Range. Speed. Weight. If an electric scooter can strike a good balance between these three elements without costing an arm and a leg, that’s an instant win for me. I’m happy to say that after years of testing scooters and usually finding few flaws in at least one of these components, the Speedway Mini 4 Pro is the closest to perfection.
Speedway is a sub-brand of MiniMotors USA, which makes expensive and powerful scooters like the Dualtron Victor and Bluetran Lightning (we’re talking $3,000+ for one of those bad boys). Those scooters also weigh more than 80 pounds, which isn’t great if your Brooklyn apartment is on the third floor without an elevator. This Speedway, on the other hand, makes enough power to cruise most hills, has reliable range, and weighs just 36 pounds. It’s the urban driving dream.
Slow start
Before I get into everything I like, I want to mention that I only had two issues with the Mini 4 Pro. On the way back, on my first outing with the scooter, the brakes screeched. It was so loud that I could see the incredulous looks of passers-by. I just grimaced and kept screaming home.
This problem went away the next time I took the scooter for a spin. But I took it to the shop to be sure and found that the brake was not set properly. After less than 10 minutes everything was fixed and I was on my way, feeling a little more confident than before. Dozens of trips later, I haven’t encountered this problem.
My other woe? For a while I had no idea how to properly assemble this scooter all the way. There’s a little folding lever at the bottom of the stem that you have to push down, but no matter how hard I push with my foot, it won’t budge. It turns out that you have to push the stem forward as you hit the lever, thereby releasing it and folding the entire stem onto the deck.
Once I realized this, I couldn’t stop bending it every moment I wasn’t using it. It’s that easy! I can fold it with a light push from my foot, and the stem snaps into place when it’s parallel to the deck. You can also fold the handlebars to make the whole thing really compact.
Best of all, just grab the holder to carry the Mini 4 Pro like luggage. At 36 pounds, it’s one of the lighter scooters I’ve tried, and it’s much easier than most to ride up and down stairs.
Go Speed Racer!
Despite its small size and weight, this thing packs a punch. With a 1,360W hub, you can accelerate up to 28 mph in top speed mode. I almost always set it to level two, which cruises around 18 to 20 mph and doesn’t drain the battery as quickly. It can even be on the hills. The Mini 4 Pro is powerful enough to cross the Williamsburg and Brooklyn bridges here in New York at speeds that aren’t frustratingly slow.
It’s worth noting that once or twice, when I got going and hit the throttle before putting my foot on the front of the deck, the entire front end of the scooter went up in the air a few inches. I had to hit the brakes to stop it before it flew out of my hands. This seems to be a consequence of fitting a powerful engine into a relatively light frame. Just make sure both feet are firmly planted on the deck when hitting it.
As with all electric vehicles, the terrain you’re traveling on will seriously affect your range (as well as your weight). I’m a skinny 6’4″ man and I put 15 miles on the Mini 4 Pro, but it was a tough trip that included crossing both of the bridges mentioned above. the readout on the steering wheel display says 63 percent left. I’m sure most people can expect somewhere under 20 miles (Speedway claims a 30-mile range). That’s much better than the similar Segway F30. You’ll spend about 6 hours on a full charge again.
