@CVW - Regardless of who you rent from, keep the following tips in mind (some are recaps from above)
If you remember nothing else, charge the battery overnight, every night. Starting the day with a completely charged battery gives you (yes, I know you aren't the rider, but bear with me. It's late, and I'm tired and pronouns are tiresome tonight! LOL) the longest possible run time.
As others have said, the number one thing you can do to extend battery life is simply turn off the scooter when it will not be moving for more than 10 seconds. Seriously. Sitting in line? Turn it off. Watching a parade? Turn it off. Eating a meal? Turn it off. Watching a show, riding a ride, parked on the bus? You get the idea.
How long a battery lasts can be affected by a LOT of factors. Those can include (but are not limited to)
- What is the age of the battery, and the number of "charge cycles" it has gone through?
- Was the battery fully charged when starting the day?
- The total weight load of the ECV (so, ECV + rider + any accessories/bags/shopping, etc. on board)
- Ambient temperature
- Hills, slopes, ramps, inclines and curb cuts
- If the rider practices "good battery hygiene" (turning off the scooter (+ any built-in lights) whenever they are stopped for more than a few seconds - like watching a parade, eating a meal or snack, sitting in a line, riding the bus, etc.) This strategy is very effective, simply because there is no "lag" when you need to turn the scooter back on; it's instantly ready to run again.
A great example is the ramp at Wilderness Lodge: Every time you go DOWN the ramp from the Lobby to Roaring Forks, you can "coast" - the ECV doesn't have to work quite as hard because it only has to engage the clutch to act like a brake as you make your way down.
When you go back UP that ramp... Now the ECV has to draw a lot of electricity from the battery to pull (or push, depending on which wheel(s) get power) that ECV + the rider + anything else on board back up those honkin' big ramps! I swear I hear my personal ECV let out a sigh of relief at the top of the ramps every time! LOL
Same idea when you go DOWN to the buses from the Lobby at WL - and back UP again at the end of the day.
Here's what you have to look at with that "6 hours" that you were quoted:
- First of all, most vendors will understate the amount of time you can expect from the battery. That way, if the battery runs longer, you are pleasantly surprised.
- Typically, that number (in this case 6 hours) is what's called "run time". That refers to the actual time that the ECV is turned on and in motion, and "stand by time" is anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 times the actual time it is turned on, but not being used. So, let's say you start the morning at WL. You drive a total of 12 minutes from your room to breakfast at Roaring Fork, and then out the Lobby and down to the bus. You turn off the ECV while you are eating, and again while you are waiting for the bus. The bus comes, you drive the ECV on, turn it off again, and go to MK. When you get to MK, let's say that it takes 20 minutes to get off the bus, through security, and to Starbucks on Main Street, where you sit in line to order your coffee. So far, your total run time on that battery is 32 minutes - but if you started at 8:00 am, it took 6 minutes to get to RF, another 3 minutes to order food, breakfast took 30 minutes, 3 minutes up the ramp, across the Lobby and down to the buses, wait for the bus for 15 minutes, 10 minutes to load the bus and drive to MK, and another 20 at MK to unload the bus, get through Security, scan your Magic Band, and make your way to Starbucks. It's almost 9:30 am, but you only have 32 minutes of run time on the battery so far - because much of the last hour and a half was spent eating, waiting on the bus, sitting on the bus, etc., and like a good little ECV driver, you made sure the ECV what turned off when it was just sitting in one spot!
- 6 hours is an *average* number - based on a rider of an *average* size, on *average* terrain. That's why all of those factors I listed up there matter. Let's say that the ECV's manufacturer rated that battery at 6 hours when it is new, fully charged, with a 150 pound person on it (and no other items, like heavy purses or bags, or shopping bags, etc.) and moving over level, flat ground.
You can certainly take along the battery charger that you are supplied with, but you may find that you can make a whole day and not need to use it! The biggest, most important thing you can do is to make sure you charge the ECV battery EVERY NIGHT TO 100%.
Yes, there is a very small percentage of people who have had battery issues with rental
ECVs. But if you look at the overall number of
ECV rentals in Orlando in a given week/month/year, the number of people who have battery problems is quite small compared to the number of rentals total. And quite frankly, there is always going to be a certain number of people who forget to charge the ECV, or who forget to turn it off once they turn it on in the morning, or who try to haul around everyones purses, water bottles and shopping. Or they try to save money by renting a standard size scooter, when they should be on a heavy-duty unit for larger folks.
If you need to charge up the battery while you are in the Parks or at Disney Springs, simply ask a Cast Member to help you find a nearby outlet. Never just plug in to any outlet you see, as we have heard that some outlets in the Parks and Disney Springs are no longer standard 110, and this will result in damage to the battery, and possibly the charger, and there is even a remote chance of damaging the electronics of the scooter as well.
A standard scooter, with a standard battery should go all day, just fine. Thousands of people do it every day at Disney World. If for some reason the battery doesn't last all day, stop and call your vendor ASAP so that you don't lose too much of your vacation time waiting around on battery issues.
it's a serious irritant, at least to me. That was my typical rant; i use some version of it whenever anybody - however unintentionally - misconstrues what the Disney designation means.
