Gotrax XR Elite Electric Scooter

Gotrax XR Elite - Design

You can look at the XR Elite and consider it a facelift of sorts, kind of like what a car gets as it reaches the mid-point of its career on the market.

Just like its earlier peers, the XR Elite has a front-wheel-mounted electric motor rated at 300 watts.

That’s the same amount of power offered by the XR Ultra, but 50 watts on top of the entry-level XR.

The battery pack sits inside the deck, which for the XR Elite is wider, at 6.6 inches. What’s more, Gotrax covered the deck in a layer of anti-slip rubber-like material just like it did with the Ultra, supposedly to offer extra grip and at the same time, more peace of mind when riding the electric scooter.

Appearance-wise, the color scheme doesn’t seem that different from the Ultra and the basic XR. Matte black is still king, but this time adorned with a white patch on the handle body (featuring the Gotrax lettering) and piano black bits and bobs on the steering wheel, around the speedometer, where the user is expected to interact more often with the e-scooter.

Last but not least, Gotrax tweaked the headlight which we’re told is now brighter. For additional visibility, the Gotrax XR Elite gets a LED taillight as well as six reflectors scattered around the ‘chassis.’

Gotrax XR Elite - Comfort and practicality

Although it doesn’t ride on a suspension setup per se, the XR Elite is fitted with 8.5-inch air-filled tires which are bound to soak some of the vibrations produced when travelling over bumpy surfaces.

A disadvantage here, however, lies in the scooter’s weight. At 31.88 pounds, it is 5.43 pounds heavier than the XR and XR Ultra, which makes it even harder to carry through a flight of stairs or lift it and deposit it inside your car’s trunk, for example. Elsewhere, the handles look hand-friendly but they don’t fold, so storage might be tricky if you don’t get a lot of space at your disposal.

Gotrax XR Elite - Performance

Keep in mind that this is marketed as a commuting electric scooter, so it’s important to examine and judge it in the right context. Which is daily trips to and from the office that may or may not include swapping means of public transportation like buses or trains.

With that in mind, the manufacturer-stated 18-mile range sounds good and was possible thanks to a larger battery - the Xr Ultra uses an LG-sourced 36V/7 Ah battery pack that’s good for 16 miles of range, while the Elite’s is a 36V/7.8 Ah unit adding 2.6 extra miles of range for a total of 18.6 miles - on paper, at least.

The in-wheel electric motor should be up to the task in pretty much every urban setting you might plan on testing it, except perhaps steep inclines that will put a dent in range and top speed (Gotrax says there shouldn’t be any problems on up to 15-degree-incline hills).

Speaking of top speed, the company claims the XR Elite can go as fast as 15.5 mph (25 kph), which is good considering your typical urban setting with curbs, buildings, cars parked on the street and other obstacles like trash cans, poles and whatnot won’t let you open it up and enjoy the thrills of speed. Unless, of course, you decide to take it to a park at an hour with low pedestrian traffic.

Stopping power comes from a dual-brake setup that mixes disc braking on the rear wheel and anti-lock electrical braking at the front wheel, via the electric motor. That’s a nice thing to have since it confers extra balance and control even during those situations when you have to stop fast to avoid injuring others or yourself.

Gotrax XR Elite - Price

Gotrax’s website lists the XR Elite with a price of $399.99. Keep in mind that at the time of writing, the e-scooter was sold out on the maker’s website, but that should change once Gotrax brings in a new batch of Xr Elites. You can also get the scooter on Amazon, but like we said, it was unavailable at the time of writing.