Forgivably Overpriced – Apollo Air 2023

The Apollo Air 2023 brings a host of practical updates to this popular scooter, including brighter headlights, turn signals, a sturdier folding mechanism, and impressive water resistance. It’s lightweight and loaded with features for under $1000, though its lower rider load and modest motor strength may not suit everyone. Real-world range is around 20-23 miles.

Written Content

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In conjunction with our review on the new Apollo City 2023, today we’ll look at the newly updated Apollo Air 2023. While our reviews usually center on completely new scooter models, the Apollo Air is an existing popular scooter getting a much-needed update. It just started shipping last week, and there are plenty of updates from the previous-year Air. Here are the basic specs:

Specs

Price: $999

Speed: 21 mph

Range: 34 miles (at 15 mph)

Weight: 38.5 lbs

Max Rider Load: 220 lbs

Motor: 500W (Peak 900W)

Water resistance: IP66

Tires: 10-inch

Suspension: Dual fork (front)

Brakes: Drum + Regen (front)

Battery: 36V, 15Ah (540 Wh)

Features

10,000km frame warranty from Apollo

Phone holder + “Super toolkit” included

Aircraft-grade Aluminum frame

Self healing tires

500 Lumen, 20 Lux Front Headlight

Updates from previous models of the Apollo Air

Handlebar-mounted turn signals

2x brighter headlight

Dedicated regen throttle (included on all new Apollo models)

Larger battery with 21700 cells

Redesigned “zero wobble” folding mechanism

Things we love:

We love the new folding mechanism + ultra stable stem. Apollo can always be trusted for their build quality, and it’s impressive to see this level of attention to detail on a sub-$1000 scooter. 

The Apollo Air is amazingly light for the amount of features present. It’s the second-lightest scooter on the market with a battery of at least 500 Wh, right after the E-Twow GT (504 Wh, 26 lbs), which we also reviewed here. Most scooters with a 540 Wh pack weigh in the 45-65 lb range, and don’t come with nearly as many features as the Air.

Added headlight intensity is a huge plus. 

We love the handlebar-integrated turn signals on all the new Apollo models, increasing visibility and safety on the road during both the day and night time.

The self-healing tires on the more expensive Apollo City 2023 held up excellently to numerous independent reviews, and it looks like the Air 2023 features the exact same 10-inch self-healing tires, so we can assume these tires are good for thousands of miles of flat-free riding.

A solid water-resistance rating is almost essential on any scooter that is expected to replace your car, and Apollo’s IP66 rating on all its new models is as good as it gets in the industry.

Room for improvement:

The 220 lbs max rider load is on the low end; most scooters in this price class and size class can support riders of at least 250 lbs, usually 275+ lbs. Unfortunately we can’t recommend this scooter for heavier riders. 

500W is pretty under-powered for a $1000 scooter. It’s not hard to find 1000+ Watts on scooters cheaper than the Air, for example the Varla Pegasus and Kaabo Mantis 8 both boast 1000W motors, and the Vsett 8+ has 12000W. All these scooters are priced at or under $1000, similar to the Apollo Air. 

We were hoping for the addition of a rear brake on the 2023 update, but no luck. 

A note on the Apollo estimated range:

Independent tests show the scooter having roughly a 20-23 mile range (Electric Scooter Insider, Rider Guide) in real-world conditions, which is a much more useful range estimate than the “34 miles in eco mode” figure from Apollo.

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