I was excited to try the OKAI lite electric scooter because of its robust appearance and moderate but perfect for me speed and range. Setup only took minutes as it was nearly fully assembled upon arrival. It was well packaged too, and it came intact. After the physical setup, you can start riding right away although it only activates after charging. It comes with a decent app that can track your position, journey, as well as set various features on the scooter such as the digital speedometer dial face and the coloring (full spectrum) of the LED during different stages (charging, riding, standby, etc). It also comes with a small blue NFC keycard you can swipe across the speedometer dial screen to lock the scooter wheels (in a praiseworthy, but somewhat futile effort as thieves can just pick it up and run but at least you can run them down). It is relatively hefty though, probably over 30lbs, but I can pick it up no problem by the handle.
PERFORMANCE:
I've been using it for a while and while it feels great to ride, with a stable surface and ability to absorb little bumps without issue, there are some issues as well.
SPEED:
On flat asphalt with a 300 ft runway, it topped out at about 14 mph at high speed mode. While riding on slight downhill gradients, I did manage to hit 15 mph at times. It feels nice and speedy to ride. The speed is highly dependent on the gradient of the ground though. Max speed is only possible on flat or downhill ground. on slopes greater than 10 degrees, it drops to about 10 mph max (high power mode), and 3 mph at a 30 degree incline. The motor is surprisingly powerful enough to go up to a 40 degree incline at a crawl though.
RANGE:
The range is highly dependent on the power mode. It ate about half the battery (43%) riding 3 miles on high power, going up hill and downhill. Most of the journey was on relatively flat ground but there was a 50 ft stretch where it goes up a 30 degree gradient at 3 mph, and some parts where it topped at 10 mph. Generally, the range is under 10 miles even at low power mode. However, riding at low power mode feels unsatisfactory as it generally remains below 7 mph and slows down with the slightest gradient. There is no way the range is 15 miles for the OKAI lite. Charging takes about 4 hrs from 0 to 100%, but I generally charge it even when it's at 40%.
NOTES:
The instructions are well written and in fluent English. However, there are disclaimers in the middle such as the OKAI is a toy and not for commuting purposes, as well as it not being waterproof or suitable to be used on wet ground or in the rain. That does limit the practicality of the OKAI lite as a commuting vehicle. However, I'm mainly traveling through suburban areas with paved roads and sidewalks so it is fine for me. I would also recommend riders to wear a helmet as it goes decently fast, especially at a downhill gradient where it can pick up speed.
CONCLUSION:
Overall, I like the OKAI Lite electric scooter. It is built robustly, easy to use, and feels great to ride. The features are cool and the app works great. However, it has low mileage and the price ($499) is relatively on the moderate end considering it has 15mph speeds but sub 10 miles low mileage. The Segway Ninebot has a far better performance as a commuter vehicle with greater max speed and range, plus it is available for under $600 at Costco sometimes. The regular OKAI could possibly compare to it at $599 but considering the lower than expected range for the Lite, I cannot guarantee that. However, for a Lite version of a scooter, while the price is higher, it's performance is within expectations for the most part and suitable for short distance travel on relatively flat ground.