Mobility scooters are not the fastest pieces of equipment in the world. But there may be a reason that you want to speed yours up. This is possible and there are several ways of doing this, some more complicated than others.
In this guide, I’ll discuss how to make a mobility scooter faster using one of five methods. However, I’d advise you to keep in mind that some of these methods require a deeper knowledge so they’re not something you should undertake if you’re unsure of what you’re doing.
How Fast Does A Mobility Scooter Go?
I won’t sugar coat it, mobility scooters are pretty slow with an average speed of just 4 miles per hour. There are some mobility scooters that are sold with a top speed of 8 miles per hour but it’s unlikely that they’ll ever go that fast.
They’re designed to go around 4 miles per hour as this is classed as walking speed. When out and about with friends and family, this will allow you to move at the same pace as them. Any faster and you’d be speeding off ahead while any slower, you’d be lagging behind.
Should I Make My Mobility Scooter Faster?
The question of whether or not you should increase the speed of your mobility scooter is really one of safety. These pieces of equipment are mobility aids and as such are not designed for racing or zooming along the streets. This could be massively unsafe.
So, if you’re trying to boost the speed because you want to get your daily errands done more quickly, I’d urge you to consider that this could result in the scooter tipping over or becoming less stable.
However, if you have an old mobility scooter and simply want to experiment and see what you can get it to do then there’s nothing wrong with playing around. Again, it pays to be careful when using the scooter and I’d never recommend performing any work on a device if you’re not 100% confident in what you’re doing.
Ways To Increase The Speed Of A Mobility Scooter
With the above warnings in mind, I’ve put together a list of ideas that you can use to make your mobility scooter go faster. Some of these are simpler than others so I’ll start with the easier methods and then move on to the more complex ones.
Reduce The Weight
One of the things that’s going to slow a mobility scooter down and prevent it from getting to its highest possible speed is excess weight. These devices are heavy by design but there are some things you can remove to decrease the weight and speed things up a bit.
There may be things like removable baskets and other features that you don’t really need and taking these off might be all you need to do. I’d suggest this as a first step before trying anything else.
Get New Tyres
As simple as it sounds, changing the tyres on your mobility scooter might be all you need to give it a speed boost. This isn’t going to make the biggest difference in the world but if you couple it with the above tip then you will likely notice a difference.
Make sure that you choose the right type of tyres and those that are of a good quality. Non-pneumatic tyres are going to be the best option here as there will be less friction which will allow for greater speeds.
Changing The Sprockets
If you want your mobility scooter to move more quickly then you could replace the sprockets on the front and the rear of the device. You’ll need to install longer ones at the front but keep them shorter on the rear.
Do keep in mind that, when you do this, you probably won’t notice much difference straight off the bat. This is a solution that will become apparent over a longer period of time so does require a little patience.
Replace The Battery
In some cases, the battery capacity and its power are one of the same but how the battery relates to the scooter motor, there is a difference.
If you’re using a battery with a lower capacity then you’ll have less travel time and the power determines how quickly the scooter will move.
By upgrading your mobility scooter battery, you will be able to increase its max speed. I would suggest going for a lithium ion battery as these are far more efficient and long lasting. On top of this, they’re significantly more powerful than other types of battery such as lead acid or gel.
Playing Around With The Motor
If you’re somewhat mechanically minded then you may have some success in altering the motor. However, I would NOT recommend doing this if you’re in any way unsure because you may end up doing more harm than good. Of course, if you’re just playing around with an old scooter and don’t mind potentially duffing it up, then play around to your heart’s content.
There are two ways that you can adjust the motor in order to increase the speed of your scooter; removing the speed limiter and rewinding the motor. Here’s a quick guide each.
- Rewinding the motor coil reduces how many times it winds per loop. The less it does this, the less torque is produced and when there’s less torque, the motor slows down. However, this is during the first phase movement and rewinding the coil will ultimately speed up the scooter.
- Removing the speed limiter requires you to take out this mechanism which is found on some, but not all mobility scooters. Doing this is one of the best ways to really speed up the device.
Conclusion
Mobility scooters are not known for their speed but many people rely on them to get around. If you’re keen to up the speed of your scooter then there are a few different things you can try.
However, it’s really worth keeping in mind that some of these methods could cause damage to the motor if you aren’t sure what you’re doing. On top of that, I’d advise you to only play around with the speed for fun and not with a mobility scooter that you use every day as this could upset the stability and make the device unsafe.
