The JackRabbit XG is mainly 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 nicely a tiny little EV might work for the typical commuter. Because it seems, little is huge nowadays!
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 roughly typical 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 targeted 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 the whole lot folks know and love a few tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini bundle.
Try what it’s wish to throw a leg over one in all these enjoyable little rides in my video evaluate beneath. Then carry on studying afterward for much more!
JackRabbit XG video evaluate
JackRabbit XG tech specs
- Motor: 500W geared rear hub motor
- High pace: 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
- Value: $1,749
- Extras: Thumb throttle, rotatable handlebars, foldout foot pegs, bell, LCD show, kickstand, twin battery slots, elective fenders and different equipment
What’s it for?
For the reason that JackRabbit XG shouldn’t be an e-bike within the conventional sense (missing practical pedals in favor of foot pegs), you’re clearly not going to decide on a JackRabbit in the event you’re on the lookout for train. As an alternative, that is purely a get-around-town sort of journey, and doubtless 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 often consider, the JackRabbit XG has a number 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 may also 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, really providing one of the best 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 (while 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 below a twin mattress, equivalent to in a university dorm room.
It may be stashed behind a sofa or at the back of a closet with out taking over a lot room for itself.
The key upgrades
I’ve spent a number 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 greater dimension and elevated options.
The most important upgrades are possible 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 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 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 vital to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is crucial nowadays for making certain battery security. And in the event you stick to the smaller batteries, their sub 160Wh ranking means you might be able to convey them on many home airways in your carry-on baggage (however it is best to test with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh typically require advance permission).
Final yr 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 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 accessible to assist preserve you illuminated at night time for others to see you on the highway! 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 pace continues to be restricted to twenty mph, however that’s wonderful by me. With a wheelbase this brief, you most likely don’t wish 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 nicely over 20 mph could be a bit iffy.
The brand new twin brakes supply extra highly effective stopping as nicely, which is good when you will have a extra highly effective motor. You by no means wish to have extra ‘go’ then you will have ‘cease’.
There are much more attention-grabbing equipment you’ll be able to add now, equivalent to increased deal with bars and a rear strut fender for preserving the puddle spray off of your again.
Principally, it looks like a number of thought went into the brand new designs! Since this isn’t some out-of-the-catalog white labeled e-bike, they possible needed to design a number of these items from scratch with out the good thing about dozens of different e-bike corporations 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 while you wish to. However, it certain does make it simpler for a thief to steal your battery in the event you lock your bike exterior and don’t convey 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 convey them inside. However I nonetheless would love the choice to lock them so I’m not obligated to convey them in with me the entire time.
Happily, JackRabbit does give us a keylock accent on their website if you wish to swap out the thumb locks, however you’ve acquired 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 severe dough!
I had gotten so used to the $999 worth of the smaller JackRabbit OG that the considerably increased price 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 will merely choose out of catalogs. Certain, some issues like tires and motors are the identical. However many different components just like the body, handlebar mechanism, and distinctive batteries all should 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 folks on the market who evaluate watts per greenback as their predominant metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. When you’re on the lookout for the quickest or longest vary journey for the least cash, this ain’t it. You’ll be able to depart now.
When you’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 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 definitely worth the premium. And if it’s not, then I nonetheless advocate 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 number of the advantages discovered within the XG just like the small dimension and peppy pace.
When you’ve acquired the money although, the JackRabbit XG is a significantly enjoyable journey and presents far more options than I ever anticipated from such a small, minimalist little e-bike.
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