EMOVE Touring
$899
We review the updated for 2020 EMOVE Touring electric scooter, a long-range, urban commuter with a massive deck that has great range, power, and ride quality. The updated Touring (available as of October 2020) has some unique features and optional upgrades that improve what is already one of the best electric scooters.
Technical Specifications
| Tested top speed: 21.5 mph* | |
| Tested range: 18.7 mi* | |
| Weight: 40 lb* | |
| Max rider weight: 310 lb | |
| Water resistance: IP54 |
Highlights
| Best-in-class hill climbing | |
| Great power and range | |
| Fantastic ride | |
| Huge deck | |
| Single wheel braking | |
| Small tires |
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Summary
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Our Take: Under 50 LB Urban Commuter Ideal for Rougher Ride
The EMOVE Touring is one, if not, the best scooter at its price point. It has a massive 624 watt hour LG battery that delivers plenty of range at its 21.5 mph top speed.
It has tons of deck space and excellent suspension, giving it fabulous ride quality; and it’s very customizable given some of its newer features, including plug-and-play cabling and seat mounting holes.
On top of that, it weighs just 40 lbs, folds into a compact package, and has great safety features for commuting with traffic.
There is a lot to love about the Touring. We think this is an ideal scooter for urban riders who have longer commutes that involves rough roads and some hills.
The massive deck — which has 5.0-inches of ground clearance to keep you away from road debris and water — is great for long rides and challenging terrain.
With the option to upgrade from the trigger to a thumb or twist throttle, commuting can be much more comfortable and tailored to your preferences.
The only notable things we don’t like about the Touring are its small 8.0-inch tires and single wheel braking mechanisms.
Best Alternatives and Competitors
| Model | Top Speed** | Range** | Weight** | Price |
| EMOVE Touring | 21.5 mph | 18.7 mi | 40 lb | $899 |
| Kaabo Skywalker 10S | 32.0 mph | 25.1 mi | - | $1,150 |
| Segway Ninebot Max | 18.4 mph | 21.6 mi | 43 lb | $899 |
| Fluid Freeride Horizon (13 Ah) | 24.0 mph | 26.0 mi | 39 lb | $849 |
EMOVE Touring Review
The EMOVE Touring is an upgraded version of the Speedway Mini 4 Pro.
Performance Summary
| Acceleration (0 to 15 mph) | 3.9 seconds |
| Acceleration (0 to 20 mph) | 7.6 seconds |
| Top speed | 21.5 mph |
| Braking distance (15 to 0 mph) | 16.4 feet |
| Range | 18.7 miles |
| Hill climb | 12.4 seconds |
Acceleration
The Touring has a 500-watt motor that allowed it to accelerate from 0 to 15 mph in 3.9 seconds. Not only does this beat all scooters in the mid-range commuter class, it also beats the Apollo City and Zero 9 — both premium commuters known for speed. You’ll be able to efficiently zip around and merge in/out of traffic if necessary.
For comparison, this is significantly faster than a typical shared scooter, which takes 6 to 7 seconds to reach 15 mph and tops out between 15 mph to 18 mph. Despite the decent power of the motor, it isn’t particularly noisy.
You can see all our independent, real-world electric scooter performance tests here.
Hill Climb
The Touring has enough torque to tackle steep hills while maintaining speed. The e-scooter completed our hill climb test in 12.4 seconds with an average speed of 11.1 mph, crowning it with best-in-class hill climbing ability.
The test is a 200 ft, 10% grade hill with a 165 lb rider — this is relatively steep, and unless you live in San Francisco or similar — you’re unlikely to have many hills steeper than this in your city.
Top Speed
The EMOVE Touring has an ESG tested top speed of 21.5 mph with a 165 lb rider.
Range
The Touring has a 624 watt hour LG lithium-ion battery with a tested range of 18.7 miles.
