The scooter is quiet, and moving components are smooth. Like other scooters with folding handlebars, the mechanism has a tendency to need retightening on long rides. In essence, this is an annoyance and not a safety issue.
Out of the box, the scooter worked well with no need for adjustments — thanks to inspection at Apollo’s headquarters.
The scooter comes with a strong two-year warranty to back it up.
The Apollo Explore has an IP rating of IP54 water-resistance, certified from the factory. This means that the scooter should tolerate light rain with no problems. However, you shouldn’t soak the scooter for prolonged periods.
One thing to keep in mind is that Apollo doesn’t cover water damage to the scooter. Because the scooter isn’t water-proof, their position is that they can’t know if the user exceeded the rating.
During our Explorer review, we tested the water resistance by leaving the scooter out in light rain for 1.5 hours had no problems. Because water damage isn’t covered, we recommend buyers of this scooter be conservative regarding water exposure.
Apollo Explore: Review Conclusions
The Explore is a recently introduced scooter from Apollo that is well-balanced and features a long warranty. It’s ideal for riders who plan on using their scooters a lot — it has good range and comfort.
The Explore is a bit heavy if you’ll need to carry or lift it frequently. If you want something that feels really fast, you might consider stepping it up to a dual-motor scooter.
Our content is independent, but buying through our links may earn us a commission.
If the Apollo Explore doesn’t appeal to you, see our alternatives to the Explore. You can also check out our Editor’s pick of best electric scooters.
Apollo Explore Specifications
| Make | Apollo |
| Model | Explore |
| Weight | 53 lb |
| Folded dimensions | 46 by 10 by 17 in |
| Motor power, continuous | 1000 W |
| Top speed | 31 mph |
| Range | 34 mi |
| Battery capacity | 946 Wh |
| Battery recharge time | 8 hrs |
| Max rider weight | 270 lb |
| Brake type | Disc + Disc |
| Tire type | 10.0 in Pneumatic (Inner Tube) + Pneumatic (Inner Tube) |
| Built-in lights | Front + Rear |
| Water resistance | IP54 |
