TechRadar Verdict
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo is a capable enough ride for scooting around, but it’s more of a Vespa than an e-scooter, and it doesn’t compare to the many $1,000 e-bikes. It’s loud, has cheap parts, and doesn’t come close to its competitors.
Pros
- +
Effortless mobility
- +
Multiple configurations
- +
Simple assembly
Cons
- -
Obnoxiously loud
- -
Limited range
- -
Sub-par ride
- -
Extra heavy
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Razor EcoSmart Cargo: One-minute review
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo is a newer electric scooter from Razor, the brand behind perhaps the most iconic kick scooter ever. While the company has a smattering of electric scooters, the EcoSmart Cargo actually shifts more towards a Vespa-type scooter. It’s built for seated riding with a step-through design and wide deck.
While this approach makes for incredibly easy riding, anyone expecting a kick scooter should just look elsewhere now. The EcoSmart Cargo serves more as an electric bike alternative. Unfortunately, it serves as a poor alternative. While it can get up and go, cruising around at close to 20mph, it’s not a great ride by any stretch.
Even with its padded seat and fat tires, it’s a stiff ride that lets us feel the bumps in the road too much. Braking performance is atrocious, with only a rear disc brake (and a cheap caliper) trying to slow down a fast and heavy ride. Then there’s the reality that Razor used a chain-driven rear wheel (instead of the common hub motor), which introduced a new component that can rust and break, and which also creates a ton of noise. This thing is truly obnoxious to take down quiet neighborhood streets.
It might have had a bit more promise if it could have just gone further. But it has a short range and, unlike an e-bike, can’t be pedalled back home once the battery dies. With all that, the only positive attribute is its cargo-carrying options, which plenty of e-bikes can match.
Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Price and availability
- How much does it cost? $1,099 (about £965, AU$1,705)
- Where is it available? Available now from Razor and Target
- Where can you get it? Available in the US
Motor: 1,000W, Discrete motor
Top speed: 19.9 mph
Range: 16.6 miles (rated); 10.1 (tested)
Braking system: Mechanical disc (rear only)
Weight: 78.2lbs (measured)
Max load capacity: 300 lbs
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo is a new addition to Razor’s lineup of electric mobility devices. It comes at a higher price than most of the company’s other scooters at $1,099. Currently, it’s available in the US directly from Razor and at Target stores. While Razor offers its scooters in the UK and Australia, the EcoSmart Cargo hasn’t arrived in either market yet.
- Value: 2 / 5
Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Assembly
- Very simple assembly
- Weight calls for help
- Recommends six hours of charging
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo comes in a massive box that will all but necessitate help moving. Part of the size stems from the convenient fact that Razor ships the scooter mostly assembled. Opening the package, you’ll just have to attach the handlebar stem and front wheel. These parts need to be tightened after slotting them on, but Razor includes the necessary tools for tightening everything down.
Though the packaging was fairly simple, without a lot of cushion or protection, the EcoSmart Cargo arrived in excellent condition, with no issues that we could spot. Due to the weight of the package, you may want to seek some help getting the scooter assembled. Lifting it out of the box is a struggle, though it’s possible to just cut the box open if you don’t foresee needing to return it. The kickstand holds the scooter up well, making it a bit easier to attach the front wheel and handlebars without needing to balance it.
While the unit arrived with its display showing a fully charged battery, Razor nonetheless recommends plugging it in to charge it for at least six hours to ensure the battery is truly topped out.
- Assembly score: 4 / 5
Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Design
- Convertible rear segment
- Seated, relaxed riding position
- Robust build
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo isn’t your typical scooter. It’s an evolution of the company’s EcoSmart line, which are fat-tire scooters, with this model offering wide, 16-inch tires. An earlier model introduced a seat and basket attachment. This model verges on being a Vespa in form, showing far more similarities with that seated, step-through, motorized ride than with the kick scooters that made Razor a household name.
The EcoSmart Cargo is built on a heavy-duty metal frame that includes a rear rack and seatpost. This makes for a robust build that feels quite sturdy. There’s no folding mechanism to shrink the EcoSmart cargo down, but it wouldn’t help much if there was. This is a sizable ride that weighs in at 78.2 pounds. You won’t want to have to carry this anywhere, especially given there’s nowhere convenient to hold while picking it up. The parking strand does a great job holding it up and in place, though.
The driver’s seat is a terribly firm cushion that’s sizable and offers quick height adjustments. Behind it is a passenger seat that matches the driver’s seat in style. Perhaps the EcoSmart Cargo’s biggest perk is how easy it is to get on and off, with a low seat and plenty of space to step through, which could be a boon for riders with limited mobility.
