Electric Scooter Repair 101: Four Ways to Repair your Electric Scooter

Just like every other vehicle out there, your electric scooter will need repair at some point in time. Most owners experience minor issues with electric scooter performance every 500 miles (approximately) they ride.

It might be concerning for an electric scooter owner to encounter malfunctioning with their scooter: electric scooters are relatively new and you don’t always find dedicated scooter repair shops around every corner, the way a car owner would.

But that’s not to say getting your scooter repaired is difficult. In this guide, we’ll detail how you can get the help you need when it comes to repairing your scooter — starting with evaluating whether you can DIY or not.

If you’re facing issues with charging your electric scooter, you might want to check out our dedicated article on electric scooter batteries here.

4 Different Approaches to Electric Scooter Repair

Here are all the different ways you can go about electric scooter repair:

  • DIY Repair
  • Send back to Distributor
  • Hire a Sharing Scooter Mechanic
  • Repair shops

1. Do It Yourself (DIY) Electric Scooter Repair

You don’t have to be a mechanic to take on a couple of scooter repair projects: but it largely depends on the complexity of the issue and your skills. For example: most rider owners are able to fix a loose screw, or change tires, but problems with the electric motor can be more tricky.

It’s not always recommended to follow Youtube tutorials and get out the tool kit when your scooter needs repair, but in some cases it can be permissible. It can actually be a great starting point to look up the specific issue your electric scooter is facing when things go wrong, and you might just find an online forum where other riders are facing a similar issue.

For example: search for ‘electric scooter strange scraping noise from rear wheel’ instead of ‘electric scooter making noise’ to get more relevant results and effectively eliminate explanations that don’t make sense for your issue.

Now comes the important part of deciding whether you tackle the issue or leave it to an expert.
If the repair strategy involves opening up the deck and pulling important parts apart, you already know that you’re wading in dangerous territory where things could go wrong. Not to mention, many warranties are declared void if you’ve ever removed the battery.
It makes sense to attempt complicated DIY solutions if you have some experience working on another vehicle, or your warranty has expired and you’re not eligible for a free replace from the distributors.

For repair solutions that include basic steps like checking parts for a quality check, cleaning the exterior, and searching for obvious external damage: you can safely get your hands dirty knowing the stakes aren’t all that high.

There is an exception to the rule — we have a detailed guide on charging your electric scooter without a charger in cases of emergencies. It’s important for an electric scooter owner to know how to do this if they get stranded without a charger or power source, so it’s worth checking it out here.

2. Send Back to the Distributor

In most cases, sending your electric scooter back to the distributor for repair is your best bet. Especially if your vehicle is still covered under warranty, you can get repair or replacement at no cost, no matter how big or small your issue is.

You’ll have to read the fine print of your warranty in this case: many manufacturers still have clauses for discounted repair after your full-replacement warranty has expired. You might also want to get in touch with the distributors for troubleshooting so that they can better direct you towards the next step. Most premium electric scooter brands have a full-fledged customer support branch that deals with troubleshooting and performance issues on their vehicle.

In some cases, you might have to cover the transport fee of shipping your electric scooter back, usually in the case of a company with overseas distributors. You might have to take a call if this is worth it: particularly when shipping costs come close to the cost of your entire scooter purchase (which can be the case for budget scooters). If the shipping costs aren’t too much, it can still be worth it since you’d be paying more for the repair.

3. Hire a Sharing Scooter Mechanic

If you’ve realised the issue on your scooter is not ‘DIY’-able, and you’re not in a position to contact the manufacturers, you might want to consider hiring an e-scooter sharing mechanic. These mechanics are typically employed by companies like Bird and Lime, and are experts in dealing with electric scooter repair (with more specific expertise than a regular mechanic).

While these mechanics are not manufacturer-licenced, they will likely be able to help you out if your scooter model is similar to a rental e scooter.

4. Visit Repair Shops

If none of the previous methods work properly, your last resort is taking your scooter down to a professional. There are a couple of hiccups when trying to get a professional mechanic to look at your electric scooter. For one, there aren’t many mechanics that are solely dedicated to electric scooters, and a car or motorcycle mechanic does have to do a bit of guesswork.

Secondly, repairs in these shops can be an expensive service: particularly if the mechanics have to do a trial and error strategy to tackle the problem.

You can try to mitigate these issues by going to moped repair shops or bicycle repair shops to fix your e scooter, though nothing beats a mechanic who understands personal electric vehicles. Most battery problems require a mechanic who understands an electric motor, which is completely different from how an automobile works. An electric bike or mobility scooters are probably the closest in functionality to electric scooters, and they will be best equipped to understand different types of electric motors.

Most major cities have electric scooter repair shops dedicated to maintenance service and repairs for premium e scooter vehicles. While we don’t recommend you drag your two-wheeler for a simple tire change, or belt tightening a repair shop can be a life saver for issues with unresponsive batteries, electric motor lagging, throttle or even the brakes.

Consider checking the official manufacturer site to locate nearby a OEM shop: the advantage of this is it will not void your warranty or riding safety, but the downside is that the service cost could rack up.

Final Words

We all want our beloved scooter to be in the best possible condition — and repairs can be downright frustrating due to a lack of resources, particularly if you don’t live in major cities. Prevention is always better than cure, and a little bit of maintenance can go a long way in the safety of your vehicle. For example: charging your electric two-wheeler the right way can really promote battery life in the long run.