E Wheels review: EW-52 1

The new EW-52 sucks! First I should have asked when I bought it how it would be delivered. Since it was at a local store and not in inventory, it was special ordered. It arrived on a freight truck to my front door. It was on a pallet. OK I should have asked. But no one at any time told me I would have to get it off the pallet myself. It was supposed to arrive ready to ride. That is not the case. I'm only able to walk a few feet with a walker, otherwise I'm in a wheel chair. I have MS. There was no way to get it off the pallet. I called the store i bought it at, thinking maybe their people would help me. WRONG! I was told to find someone or if they sent anyone out it would be at least a minimum of $200 or more. My mom who shattered and dislocated her right wrist in an accident last summer has limited use of her dominate hand. She sat outside in the 98 degree heat and the 80% humidity fighting with her bad back, metal knees and bum hand to get the thing off the pallet. It took her several hours. I worried about her since heat adversely effects her. Once off the pallet there were bits that had to be assembled. The mirrors are a joke. They do not sit wide enough for a rider to use them.

After charging it over night, I was excited to finally use my new mobility scooter. I should have had warning bells go off when my mom had difficulties with it. The back up beeper is ear splitting. It is as loud and as the horn and continual. Not good no matter where you are. I got this so I could get around doing my volunteer work at a hospital. I work in the inpatient rehab unit where people have had neurological problems. This vehicle would be showing them that yes even with what happened to me, you could get around. There is not one patient that could use this scooter. First no parking breaks to hold it securely as someone tries to get on it. Not every place has carpet like the store where I bought it. Most have slick floors sans carpet. So if you don't want to use the back up beeper, you have to get off it and push it backwards. On carpet that would be easier, but on the slick surfaces that I would run into anywhere, it is not safe. Then there are the brakes themselves. They do not hold well. On a flat surface and going ultra slow yes it does well. It is not an immediate stop, but a nice smooth stop. Well if there is any incline, there is always prayers. Going uphill is not a problem. Going downhill is impossible if you are disabled. My mom who is not wheelchair bound and can reasonably get around had difficulty. She was able to steer it so it didn't hit anything while she was trying to stop. It is just a 3% grade. That is not acceptable. Speed control is horrible. You have three settings. D1, D2, D3 not much difference on the low to middle controls of it. Neither of us wanted to try the faster speeds at any setting. To control the speed you twist the right handle. DO NOT try and twist very much. It takes a very gentle little bit of twist to get this thing moving. If you twist too fast, hang on. For those with neurological problems this is very unsafe. It is just an accident waiting to happen. This is a mobility devise right into the emergency room. As for safety devises, IE the seat belt, this scooter is rated to 500 pounds. I weigh 350 and am 6'6" The seat belt has to prayer of going around me. It barely fit my 200 pound friend that was helping us. The seat is supposed to be adjustable. It is not. Pushing on the buttons on the side and trying to scoot it backwards, it would not scoot. Even sitting in it, and trying to scoot did not budge it. It shows there is an extension cut out on the back of the seat, but it is only on one side. There should be a second cut out for the rail to slide backward. No quality assurance on that one. The cup holder is angled at nearly 30 degree angle. only cups with caps should be used. No Starbucks for this scooter.

In summation, this scooter maybe good for those who go out on a golf course, but for those truly disabled it is unsafe. Never buy a scooter without asking how it would be delivered to you. Make sure it includes getting the darn thing off a pallet. Would I recommend this scooter? NO WAY it was an expensive disaster. Now I know why they wouldn't demonstrate the lower level scooter in the store. If they had, these problems would have been glaringly evident.