American scooter. That’s an oxymoron right there. And an American electric scooter? That’s a far cry. While Americans are still slowly adopting electric bicycles and even motorcycles of late, e-scooters aren’t exactly the go-to choice for the USA as they have been in Europe and Asia.
Not only is this electric scoot American made, it’s street legal, too. It comes from HMP Bikes, a rather new name in the electric mobility space that’s focused on producing very nifty electric urban scooters.
The Flash is HMP’s top-spec offering, featuring a brushless DC hub motor built directly into the rear wheel hub. This setup is very appropriate for scooters, since it eliminates the need for a chain, belt, or gear transmission.
With a peak output of 15 kW (20 hp) and a sustained continuous output of 6 kW (8 hp), you get rather decent performance: 75 mph (120 km/h) top speed. But perhaps the most important number in there is the 70-mile (112 km) range.
It comes courtesy of two removable battery packs, each rated at 3.3 kWh (total 6.6 kWh). HMP states that the range figure comes from real-world riding on San Francisco city streets with a 200-lb (91-kg) rider and 80/20 city/highway riding.
HMP lets you equip the scooter with an onboard 2-kW charger that uses a J1772 charging connector, which lets you charge the scooter directly. Juicing up the thing from 20% to 80% takes around two hours. And considering you’ve got removable batteries in there, you can simply take out the batteries to charge them off the scoot via the included 840-W portable charger from a standard household outlet.
Elsewhere, you get quite a few amenities like a built-in dash cam, keyless start, ABS, traction control, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a center stand, and a rear cargo rack. You also get the option of choosing heated grips, while features like IoT GPS tracking and a companion app are in the pipeline as well. And like most modern electric scoots, the Flash comes with a reverse gear and regenerative braking as well.
At 299-lb (136-kg) curb weight with a 377-lb (171-kg) load capacity, the Flash seems ideal for two-up riding. The seat height is rather decent at 31 in (787 mm), and you get 0.7 cubic feet (20 liter) of storage, with the scoot rated IPX6 for water resistance.
At first glance, the Flash doesn't try to reinvent the scooter. Its silhouette is unmistakably urban, complete with a step-through chassis, flat floorboard and compact proportions that should make weaving through city traffic a breeze. The proportions remain compact, yet the scooter avoids looking toy-like, a trap many affordable electric two-wheelers fall into.
But perhaps the biggest talking point about the Flash is its US$4,999 price point. That puts it well below many electric motorcycles, making it one of the more affordable ways into faster electric two-wheel riding. For reference, the BMW CE04 costs just north of $12,000, while other affordable options like the Zero LS1 never made their way to the USA.
It’s no secret that the Flash is selling a category as much as a product, considering just how unexplored the US scooter market has been. Though in California, the Flash is registered as a motorcycle, so you'd require an M1 motorcycle license and a DOT-certified helmet.
HMP provides a one-year or 10,000-mile warranty on core components. Orders arrive about 90% built after being shipped via vehicle freight, which costs $400 inside California and $600 elsewhere in the States.
Would I consider one for myself? Absolutely. But it's tough to say if Americans will feel the same way about it.
Source: HMP Bikes