We test all scooters on the same urban test loop, with a 165 lb rider, in the fastest mode (least energy conserving). The test circuit has hills, includes frequent stops, and has rough terrain — all which drain the battery more quickly.
Braking
In our ESG certified braking test, the Touring came to a stop from 15 mph in just 16.4 feet. We also tested the braking while seated, and the braking distance was 19 ft. We consider braking distances of less than 20 ft to be great.
The Touring has a redundant braking system, consisting of a drum and regenerative brake. One downside is that all the braking action is provided by the rear wheel and none from the front wheel — reducing the braking performance.
We prefer to see independent braking systems on each wheel.
Additionally, the rear tire is solid (not pneumatic or air-filled). These types of tires tend to be harder and don’t provide as good of traction, particularly in wet conditions.
Ride Quality
One standout feature of the Touring is its incredible ride quality — it is comfortable for long rides and also small enough to be agile. The scooter certainly has the best ride quality in its price class and even beats out many more expensive scooters.
Its plush ride comes thanks to front and rear spring suspension. The front suspension is particularly good — it has a single spring stacked on top of pair of springs. Each set of springs has a different spring rate — allowing it to be soft enough to respond quickly, but also stiff so that it doesn’t bottom out.
Another standout feature is the spacious deck. The deck is enormous compared to scooters with this small of folded dimensions — allowing you to stand comfortably in a variety of positions. This dramatically enhances ride quality and makes it particularly comfortable for longer trips.
Optional Seat Accessory
The 2020 Touring is available with a seat, which is an $65 optional accessory. It is installed via four mounting holes that are pre-drilled into the deck and is easy to install with the included hardware.
If you need to fold the scooter, the seat post and seat can be easily detached via quick release lever — which is very convenient.
The seat is a very functional accessory for riders who aren’t able to or don’t want to stand for prolonged periods. However, riders who are used to the flexibility and control you get when standing, will note diminished ride quality and characteristics.
When seated, your weight is primarily over the rear wheel and you aren’t able to shift it around when braking or turning. We performed our braking test with and without the seat and noted that braking distances increased by about 10% to 15%. The turning characteristics also become somewhat exaggerated and takes some getting used to.
Overall, the seat is very functional if you need it, but less attractive for those who are able to stand and want the best ride.
EMOVE Touring Features
Portability
The Touring has fantastic portability due to its compact folded size and reasonable weight.
Tipping the scales at 40 lbs — it’s light enough to carry one-handed up stairs or lift into the trunk of a car.
Additionally, the Touring has multiple folding mechanisms:
- Folding stem
- Folding handlebars
- Telescoping stem
These allow it to reduce its folded dimensions to a very compact 44-inches (length) by 7-inches (width) by 14-inches (height).
The new for 2020 EMOVE Touring has upgraded folding mechanism that uses an adjustable rubber bumper, which greatly reduces stem wobble and makes the handlebars feel stiffer and more secure.
Cockpit
The Touring has a simple cockpit with just a few controls. On the left are a super-smooth brake lever and bell as well as a flip-switch for the headlight and button for the horn. The bell is perfect for alerting — not scaring — pedestrians while the electronic horn is preferable for alerting vehicles in traffic, as it’s a more familiar sound to drivers.
The QS-S4 throttle comes standard on the Touring and is very readable, but less so in direct sunlight. The LCD display shows speed, mode, battery, and other trip information. Through this display, you can adjust various P-settings that determine electronic braking strength and different performance settings. The disadvantage of this type of throttle is that it is trigger-style and controlled by an outstretched finger. This can become uncomfortable during long rides.
Optional Twist / Thumb Throttle
The 2020 Touring is available with optional thumb or twist-style throttles that can be quickly installed with plug-and-play cabling. We tested the Touring with all three throttles and found the twist throttle to be the most comfortable while riding — standing or sitting. The twist throttle might also be the easiest to operate for someone with arthritis or other joint problems, as you’re rotating your wrist to activate, rather than continually pressing on the throttle with your finger or thumb. Although thumb throttles are generally our favorite, we found the position of the throttle to be a little awkward to operate and more difficult to maintain speed than with the trigger or the twist.
