Doc green e scooter ewa 6000

The Doc Green EWA-6000 is a budget model e-scooter, similar to the Xiaomi M365 – with some minor modifications to make it road legal in Germany. As I noted in my guide to speed hacking it, it appears to be a German clone of a Chinese e-scooter!

The Doc Green EWA-6000 is a highly capable, budget model e-scooter, road legal in Germany and other EU countries. It is not the fastest e-scooter, it doesn’t have longest range, or offer the most comfort, but it does offer great value for money for the price.

Read on for the full list of pros and cons of this unusual budget e-scooter.

• Background
• Value for Money
• Range
• Power and Speed
• Comfort
• Mods, Speed Hacks and Further Mischief
• Conclusion

Background

This e-scooter is a strange beast, with an unusual heritage. It’s made by a Germany company which most people have never heard of (presumably contracted by Lidl), and appears to be a German clone of a Chinese e-scooter.

It has some minor modifications compared to the M365, like lights, reflectors, a non-bluetooth capable display and brakes to make it street-legal in Germany along with being registered with the German Federal Motoring Authority (KBA), which at the time of writing the Xiaomi M365 is not.

This means that the EWA-6000 is a much more practical vehicle for everyday usage, as the M365 cannot be legally used on public roads in Germany. This effectively rules out the M365 for commuting and multimodal transport on buses and trains- so it’s useless for the most common reasons why most people would consider getting an e-scooter.

Value for Money

Let’s start by looking at the strongest point about this e-scooter- value for money.

Simply put, it offers great value for money. I paid €290 on special offer from Lidl, which was about €50-60 cheaper than the Xiaomi M365 at the time.

If you want to own a street legal e-scooter, which is basic but functional – with capable lights, breaks, reflectors, and is a clone of the most popular e-scooter ever, meaning parts are likely swappable – look no further than the EWA-6000.

This e-scooter is ideal for you if:

• If you don’t need to travel more than 20km on a single journey (this is the maximum listed range, in reality it’s less, much less in cold weather)
• You are traveling mostly on roads or paths in good condition. Since this is not the most comfortable e-scooter, it’s not pleasant to travel on broken, uneven surfaces for very long. Mostly flat tarmac is best. Occasional broken ground is ok- you just need to slow down and navigate carefully to keep the uncomfortable vibrations to a minimum. There are accessories that you can get to increase the comfort of your e-scooter.
• You don’t mind not having a great top speed. This e-scooter is legally limited to 20km/h – any faster and it would not be street legal. Being street legal was a key requirement for me, as otherwise there was no point in purchasing this rather expensive toy. By having a street legal e-scooter, I can skip shorter train and bus rides, and save money
• You live in a climate where most of the year there is no snow and ice on the ground. Wintery conditions drastically reduce the range of the battery. Therefore, you might experience 30-40%+ less range compared to ideal conditions. In addition, standing upright, not moving your body, while a 20km/h wind blows directly at you will rapidly chill you, even when wrapped up warmly (I write from experience!)

Ok, so we’ve seen that the EWA-6000 offers great value for money, provided that your demands aren’t too great. Let’s look at the not so positive aspects of this e-scooter.

Range

The listed range is 20 kilometers. From practical experience, it’s a little less than that – I usually ride at top speed and get about 18km or so range. Since my maximum commuting distance is about half that, it’s ideal for me and not a constraint. A bigger battery would be a waste of money.

I simply bring the e-scooter and charger to my office desk and voila! I effectively double the range, for free.

Also note that heavier riders will get less range than lighter riders.

Power and Speed

As mentioned above, the 20km/h limit is a legal rather than technical constraint. Sadly, it’s a bit too slow to be completely practical. As a legal speed limit, 30km/h would make a lot more sense, even 25km/h would be an improvement. This would encourage more people to use them to ditch cars and public transport for shorter journeys.

If we are serious about tackling climate change, we need all the solutions we can get. Making e-scooters more attractive and practical in everyday scenarios would be a simple, obvious solution to help relieve congestion, pollution and emissions resulting from gridlocked cities. <end rant>

It’s possible to increase the top speed by removing the electronically limit, as noted below.

Comfort

The EWA-6000 isn’t the most comfortable e-scooter on the market, as you’d expect from a budget model. This isn’t a problem whatsoever on flat, even ground, it only becomes apparently on uneven or broken ground like potholes or cobblestone streets. Your brain will feel like it’s being vibrated at high speed inside your skull, which isn’t exactly pleasant. However for short distances, it isn’t a deal breaker either. Simply slow down and navigate more carefully.

Mods, Speed Hacks and Further Mischief

As noted in my article on removing the speed limit, you can squeeze 30km/h or more out of the motor without it breaking a sweat. This makes it much more practical, but also sadly, not street legal. If you go down this route, you do so at your own risk!

Unlike the M365, the EWA-6000 doesn’t come with Bluetooth connectivity from the factory. This is an easy fix by replacing the digital display with a model that does have Bluetooth connectivity. This is especially cool when it comes to a live display – showing current speed or remaining battery range, or adjusting settings like how aggressive the acceleration is or if you want eco or speed mode.

Conclusion

The doc green EWA-6000 e-scooter offers great value for money. If you can live with some limitations – limited top speed and range, limited comfort- it offers a great way to get around the city and reduce your carbon footprint. Highly recommended.