Go-Go sport 4 wheel ECV battery life?

[♥ Mandi ♥]

Hi all, we are renting a Go-Go Sport 4 wheel ECV from Gold Mobility.
They just called to confirm our rental for tomorrow and let us know that the battery life is only about 4 hours.
Is this your experience with this ECV?
My mom is about 150lbs and will likely be riding very slowly.
She can walk short distances so we are able to take breaks and leave it charging a bit here and there.
Is this particular ECV practical for a full park day?

Also, where will we find outlets throughout the parks? I've heard there are plenty but we've never had a reason to be on the lookout for them before.

Thank you!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hi all, we are renting a Go-Go Sport 4 wheel ECV from Gold Mobility.
They just called to confirm our rental for tomorrow and let us know that the battery life is only about 4 hours.
Is this your experience with this ECV?
My mom is about 150lbs and will likely be riding very slowly.
She can walk short distances so we are able to take breaks and leave it charging a bit here and there.
Is this particular ECV practical for a full park day?

Also, where will we find outlets throughout the parks? I've heard there are plenty but we've never had a reason to be on the lookout for them before.

Thank you!

I asked this exact same question last month. According to Gold Mobility, GoGo has changed their batteries in the last 2 years or so, so that the scooters no longer last like they used to-no more extended use batteries available. I'm not sure any of the responses I got were from recent GoGo renters. I do know that when I went this past July, I rented a GoGo-at first-but in the trip back to my room (granted, Kidani and it was a FAR way), my battery power went down from 5 green lights to 3. Since I was solo, I was petrified of being stranded and alone, so Gold Mobility came back within another hour and let me try the Pride Victory for no extra price. It was OK, but I miss the GoGo. Anxious to hear recent experiences.

 

[mamabunny]

Hi all, we are renting a Go-Go Sport 4 wheel ECV from Gold Mobility.
They just called to confirm our rental for tomorrow and let us know that the battery life is only about 4 hours.
Is this your experience with this ECV?
My mom is about 150lbs and will likely be riding very slowly.
She can walk short distances so we are able to take breaks and leave it charging a bit here and there.
Is this particular ECV practical for a full park day?

Also, where will we find outlets throughout the parks? I've heard there are plenty but we've never had a reason to be on the lookout for them before.

Thank you!

Generally speaking, we don’t recommend trying to charge in the Parks, as many of the outlets that used to be readily available are now either “covered” or hidden, and some of them may not be the correct type to charge an ECV with (not a ”standard” 120 outlet)

Ask a CM if you need to charge while in the Parks. Generally speaking, people with batteries that don’t last the full day will often charge during meal breaks, so make that your first priority before dining - find an outlet.

If your Mom can also practice good “battery hygiene” it will help any ECV battery last longer. So, that’s things like:
- Turn off the scooter ***any*** time you are still for more than 5 seconds. In long, slow moving lines, to watch a parade, while paying for purchases in shops, when riding buses, when going to the bathroom… it doesn’t matter - shut it off if it isn’t moving. Unlike a combustion engine, there is no ”penalty” for doing so, and a scooter will start up instantly with the flick of the switch.
- Be sure to full charge it overnight, every night. Bring it *inside* your Resort room, and charge it completely. Shorter-life batteries are just made more frustrating by not starting the day with a full charge.
- Ask Gold to be sure, but many scooter that have a lot of “accessories” and features can be helped by NOT using headlights (especially during the day) or USB ports to charge up phones. Also, remember that the more weight you put on that scooter, the faster the battery will drain. So, have the vendor remove any extra baskets, sunshades, etc. And, resist the temptation to make the scooter your family’s “pack mule”; again, every extra bit of weight will cause the batteries to drain faster.

If I were in your shoes, I might call Gold, and ask about renting something that *will* do a full “Disney Day” (Gold will know what that means LOL) without need of recharging.

 

[cobright]

That scooter is a real lightweight. At the same time, the rest of Pride's similar sized lineup seems to have even worse range. It claims a 12 mile range under ideal conditions. Mamabunny's advice (per usual) is golden wisdom.