We’d upgrade to the twist throttle because it was the most ergonomic and comfortable overall.
Lights
The Touring has front, and rear button LED lights mounted on the corners of the deck. It also has a low-mounted headlight, which is where the speaker for the electronic horn is housed.
You’ll probably still want additional lighting for riding at night to help you see the road better, like a handlebar-mounted headlight and blinking red light on your helmet or backpack.
Read our guide on riding electric scooters at night.
Tires
The Touring has an 8.0-inch front pneumatic (air-filled) tire and an 8.0-inch rear solid (airless) tire.
These tires are on the smaller size for a scooter that otherwise excels on a variety of urban terrains. With smaller tires, you have to be more careful about potholes and obstacles that could suddenly stop your tire.
The suspension does help mitigate this problem by allowing the tire to more easily roll over bumps, but we generally prefer to see at least 9-inch tires on scooters that exceed 16 mph.
Deck
The EMOVE Touring’s deck has 22.8-inches by 7.3-inches of standing space — this is an incredible amount of usable standing space, given that it folds to just 44-inches long by 7-inches wide. The rear of the deck is unobstructed — giving you a few more inches to hang your feet over.
The deck has sandpaper-like grip tape that keeps your shoes firmly planted.
The deck has 5.0-inches of ground clearance, allowing you to drop off curbs and clear most obstacles. The deck-to-handlebar height is adjustable from 28.8-inches to 40.3-inches.
Build Quality
The Touring has excellent build quality and can accommodate riders up to 310 lbs.
Part of what contributes to the build quality of the Touring is being a descendant from the MiniMotors Speedway Mini 4 Pro electric scooter. The Touring is an upgraded version of the Mini 4 Pro, a scooter that has been refined over multiple generations.
Out-of-the-box, the Touring had good quality. The only pre-ride adjustment we did was to tighten the rear drum brake, which took just a few seconds.
All the folding mechanisms are robust, including a rubber rod to minimize play in the stem. In particular, the folding handlebars were rock solid — they also have adjustment screws that you can use to tighten them if they are loose quickly. You may have to do this once when setting up the scooter, but this should not be a frequently needed adjustment.
The only deficits in build are fit-and-finish issues that are inherent in all scooters manufactured by hand on smaller scales (e.g., basically every scooter that isn’t a Xiaomi or Segway). The type of issues that appear are, for example, screws that need tightening and pre-ride adjustments.
EMOVE Touring: Review Conclusions
The EMOVE Touring is a very comfortable urban commuting electric scooter. Its huge deck and compact size make it great for long rides and bringing wherever needed. The Touring is quick enough to keep up in traffic but is by no means a racing scooter. If you want a more thrilling ride, you’ll want to look at the WideWheel.
Aside from having solid performance, the Touring also offers best-in-class hill climbing and best-in-class zero to 15 mph speed. If you need a more powerful scooter with a higher rider weight, check out the EMOVE Cruiser. For even more power, see the Apollo Pro.
Overall, we think the Touring is possibly the best scooter in its price class and represents a great value for those who want a comfortable, long-range commuter scooter. This is we ranked it the Best Electric Scooter Under $900.
Our content is independent, but buying through our links may earn us a commission.
EMOVE Touring Specifications
| Make | EMOVE |
| Model | Touring |
| Weight | 40 lb |
| Folded dimensions | 44 by 7 by 14 in |
| Motor power, continuous | 500 W |
| Top speed | 25 mph |
| Range | 24 mi |
| Battery capacity | 624 Wh |
| Battery recharge time | 4 to 7 hrs |
| Max rider weight | 310 lb |
| Brake type | None + Drum |
| Tire type | 8.0 in Pneumatic (Inner Tube) + Solid |
| Built-in lights | Front + Rear |
| Water resistance | IP54 |
