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 effectively a tiny little EV may work for the typical commuter. Because it seems, little is large today!
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 standard 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 attainable doesn’t imply they don’t even have aspirations for energy and options. That was the thought behind the JackRabbit XG: take the whole lot individuals know and love a couple of tiny JackRabbit and hotrod it into much more “oomph” in a mini bundle.
Take a look at what it’s prefer to throw a leg over one among 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 switch 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
- Worth: $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 isn’t 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 if you happen to’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 mistaken to name it seated electrical scooter, both.
In comparison with the everyday standing electrical scooters we often consider, the JackRabbit XG has lots 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 will 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, really providing the perfect 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 only 7-inches (whenever you additionally fold up the foot pegs).
It solely takes a couple of seconds and instantly the micro e-bike is further micro. With the bars turned, it might simply cover away beneath a twin mattress, equivalent to in a university dorm room.
It may be stashed behind a sofa or behind a closet with out taking on a lot room for itself.
The key upgrades
I’ve spent lots of time on JackRabbit’s smaller and extra reasonably priced micro e-bike, so it was fascinating for me to match the JackRabbit XG’s greater dimension and elevated options.
The most important upgrades are possible 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 strong to permit a better 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 might 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 essential to notice that the batteries are additionally UL-compliant, which is essential today for guaranteeing battery security. And if you happen to persist 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 you need to test with the airline first, as batteries between 100Wh and 160Wh generally require advance permission).
Final 12 months 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 obtainable to assist preserve you illuminated at night time for others to see you on the highway! And since they run off the primary battery, you don’t have to fret about charging up separate LED mild 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 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 large 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 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 fascinating equipment you possibly can add now, equivalent to greater deal with bars and a rear strut fender for preserving the puddle spray off of your again.
Principally, it appears like lots 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 lots of these items from scratch with out the good thing about dozens of different e-bike firms utilizing the identical elements 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 wish to. Alternatively, it certain 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.
After all when the batteries are this small, you possibly can 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 web site if you wish to swap out the thumb locks, however you’ve received 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 greater value of the XG actually slaps you throughout the face.
On the one hand, JackRabbit doesn’t get the good thing about utilizing a lot of pre-existing bike elements that they will merely choose out of catalogs. Certain, some issues like tires and motors are the identical. However many different elements 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 similar time, I do know there are individuals on the market who evaluate watts per greenback as their fundamental metric, and JackRabbit won’t ever win there. In case 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 case 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 an excellent light-weight and easy-to-ride micro e-bike that folds as much as a mere 7 inches vast. For some individuals, that’s well 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 among the different options, however the costs are higher and you continue to get lots of the advantages discovered within the XG just like the small dimension and peppy velocity.
In case you’ve received 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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