The scooter has a wide, grippy deck with a bamboo finish that’s plenty roomy for even large feet but not spacious enough to comfortably stand and ride. The deck is fairly low though, and it can easily scrape if going over a curb.
The handlebars are basic, but since they’re not supporting any real weight, they serve their purpose just fine. The left side houses the single brake lever and the scooter’s control unit, which has a basic digital display showing speed, battery level, and power mode — all easily viewable in daylight. It has a power button and a headlight button on the left side, while power levels are set by rocking the whole unit forward or backward. The ride handgrip includes the scooter’s half-twist throttle, which is fairly sensitive. Unfortunately, the brakes aren’t nearly as sensitive.
Though the scooter uses a disc brake system, it’s the simplest sort and only on the rear wheel. This offers very limited braking power on top of being a basic caliper that’s hard to center correctly and works poorly with the squishy brake lever.
As sturdily built as the Razor EcoSmart Cargo feels, it’s not using a lot of quality-feeling parts.
- Design score: 3 / 5
Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Features
- Cargo seat, basket, or rear rack
- Non-removable, 355Wh battery
- Chain-driven rear wheel
Cargo is promised in the name, and Razor delivers in that regard. Not only is there a passenger seat, but that seat opens up to reveal a small storage compartment about a liter in size. The frame includes folding metal footpegs for the passenger. It would be a bit of a squeeze for a tall passenger above 5’6”, but the Razor EcoSmart Cargo shouldn’t carry to larger adults given its max payload of 300 pounds.
That passenger seat can swap out for the included rear basket, or the slot can be left open, providing space to attach other bike gear, like panniers.
The scooter offers built-in fenders and a headlight and taillight, with the rear light reacting and the motor disengaging when the brake lever is pulled.
That’s about the extent of the features though. The scooter has a 1,000W motor situated behind the seatpost and in front of the rear wheel. It uses a chain to drive the rear wheel. This is different from a great many e-bikes and scooters that feature a hub motor in the rear wheel, allowing for chainless operation and occasionally regenerative braking. The chain also introduces a ton of noise — a ton — making for an obnoxious ride that’s not typical of electric vehicles.
The scooter’s battery is mounted underneath the deck and isn’t removable. That’s bad news if you don’t have a garage and live in a walkup because you’ll need to haul this almost 80-pound unit up to plug in regularly.
- Features score: 2 / 5
Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Performance
- Modest acceleration
- Weak braking
- Limited range
The Razor EcoSmart Cargo has a bit of get-up-and-go to it thanks to the 1,000W motor and gear ratio. It feels fairly zippy and offers a top speed of 19.9mph. That motor is doing all the work, too, as the seated scooter doesn’t really allow any way to easily help push it along. It gets up into the 13-15mph range quickly but does take a little longer to ultimately reach full speed. The motor can also push through small grades well enough, going over some sloping overpasses in our testing without slowing much.
While speed is good, the ride has some faults. Even with the big, fat pneumatic tires, the EcoSmart Cargo is rather bumpy. We feel lots of jolts that travel right through the firm seat. It feels like we may as well be on a thin-tired road bike. The seat position is at least a bit more relaxed. The weak brakes also require extra caution, as they don’t slow down the scooter nearly as fast as we’d like. We’ve tested e-bikes going 28mph that could stop faster.
The range is also a sour point. In our testing, the EcoSmart Cargo could go just over 10 miles on a charge. While an e-bike or electric kick scooter will still let you ride them analog once the battery dies so you can reach your destination, the EcoSmart Cargo is effectively dead in the water once its rather impish 355Wh battery tires out. After we reached 10.1 miles, the battery gave us about 0.3 miles more power at rapidly dwindling speeds to finish up our ride. Fortunately, we weren’t far from home at this point.
- Performance score: 2.5 / 5
Should I buy the Razor EcoSmart Cargo?
Buy it if...
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Razor EcoSmart Cargo: Report card
| Value | Simply outclassed by other rides at and around its price | 2 / 5 |
| Assembly | It’s got some smart design decisions, but aside from its robust frame, it feels too cheap. | 3 / 5 |
| Design | Beyond a few cargo options, many bikes can simply add on, there’s nothing special. | 2 / 5 |
| Features | There aren’t a lot of extra features here, but we appreciate its easy folding mechanism and intuitive dashboard. | 2.5 / 5 |
| Performance | It has a little bit of torque and gets on at a modest clip, but there’s faster out there and its range is shabby. | 2.5 / 5 |
| Total | Too high a price for too low an experience makes this a weak choice. | 2.5 / 5 |
- First reviewed April 2023
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