The JackRabbit XG is principally the stronger, greater brother of the well-known little JackRabbit micro e-bike, and I had the possibility to check one out to see how properly a tiny little EV might work for the common commuter. Because it seems, little is large lately!
JackRabbit is well-known within the micromobility trade 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 provide 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 every thing folks know and love a couple of tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini bundle.
Take a look at what it’s wish to throw a leg over considered one of these enjoyable little rides in my video overview under. Then carry on studying afterward for much more!
JackRabbit XG video overview
JackRabbit XG tech specs
- Motor: 500W geared rear hub motor
- Prime pace: 32 km/h (20 mph)
- Vary: 32+ km (20+ mi)
- Battery: Twin 151 Wh batteries, plus the choice to exchange 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 will not 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 in the event you’re searching for train. As a substitute, that is purely a get-around-town sort of experience, and doubtless 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 everyday standing electrical scooters we normally consider, the JackRabbit XG has a whole lot of main benefits. The wheels are bicycle-sized, giving it a significantly 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 motorcycle, it has the light-weight portability of a scooter, actually providing the most effective of each worlds.
I actually just like the sideways spinning handlebars since they will 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 just a few seconds and instantly the micro e-bike is additional micro. With the bars turned, it will simply conceal away beneath a twin mattress, equivalent to in a school dorm room.
It may be stashed behind a sofa or behind a closet with out taking over a lot room for itself.
The key upgrades
I’ve spent a whole lot of time on JackRabbit’s smaller and extra reasonably priced micro e-bike, so it was attention-grabbing for me to check the JackRabbit XG’s greater dimension and elevated options.
The most important upgrades are seemingly the scale of the body and the twin battery slots.
The larger body provides 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 may be swapped into these battery slots, giving riders as much as 48 miles of vary (or much more, in the event you convey the unique batteries with you in your pocket or bag!).
It’s essential to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is essential lately for making certain battery security. And in the event you stick to the smaller batteries, their sub 160Wh score means you could possibly convey them on many home airways in your carry-on baggage (however it is best to verify with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh typically require advance permission).
Final 12 months I flew by 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 way nicer to make use of, lastly giving extra knowledge than the unique easy LED dot show, and it now provides controls for issues like LED lights.
Talking of these lights, they’re lastly out there to assist maintain you illuminated at night time for others to see you on the street! And since they run off the primary 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 pace remains to be restricted to twenty mph, however that’s positive by me. With a wheelbase this brief, you in all probability don’t wish to be hitting Class 3 speeds anyway. I don’t have any large hills round me, however I think about bombing down an enormous hill on this factor at properly over 20 mph can be a bit iffy.
The brand new twin brakes provide extra highly effective stopping as properly, which is good when you’ve got a extra highly effective motor. You by no means wish to have extra ‘go’ then you’ve got ‘cease’.
There are much more attention-grabbing equipment you may add now, equivalent to greater deal with bars and a rear strut fender for holding the puddle spray off of your again.
Mainly, it seems like a whole lot of thought went into the brand new designs! Since this isn’t some out-of-the-catalog white labeled e-bike, they seemingly needed to design a whole lot of these things from scratch with out the advantage of 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 wish to. Then again, it positive does make it simpler for a thief to steal your battery in the event you lock your bike outdoors and don’t convey the batteries in with you.
After all when the batteries are this small, you may 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 the entire time.
Luckily, JackRabbit does give us a keylock accent on their web site if you wish to swap out the thumb locks, however you’ve obtained to pony up a further $25 per lock.
However what concerning the value?
Yep, right here’s the kicker. Oh lordy, it’s priced at $1,749. That’s some severe dough!
I had gotten so used to the $999 value 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 advantage of utilizing plenty of pre-existing bike elements that they will merely choose out of catalogs. Certain, 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 similar time, I do know there are folks on the market who evaluate watts per greenback as their predominant metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. If you happen to’re searching for the quickest or longest vary experience for the least cash, this ain’t it. You possibly can go away now.
If you happen to’re nonetheless right here, then you definitely clearly are open to different options and benefits of particular e-bikes, and that’s precisely what JackRabbit is about. Certain, you pay a premium, however you get an excellent light-weight and easy-to-ride micro e-bike that folds as much as a mere 7 inches extensive. For some folks, that’s definitely worth the premium. And if it’s not, then I nonetheless suggest trying out the OG and OG2 fashions from JackRabbit for $999 and $1,299. You don’t get twin batteries or a number of the different options, however the costs are higher and you continue to get a whole lot of the advantages discovered within the XG just like the small dimension and peppy pace.
If you happen to’ve obtained the money although, the JackRabbit XG is a critically enjoyable experience and presents far more options than I ever anticipated from such a small, minimalist little e-bike.
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