A good, keen e-scooter man

This story first appeared in the June issue of EVtalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

Darren Keen has just proved a Niu electric scooter can do 250km with a few battery swaps.

The South Island’s sole Niu agent, Dunedin’s DK Motors managing director completed the Scooter Safari ride from Christchurch to Hokitika in about six hours ride time.

“We were the first electric scooter to enter and the first to complete the event,” Keen says.
The coast-to-coast endurance ride was fundraising for the New Zealand Cancer Society, Keen’s team raising $3180 towards the event total of nearly $330,000.

Rather than charge the Niu scooter along the way, Keen says they did five battery swaps instead. “We could have done less if we’d swapped when the battery ran out, but we stopped when the other scooters stopped for fuel in the spirit of the event.”

Keen says the total ride took about 10 hours, leaving Christchurch at 8am and arriving in Hokitika about 6pm, including at hour’s break for lunch plus stops every 50km or so.

The weather was good up until about Arthur’s Pass with rain, wind and cooler temperatures through to the finish.

Many rode in fancy dress, from Santa Claus on sleighs to Crusaders.

“My bike gear kept me warm,” Keen says. “And with the quietness of the electric scooter I was able to listen to music on my iPhone for five-and-a-half hours.”

On the flat, the Niu and other scooters among the 271 on the safari were even paced, all generally limited to 50km/h. But on the uphill sections of the Porters and Arthur’s passes the electric came into its own.

“I passed some on the Porters Pass and then just about all of them on Arthur’s Pass,” Keen says.
He says the carburettors on the petrol-powered scooters didn’t handle the steep climb at altitude, mainly through oxygen starvation, whereas the Niu “didn’t miss a beat”.

Would Keen do it again? “Yes, we’re considering doing the Scooter Safari in 2020.”
Meanwhile, he has another challenge in mind.

Keen says they’re talking about riding the Niu from Bluff to Cape Reinga on a Leading the Charge type tour.

“But I might have to register the Niu as a motorcycle so we can go faster,” he says.
“We’d be looking to do the trip in four days.”