 

[Evita_W]

Basically, from what DH has been told, the extended batteries aren't currently available for the GoGo Sport model. Based on experience, I think 4 hours is actually optimistic on standard batteries, if at all possible, I would recommend renting the Victory 10. Technically, extended batteries aren't available from Pride for the Victory 10 model at the moment either, but the difference is they have been able to order larger capacity batteries for them from a third party as they just sit in the scooter. The GoGo sport uses a special enclosure, which is larger for the extended batteries, meaning they can't even get extended batteries from the third party without the larger enclosure for the GoGo Sport.

Please note that the Victory 10 can be disassembled, but is heavier. Unfortunately, at the end of the day all of this is coming down to supply chain issues. If it weren't for the supply chain issues, Gold Mobility would likely have their own model (which Bob Gurr helped them design, specifically with theme parks in mind) available for rent by now, but supply chain issues have continued to cause delays there. Their model would be heavy duty and portable as of the last DH had heard about it.

And the GoGo Sport is the heaviest duty of that sized scooter in the Pride line up.

 

[MS_Warrior]

Hi all, we are renting a Go-Go Sport 4 wheel ECV from Gold Mobility.
They just called to confirm our rental for tomorrow and let us know that the battery life is only about 4 hours.
Is this your experience with this ECV?
My mom is about 150lbs and will likely be riding very slowly.
She can walk short distances so we are able to take breaks and leave it charging a bit here and there.
Is this particular ECV practical for a full park day?

Also, where will we find outlets throughout the parks? I've heard there are plenty but we've never had a reason to be on the lookout for them before.

Thank you!

I'm so sorry that Pride's made these changes. I have an older one and it has great battery life.

 

[Evita_W]

I'm so sorry that Pride's made these changes. I have an older one and it has great battery life.

It isn't so much a change, as a supply chain issue from what DH has heard. Basically Pride can't get the items in, so they can't sell them.

 

[MS_Warrior]

It isn't so much a change, as a supply chain issue from what DH has heard. Basically Pride can't get the items in, so they can't sell them.

That makes sense. Seems there are supply chain issues in quite a few areas.

 

[Lewisc]

OP is probably already at WDW. For the benefit of others reading this thread.

We just rented a 3 wheel go go scooter from Gold. We stayed at PBH and used it at Universal. Had no problem keeping a charge. We actually "charged" the unit in our room with an outlet which didn't have power. The unit lasted almost 3 days before we had an issue. Guest services suggested bringing the ECV to the rental location. Even though we rented from Gold Mobility they allowed us to leave the scooter for a few hours for it to charge. No problem using to get to Universal, around Universal and back. The unit has a pocket behind the seat to hold the charger. Bring it.

I don't know if we had a unit with an extended battery.

Skip the rear basket. The unit is harder to maneuver and you're more likely to add weight. I think the 4 hours is absolute worse case scenario. Heavy load, continuous driving and up hills.

 

[Simba's Mom]

OP is probably already at WDW. For the benefit of others reading this thread.

We just rented a 3 wheel go go scooter from Gold. We stayed at PBH and used it at Universal. Had no problem keeping a charge. We actually "charged" the unit in our room with an outlet which didn't have power. The unit lasted almost 3 days before we had an issue. Guest services suggested bringing the ECV to the rental location. Even though we rented from Gold Mobility they allowed us to leave the scooter for a few hours for it to charge. No problem using to get to Universal, around Universal and back. The unit has a pocket behind the seat to hold the charger. Bring it.

I don't know if we had a unit with an extended battery.

Skip the rear basket. The unit is harder to maneuver and you're more likely to add weight. I think the 4 hours is absolute worse case scenario. Heavy load, continuous driving and up hills.

