The JackRabbit XG is mainly the stronger, larger brother of the well-known little JackRabbit micro e-bike, and I had the possibility to check one out to see how effectively a tiny little EV may work for the typical commuter. Because it seems, little is huge as of late!
JackRabbit is well-known within the micromobility business for its pint-sized city runabouts. The model’s diminutive 25 lb mini two-wheelers appear like a micro tackle a roughly standard e-bike, but regardless of their small dimension they nonetheless supply 20 mph speeds and sufficient vary for many city riders.
However simply because the model has lengthy centered on being as small and light-weight as potential doesn’t imply they don’t even have aspirations for energy and options. That was the thought behind the JackRabbit XG: take all the things individuals know and love a couple of tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini package deal.
Take a look at what it’s prefer to throw a leg over one among these enjoyable little rides in my video overview beneath. Then carry on studying afterward for much more!
JackRabbit XG video overview
JackRabbit XG tech specs
- Motor: 500W geared rear hub motor
- Prime velocity: 32 km/h (20 mph)
- Vary: 32+ km (20+ mi)
- Battery: Twin 151 Wh batteries, plus the choice to interchange with bigger RangeBuster batteries
- Max load: 125 kg (275 lb)
- Bike weight: 14.5 kg (32 lb)
- Brakes: Entrance and rear mechanical disc brakes
- Tires: 20″ x 2.4″ in entrance and rear
- Worth: $1,749
- Extras: Thumb throttle, rotatable handlebars, foldout foot pegs, bell, LCD show, kickstand, twin battery slots, non-obligatory fenders and different equipment
What’s it for?
Because the JackRabbit XG shouldn’t be an e-bike within the conventional sense (missing purposeful pedals in favor of foot pegs), you’re clearly not going to decide on a JackRabbit if you happen to’re in search of train. As an alternative, that is purely a get-around-town sort of experience, and possibly additionally a have-some-fun-while-doing-it experience, too.
I’ll name it a micro e-bike since that’s how JackRabbit classifies it, however you wouldn’t be flawed to name it seated electrical scooter, both.
In comparison with the standard standing electrical scooters we often consider, the JackRabbit XG has quite a lot of main benefits. The wheels are bicycle-sized, giving it a a lot better experience over rougher terrain and streets with pot holes. The seat and handlebars will even really feel extra acquainted to anybody with bike expertise. But regardless of ‘feeling’ like a motorbike, it has the light-weight portability of a scooter, actually providing one of the best of each worlds.
I actually just like the sideways spinning handlebars since they’ll rotate 90 levels and shrink the width of the JackRabbit to simply 7-inches (once you additionally fold up the foot pegs).
It solely takes a number of seconds and immediately the micro e-bike is further micro. With the bars turned, it could simply disguise away underneath a twin mattress, comparable to in a university dorm room.
It may be stashed behind a sofa or behind a closet with out taking over a lot room for itself.
The most important upgrades
I’ve spent quite a lot of time on JackRabbit’s smaller and extra inexpensive micro e-bike, so it was attention-grabbing for me to match the JackRabbit XG’s larger dimension and elevated options.
The largest upgrades are doubtless the dimensions of the body and the twin battery slots.
The larger body offers you extra space to stretch out by placing the handlebars a bit additional out in entrance of you, and in addition makes the bike extra strong to permit the next weight score of as much as 275 lb.
The twin battery slots imply the bike comes with an out-of-the-box vary of 20 miles as a substitute of 10 miles.
For riders who need much more vary, one or two RangeBuster batteries seen above will be swapped into these battery slots, giving riders as much as 48 miles of vary (or much more, if you happen to convey the unique batteries with you in your pocket or bag!).
It’s vital to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is essential as of late for making certain battery security. And if you happen to follow the smaller batteries, their sub 160Wh score means you could possibly convey them on many home airways in your carry-on baggage (however you must test with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh typically require advance permission).
Final 12 months I flew by means of a number of cities with my JackRabbit OG, and its 151 Wh battery stayed safely with me in my carry-on the entire time!
However the twin battery slots and bigger body are actually simply scratching the floor of all of the upgrades. There’s much more right here than meets the attention.
The brand new show is far nicer to make use of, lastly giving extra knowledge than the unique easy LED dot show, and it now offers controls for issues like LED lights.
Talking of these lights, they’re lastly obtainable to assist hold you illuminated at night time for others to see you on the street! And since they run off the principle battery, you don’t have to fret about charging up separate LED gentle batteries.
The larger 500W motor is one other good addition because it permits for higher acceleration and in addition extra highly effective hill climbing. The velocity remains to be restricted to twenty mph, however that’s positive by me. With a wheelbase this brief, you most likely don’t need to be hitting Class 3 speeds anyway. I don’t have any huge hills round me, however I think about bombing down an enormous hill on this factor at effectively over 20 mph can be a bit iffy.
The brand new twin brakes supply extra highly effective stopping as effectively, which is sweet when you might have a extra highly effective motor. You by no means need to have extra ‘go’ then you might have ‘cease’.
There are much more attention-grabbing equipment you possibly can add now, comparable to greater deal with bars and a rear strut fender for preserving the puddle spray off of your again.
Mainly, it looks like quite a lot of thought went into the brand new designs! Since this isn’t some out-of-the-catalog white labeled e-bike, they doubtless needed to design quite a lot of these items from scratch with out the good thing about dozens of different e-bike corporations utilizing the identical elements first.
One change that doesn’t thrill me although is changing the keyed lock for the batteries with a thumb screw lock.
On the one hand, it positive does make it simpler to swap your battery out once you need to. Then again, it positive does make it simpler for a thief to steal your battery if you happen to lock your bike outdoors and don’t convey the batteries in with you.
After all when the batteries are this small, you possibly can simply put them in your bag to convey them inside. However I nonetheless would really like the choice to lock them so I’m not obligated to convey them in with me all the time.
Fortuitously, JackRabbit does give us a keylock accent on their web site if you wish to swap out the thumb locks, however you’ve acquired to pony up a further $25 per lock.
However what concerning the worth?
Yep, right here’s the kicker. Oh lordy, it’s priced at $1,749. That’s some critical dough!
I had gotten so used to the $999 worth of the smaller JackRabbit OG that the considerably greater value of the XG actually slaps you throughout the face.
On the one hand, JackRabbit doesn’t get the good thing about utilizing a number of pre-existing bike elements that they’ll merely choose out of catalogs. Positive, some issues like tires and motors are the identical. However many different elements just like the body, handlebar mechanism, and distinctive batteries all must be customized made for JackRabbit. So I perceive that they aren’t getting the identical economies of scale that convey us ultra-cheap electrical bikes.
However on the identical time, I do know there are individuals on the market who examine watts per greenback as their major metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. Should you’re in search of the quickest or longest vary experience for the least cash, this ain’t it. You possibly can go away now.
Should you’re nonetheless right here, you then clearly are open to different options and benefits of particular e-bikes, and that’s precisely what JackRabbit is about. Positive, you pay a premium, however you get a brilliant light-weight and easy-to-ride micro e-bike that folds as much as a mere 7 inches broad. For some individuals, that’s definitely worth the premium. And if it’s not, then I nonetheless advocate testing the OG and OG2 fashions from JackRabbit for $999 and $1,299. You don’t get twin batteries or a few of the different options, however the costs are higher and you continue to get quite a lot of the advantages discovered within the XG just like the small dimension and peppy velocity.
Should you’ve acquired the money although, the JackRabbit XG is a significantly enjoyable experience and presents far more options than I ever anticipated from such a small, minimalist little e-bike.
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