The JackRabbit XG is principally the stronger, larger brother of the well-known little JackRabbit micro e-bike, and I had the prospect to check one out to see how effectively a tiny little EV may work for the common commuter. Because it seems, little is massive lately!
JackRabbit is well-known within the micromobility trade 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 provide 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 thought behind the JackRabbit XG: take every thing folks know and love a few tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini package deal.
Try what it’s wish to throw a leg over considered one of these enjoyable little rides in my video evaluate under. Then carry on studying afterward for much more!
JackRabbit XG video evaluate
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
- Value: $1,749
- Extras: Thumb throttle, rotatable handlebars, foldout foot pegs, bell, LCD show, kickstand, twin battery slots, non-compulsory fenders and different equipment
What’s it for?
Because the JackRabbit XG isn’t 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 if you happen to’re on the lookout for train. As a substitute, that is purely a get-around-town sort 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 unsuitable to name it seated electrical scooter, both.
In comparison with the standard standing electrical scooters we normally consider, the JackRabbit XG has loads of main benefits. The wheels are bicycle-sized, giving it a significantly better journey over rougher terrain and streets with pot holes. The seat and handlebars may even really feel extra acquainted to anybody with bike expertise. But regardless of ‘feeling’ like a motorbike, 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 simply 7-inches (whenever you additionally fold up the foot pegs).
It solely takes just a few seconds and all of the sudden the micro e-bike is additional micro. With the bars turned, it will simply cover away beneath a twin mattress, corresponding 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 foremost upgrades
I’ve spent loads of time on JackRabbit’s smaller and extra inexpensive micro e-bike, so it was fascinating for me to check the JackRabbit XG’s larger dimension and elevated options.
The most important upgrades are seemingly the scale of the body and the twin battery slots.
The larger body offers 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 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, if you happen to convey the unique batteries with you in your pocket or bag!).
It’s necessary to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is essential lately for guaranteeing battery security. And if you happen to keep on with the smaller batteries, their sub 160Wh score means you might be able to convey them on many home airways in your carry-on baggage (however it’s best to examine with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh generally 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 knowledge than the unique easy LED dot show, and it now offers controls for issues like LED lights.
Talking of these lights, they’re lastly out there to assist hold 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 continues to be restricted to twenty mph, however that’s high quality by me. With a wheelbase this brief, you in all probability don’t need to be hitting Class 3 speeds anyway. I don’t have any massive hills round me, however I think about bombing down an enormous hill on this factor at effectively over 20 mph can be a bit iffy.
The brand new twin brakes provide extra highly effective stopping as effectively, which is good when you might have a extra highly effective motor. You by no means need to have extra ‘go’ then you might have ‘cease’.
There are much more fascinating equipment you’ll be able to add now, corresponding to larger deal with bars and a rear strut fender for protecting the puddle spray off of your again.
Principally, it looks like loads 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 loads of these things 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 positive does make it simpler to swap your battery out whenever you need to. Alternatively, it positive does make it simpler for a thief to steal your battery if you happen to lock your bike outdoors 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 really like the choice to lock them so I’m not obligated to convey them in with me all the time.
Thankfully, 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 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 larger value of the XG actually slaps you throughout the face.
On the one hand, JackRabbit doesn’t get the good thing about utilizing plenty of 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 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 identical time, I do know there are folks on the market who examine watts per greenback as their essential metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. If you happen to’re on the lookout for the quickest or longest vary journey for the least cash, this ain’t it. You possibly can depart 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. 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 broad. 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 among the different options, however the costs are higher and you continue to get loads 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 journey and gives far more options than I ever anticipated from such a small, minimalist little e-bike.
FTC: We use earnings incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. Extra.
