hi, am just bought an EV scooter used from someone off Craigslist for $300.
Here are the specs and pictures of the exact same model
http://www.millennium-hk.com/scooters/X3.htm
I am now 100% petrol free since I am selling my 1988 Honda Elite 50SE, I am looking for a solar panel so I can trickle charge the battery while in class. I only have a 8 mile round trip to school and a 10 mile rt to work. I am hoping this works well for me as I my only other back up is my commuter bicycle. But hey, thats even better the the environment, my wallet and my health.
Any good links to some info on these scooters?
Congratulations! It looks like you got a pretty decent deal, and are gas free too, not bad!
It looks like the range for this will already make it to both places without a charge, but I assume you would not ask if you did not want to know. The best place I know of is Ebay for small solar panels. You can simply wire these in series to get the 48volts you need. You usually need a charge regulator for solar panels, to ensure you don’t overcharge your batteries, but this is highly unlikely with panels small enough to take with you.
Now comes the part you probably don’t want to hear.
It would be fairly expensive, and require quite a bit of space to get solar panels big enough to charge your scooter in any measurable amount.
I would instead recommend buying a second lithium battery pack, and carry it with you. You could charge them at the same time, they would be pretty small, and light, and I believe they would take you much further than the added range of solar panels.
You can pick up a fairly cheap lithium pack, and a charger for them for not a lot of money. I would recommend putting them on a switch, and when your battery gets low, switch over to the second pack for extra range. I would not wire them together, as this should only be done with identical batteries, but if switched, you should have no problem.
If you really want solar panels, (I certainly do) I would get a set big enough to charge the bike, at home, and then you are 100% green.
Just my two cents worth, Eric
I would say for the distance the scooter will go and the distance you are wanting to drive I wouldn’t bother with extra batteries. I would just go for the home solar array for charging. Or maybe if you aren’t home enough during daylight hours to charge it get a second battery pack for your scooter and charge one well you use the other. You might also just go with a 12V solar array that is grid tied and let that feed power into the grid all day then you can charge your scooter at night and the cost will be offset, of course that is assuming there is some kind of net metering in your area other wise it doesn’t really off set the cost you would just be doing it to be green 
I see this thread is a little old, hope things are turning out with your scooter. Since you’re helping the enviornment, see if you can find a hippie teacher that will let you park close to class to charger your scoot. And same for work!!
Now that you have had your Scooter for awhile, I am curious how things are working out for you?
I agree with having a spare battery pack. With what colleges charge for tuition today I would feel no guilt about plugging in my charger in the library while studying.
Solar panels are too expensive to risk getting stolen in any kind of portable unit. I think adding solar to your home is definitely the way to go if you can afford it.