The JackRabbit XG is mainly the stronger, greater brother of the well-known little JackRabbit micro e-bike, and I had the prospect to check one out to see how properly a tiny little EV might work for the typical commuter. Because it seems, little is huge lately!
JackRabbit is well-known within the micromobility business for its pint-sized city runabouts. The model’s diminutive 25 lb mini two-wheelers seem like a micro tackle a kind of typical 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 concept behind the JackRabbit XG: take all the things folks know and love a couple of tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini package deal.
Try what it’s prefer to throw a leg over one in all these enjoyable little rides in my video evaluation under. Then carry on studying afterward for much more!
JackRabbit XG video evaluation
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 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
- Value: $1,749
- Extras: Thumb throttle, rotatable handlebars, foldout foot pegs, bell, LCD show, kickstand, twin battery slots, optionally available fenders and different equipment
What’s it for?
Because the JackRabbit XG is just not an e-bike within the conventional sense (missing useful pedals in favor of foot pegs), you’re clearly not going to decide on a JackRabbit in the event you’re in search of train. As a substitute, that is purely a get-around-town kind of journey, and possibly additionally a have-some-fun-while-doing-it journey, too.
I’ll name it a micro e-bike since that’s how JackRabbit classifies it, however you wouldn’t be incorrect to name it seated electrical scooter, both.
In comparison with the everyday standing electrical scooters we normally consider, the JackRabbit XG has quite a lot of main benefits. The wheels are bicycle-sized, giving it a a lot better journey over rougher terrain and streets with pot holes. The seat and handlebars can 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 perfect 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 only 7-inches (whenever you additionally fold up the foot pegs).
It solely takes a number of seconds and abruptly the micro e-bike is further micro. With the bars turned, it could simply cover away beneath a twin mattress, akin to in a school dorm room.
It is also stashed behind a sofa or at the back of 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 fascinating for me to check the JackRabbit XG’s greater dimension and elevated options.
The most important upgrades are doubtless the dimensions 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 likewise makes the bike extra sturdy to permit a better weight ranking 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 an alternative of 10 miles.
For riders who need much more vary, one or two RangeBuster batteries seen above could be swapped into these battery slots, giving riders as much as 48 miles of vary (or much more, in the event you deliver the unique batteries with you in your pocket or bag!).
It’s essential to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is vital lately for guaranteeing battery security. And in the event you persist with the smaller batteries, their sub 160Wh ranking means you might be able to deliver them on many home airways in your carry-on baggage (however you need to verify with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh typically require advance permission).
Final yr 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 information 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 preserve 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 likewise extra highly effective hill climbing. The velocity remains to be restricted to twenty mph, however that’s positive by me. With a wheelbase this quick, you in all probability 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 properly over 20 mph could be a bit iffy.
The brand new twin brakes provide extra highly effective stopping as properly, which is sweet when you will have a extra highly effective motor. You by no means need to have extra ‘go’ then you will have ‘cease’.
There are much more fascinating equipment you’ll be able to add now, akin to increased deal with bars and a rear strut fender for conserving the puddle spray off of your again.
Principally, it seems 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 things from scratch with out the good thing about dozens of different e-bike firms utilizing the identical components 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 certain does make it simpler to swap your battery out whenever you need to. Alternatively, it certain does make it simpler for a thief to steal your battery in the event you lock your bike outdoors and don’t deliver the batteries in with you.
In fact when the batteries are this small, you’ll be able to simply put them in your bag to deliver them inside. However I nonetheless would love the choice to lock them so I’m not obligated to deliver 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 bought to pony up an extra $25 per lock.
However what in regards to 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 increased value of the XG actually slaps you throughout the face.
On the one hand, JackRabbit doesn’t get the good thing about utilizing numerous pre-existing bike components that they’ll merely choose out of catalogs. Positive, some issues like tires and motors are the identical. However many different components just like the body, handlebar mechanism, and distinctive batteries all need to be customized made for JackRabbit. So I perceive that they aren’t getting the identical economies of scale that deliver us ultra-cheap electrical bikes.
However on the identical time, I do know there are folks on the market who evaluate watts per greenback as their most important metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. In the event you’re in search of the quickest or longest vary journey for the least cash, this ain’t it. You may go away now.
In the event you’re nonetheless right here, then you definately 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 vast. For some folks, that’s well worth the premium. And if it’s not, then I nonetheless suggest 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.
In the event you’ve bought the money although, the JackRabbit XG is a critically enjoyable journey and gives far more options than I ever anticipated from such a small, minimalist little e-bike.
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