Great news about the length of battery life.
The rear basket's effect seems to vary with which unit you have. With the GoGo Sport, I never hd any problem with using the rear basket. Never had to remove it on a bus, and it never got in my way there or anywhere else. And since the front plastic basket is smaller on the GoGo Sport, having the large rear basket really helped. However, once Gold Mobility gave me a free upgrade to the Pride Victory, it was an entirely different story. On my first bus trip, the driver didn't ask me to remove the basket, and since it hadn't been a problem with the GoGo Sport, I figured I was OK. Au Contraire! When I got to Kidani, it took him, as well as a passenger who was nice enough to help, about 10 minutes to get me out-the basket had me stuck. Also, I noticed that elevators, getting on/off and shutting doors, were awkward. Henceforth, I took the basket off when I was on buses, and by the next day, I just left it off. Besides, the front plastic basket is noticeably larger on the Pride Victory, plenty big enough for my umbrella, folding cane' etc., etc. Fortunately the resort moved my basket when I switched resorts (split stay), and the basket stayed in my room until I returned the scooter. So great on GoGo, not on Victory.

 

[maxiesmom]

That scooter is a real lightweight. At the same time, the rest of Pride's similar sized lineup seems to have even worse range. It claims a 12 mile range under ideal conditions. Mamabunny's advice (per usual) is golden wisdom.

I just used the Pride 3 wheel in the parks, and even though we were go go go, it never had a charge issue. Only one night did I even lose one of the green dots that shows how full it is. Never came anywhere close to being worried about losing a charge.

 

[KPeterso]

We just got back last Thursday and rented a Pride Go-Go 3 wheel scooter from Gold. It was most definitely not holding the charge as expected. We would leave the room and get to the elevator and one of the green lights would have already gone down. But turn it off and back on and it would be back to all lights lit. We called Gold a few times about it. It was apparently a brand new scooter (it definitely was clean and had 0 scuffs on it and was one of very few gold scooters that we saw that was red and not blue). We did last out all day with it, but it was being charged 8-10 hours overnight. And we were practicing strong battery hygeine and turning it off every chance we got. When we returned it to Gold, my Mom showed him about the lights going out after only a few feet but when turned off and back on that it was back to showing fully charged. They agreed that did not seem quite right and said they would be checking that battery a bit more closely.

Now to watch reviews for the next year on the GoGo versus the Victory for when we go next September. And my Mom is talking about bringing my Dad too, so may end up being that family with 2 scooters.

 

[Evita_W]

We just got back last Thursday and rented a Pride Go-Go 3 wheel scooter from Gold. It was most definitely not holding the charge as expected. We would leave the room and get to the elevator and one of the green lights would have already gone down. But turn it off and back on and it would be back to all lights lit. We called Gold a few times about it. It was apparently a brand new scooter (it definitely was clean and had 0 scuffs on it and was one of very few gold scooters that we saw that was red and not blue). We did last out all day with it, but it was being charged 8-10 hours overnight. And we were practicing strong battery hygeine and turning it off every chance we got. When we returned it to Gold, my Mom showed him about the lights going out after only a few feet but when turned off and back on that it was back to showing fully charged. They agreed that did not seem quite right and said they would be checking that battery a bit more closely.

Now to watch reviews for the next year on the GoGo versus the Victory for when we go next September. And my Mom is talking about bringing my Dad too, so may end up being that family with 2 scooters.

The Victory is definitely the better model (no matter who you rent from), but doesn't work for everyone. Hopefully by next September some of the supply chain issues have been sorted and they can either get the extended batteries for the GoGo or can get their own model into production. From what I understand, their model will be pretty much as portable as the GoGo with the comfort and battery power of the Victory, along with better turning radius than either and other useful features for theme park usage, including the ability to use MagicBand/RFID Tickets as the key for the scooter, eliminating others from being able to accidentally take the wrong scooter, last DH heard, the basket will have a lock on it and there will be additional storage under the seat.

 

[RoseGold]

For those considering this... We have gone multiple times with a Whill Ci that we have never needed more than one battery a day anywhere but WDW.

The Whill battery is supposed to last 11.2 miles, and we always have to swap a battery for a full day. There have been multiple days pulling up on fumes after using 1.8 batteries, so almost what should 20 miles of usage.

There was one very bad day, forgot to charge the backup, when we needed more to be able to get home. They charged the battery in the back of the Plaza while we ate. There were no visible outlets, though I do think there may be a few around some restaurants. The Whill has a removable battery, so it's more like a huge cellphone than trying to park an ECV somewhere. I can see why Disney would actively discourage that.