Electric Scooter Lights: The Definitive Guide To Safe Riding At Night

You will most likely ride your electric scooter in the dark at some point unless you plan to avoid night rides altogether.

A good main headlight is crucial, and to be honest, most electric scooters' versions of them are not that good. Good thing aftermarket lights are plentiful.

The front light serves two purposes. To help you see properly and to be seen by other traffic users.

Placed typically at the top of the stem, the bottom of the stem, right in front of the wheel, or on the front of the deck.

But as mentioned, they typically fall short of expectations in all areas. Placement, poor optics, and underpowered LEDs

Premium e-scooters will have this sorted so it's not a question of if it can be done. It seems most manufacturers, however, don't prioritize this or deem it necessary on most scooters.

Some states might require a headlight.

Due to the design of the electric scooter, the rear light, if it even has one, is placed very low and therefore is not very visible. To be seen from the rear is crucial and it makes sense to get a rear light clip-on that you can attach to your backpack or use a belt around your waist.

Turn signals on an e-scooter might seem a bit of a reach but again, the premium or more powerful ones will usually have them. Some will have them in the rear only and some will have both front and rear.

Same as turn signals, most e-scooters won't have them but if they do, it is a good thing and in fact, some states and countries require them. Typically placed on the rear fender, it also has lower visibility but there are no other options.

Quite a few manufacturers do offer built-in lights in the form of LED strips. They are a combination of cool looks and help with making the rider more visible.

They are usually placed at the bottom of the deck, the side of the deck, and/or along the stem.

Changing color schemes and various rhythms and patterns are also a standard feature on most of them.

So the question is, why do so few electric scooter manufacturers offer proper lighting as part of the standard equipment?

Three main reasons can be found for this. Lights drain the battery quicker, e-scooters are mostly daytime vehicles (strange reasoning but...), no one really expects a strong lights package on an electric scooter.

Getting the right light is important as it is a safety item and the budget should not be an issue.

It is important to get the right lumen factor, i.e. how long-lasting and bright it is. The higher the lumen factor, the brighter the light.

The amount of light from the light source at a specific time in the future is called LLMF. Referring to the lamp lumen maintenance factor. The LED module's lifetime is defined as the time it takes until its light output, or lumen maintenance, reaches 70% of the initial output. This is also called L70.

It is confusing nowadays as we still tend to think in terms of Watts when it comes to lights and lightbulbs.

In short, Lumen expresses how well the light converts the power it gets, Watts, to visible light.

They are both directly related to each other, and the higher the Wattage, the more Lumens the light will produce.

Fluidfreerid has an Ultra-bright 1000 lumen aftermarket LED headlight:

Easy to attach either to the handlebar or the stem with an included rubber band. It is waterproof and has a proper aluminum housing for protection.

It has 8 different light modes and depending on which you use, on a full charge, it will vary how long it will work before needing to recharge.

Continuous modes: low (30h), normal (15h), high (10h), and ultra-bright (>3h).

Flashing modes: low (90h), normal (20h), high (10h), quick flash normal (45h).

It has an inbuilt 4400 mAh rechargeable battery good for up to 90 hours of usage time. 3-4 h charge time with USB.

Although fun and cool, swag lights or ground effect lighting will not be an alternative to proper good lighting forward as well as backward.

You will be more visible but, it might not be as bright as you think or and it won't help you see obstacles or imperfections in the road.