Review: Evolv Terra

I don't feel cool riding an electric scooter. I love these things, but standing bolt upright like a meerkat as you cruise across town just doesn't look great. Evolv's Terra scooter doesn't change this immutable fact, but I do feel better riding it. 

It might be its angular design or the dual red LED strips that run along the deck. Perhaps it's the torque that jolts my body as I take off. Or maybe it's the whisper-quiet motor that doesn't seem to attract the eyes of everyone on the road. The Terra just feels like it has the right blend of features at a price that makes it quite a sensible machine. I've had a ton of fun riding this electric kick scooter these past few weeks. 

Evolv Rides is a Canadian-based electric scooter company, and it doesn't ship its escooters directly to you—instead, you can search for local dealers nearby that carry its models, or buy them from online retailers like Urban Machina, which is where I got my test unit. 

The Terra was dead simple to set up. Once you lift it out of the box, just pop on the axle nut covers, adjust the height of the handlebars, and tighten a few screws to put the brake levers and bell in place. To unfold it, you pull a little lever at the base and push out the stem; there's a little locking mechanism to keep it in place. Do the opposite to fold it up, and the stem will automatically lock when it's all the way down—no need to fuss with anything. It's a much better folding mechanism than what you'd get on, e.g., the Apollo Air or Apollo City.

Photograph: Evolv

Let's talk about weight. The Terra weighs 53 pounds. However, I actually don't mind carrying it, even compared to several other escooters I've tried that are lighter, like the aforementioned Air and even the 33-pound TurboAnt X7 Pro. That's because there's a grab handle at the end of the Terra's deck, which means you can easily carry it with two hands. The stem is also quite thin, which means I can comfortably wrap my paws around it. It's little things like this that make a big impact on the everyday experience of the scooter, and the Terra impresses. 

In addition to a front light and taillight, there are two red LED strips on the side of the deck that illuminate the ground when you ride at night. Hooray for visibility! They're not too gaudy, like the rainbow-colored LEDs on some escooters, though they could stand to be brighter. I like the front light, but the LEDs are just a bit too dim. There's a preinstalled bell, plus an LCD screen on the right handlebar where you can change speed modes and turn the scooter on or off. It's a little hard to see this screen in direct sunlight. 

Photograph: Evolv

I'm tall at 6'4", and the Terra's stem gets plenty high enough for me to reach. However, the angle of the stem is a little too close to my body for my liking, and it puts my wrists in a slightly awkward position. I wouldn't mind it as much if it didn't make my wrists hurt after long rides. The culprit, I think, is the throttle. It's the kind you pull with your index finger, which forces me to keep my digits in a claw-like position, as I like to have a few fingers near the brake lever too. I'd try and find a better angle for the throttle that's comfier to your height, though in general, I would've much preferred a thumb throttle. 

I have a few other quibbles. There's front and rear suspension on this scooter, and while most of the time my rides were pretty comfortable, you will still feel those bumps on the road, large and small. This is likely due to the 8.5-inch solid tires; unlike air-filled tires, they just don't absorb those dings all that well. 

Perhaps my biggest gripe with the Terra is the built-in fenders. They don't work that well. At one point I had to take a trip after a rainstorm. The road was still quite wet, but the Terra handled it just fine—I never once skidded when I hit the brakes. But after I got home and looked at my tote bag, it was covered in specks of dirt. I thought maybe I'd grazed it on something dirty, until I took off my raincoat. The back was covered in the same specks! Ugh. I took it to the bathtub and rinsed it all out. In Evolv's defense, it says not to ride in wet conditions (the Terra is IP54 rated), but I've done the same on a few other scooters and have never arrived home with mud all over my back. 

Oh, and one more thing. The charging port is situated at the front of the scooter next to the wheel. It's an odd design choice, because if the wheel turns, there's a chance it can break off the charger when it's plugged in. I never move my scooter while it's charging, so I don't really see this as a problem, but it's something to be aware of. 

Photograph: Evolv

What makes the Terra special is its 600-watt motor, which is powerful enough to crush steep hills yet remarkably quiet. There are three “gears” to choose from, each with a corresponding top speed. Gear 1 sits around 12 to 14 miles per hour, so I usually stuck to Gear 2, which put me at around 20 mph, if not more. I hardly ever went faster than that—mostly to adhere to local speed laws but also because … I really don't need to be going that fast while standing up! 

You can unlock much greater speeds if you press the Dual motor button. This engages a second 600-watt motor for 1,200 watts of power (up to 2,200 watts of peak output). You'll know when you're in this mode because when you engage it, your body will lurch back, fighting to hold on to the handlebars. It's a very similar experience to the Apollo Ghost and Bluetran Lightning. In this mode, you can expect to get close to 31 miles per hour, though you definitely want to check your local speed laws first. 

The beauty of having a dual-motor system is that you can tap into this power when you need it. Steep hill ahead? Flick it on and cruise uphill at normal speeds. Need to get out of a hairy traffic situation? Zip on through. I hardly ever used the second motor, because the single motor provided all I needed most of the time, but the Terra is ideal if you live in a hilly area. San Franciscans take note!

Sticking to the second gear on the single motor, I usually got 15 miles out of the scooter with two bars to spare, so I expect you can get closer to 20 miles if you're lighter than me, which you probably are. If you mix in the dual motor and switch gears often, that will sharply drop. On one trip where I did that, the battery got down to two bars after just 7 miles. 

I wish the Terra had a voltage meter like on the Apollo Ghost, which gives you a more accurate reading on battery life. The gauge fluctuated so much, it was hard to figure out how much juice I had left. But these mostly minor quirks aside, the Terra is a reliable vehicle with decent range, plenty of power, and a nice design that's easy to operate. Its price undercuts a lot of dual-motor competitors, and that makes it all the better.