Hello. It's been a while since my Vga Vax's motor broke down while I was planning to upgrade its battery for the electric scooter. I'll share my experience of customizing the scooter and upgrading its performance.
After an appointment with Thansen regarding the motor issue, I took the scooter to them for repair in early December. My scooter stayed there for two months. In the end, they couldn't pinpoint the problem and told me I needed to replace the motor. The cost was 5000 DKK, including installation. Oh man, it was even more expensive than what I paid for the used Vax. I disagreed and took my scooter back.
In April, during a visit to Vietnam to see my family, I bought a new motor and tire combo for only around 700 DKK and brought it back to Denmark to replace the broken motor. Its power was only 1000W. After installation, damn, it could go over 50 km/h. A scary number. Every time I twisted the throttle, it shot off like an arrow.
The performance was powerful, but there were two issues. First, regardless of the speed, even with a slight twist of the throttle, the scooter would jerk and accelerate abruptly. The feeling wasn't smooth. Second, once the scooter was moving, no matter how little or much you twisted the throttle, or even if you held it steady, you couldn't control the speed; it would always accelerate to the maximum. The only way to slow down was to release the throttle. So, every time I rode, I had to twist the throttle slightly, hold it for a moment to accelerate to a high speed, then slow down to a lower speed, and then accelerate again to avoid going faster than 35 km/h, which would cause trouble with the police. I didn't even know what the maximum speed was. Every ride was quite complicated. It was a bit annoying, but I got used to it.
As for the battery, I ordered a 48V-60Ah battery with a fast charger that could fully charge it in just 3
hours. It cost around 5000 DKK. The original battery was 48V-25Ah and took about 5-6 hours to charge from empty to full. The new charger was three times bigger than the original one. Luckily, the high-capacity battery fit perfectly into the scooter's battery compartment. If the original battery gave a range of about 50 km, the new battery was expected to provide over 120 km on a single charge. It was amazing. It felt like I was riding a monster on the road.
But sadly, less than two weeks after fixing and riding the scooter, I lost it. Perhaps I was too careless and trusted the area I lived in, only locking the steering wheel. I reported it to the police, but they said there was no CCTV around, so they couldn't do anything. It was bitter because I had invested a lot in it and hadn't fully experienced it.
Fortunately, the new battery was still there. It was more expensive than a used Vga Vax. Perhaps out of regret, I bought another used Vax to utilize the battery because I didn't know if any other e-scooter had the same Chogori plug and a battery compartment that could fit the battery, so buying another Vga Vax was the most feasible option.
This time, to learn from my experience, I'll find the best ways to protect the scooter. I found an anti-theft alarm system with a remote control. It has many useful features, such as if someone touches the scooter, an alarm will sound on the remote within a 200m range, and the system will automatically lock the wheel to prevent it from being pushed away, which is very necessary. Oh, the system's voltage is from 48-135V, which is perfectly suitable, unlike the 12V systems used for motorcycles.
The problem is that the Vga Vax doesn't have any plug interfaces for the alarm, so connecting them will be quite complicated. I've learned that it's possible to connect directly to the scooter's wires, but I need to find the right wires. It will be another new customization experience."
that's a big one.
