The Segway ZT3 Pro – An Off-Road Scooter with Loads of Power

With a top speed of 24.7 miles per hour and a pre-order price of $949, you might think of it as a slightly faster off-road version of the Ninebot Max G2. But the ZT3 Pro also has a ton of new features of its own, and in boost mode, it’s the fastest single motor hill climber we’ve ever seen for the price.

Segway ZT3 Pro – $949

Segway is the world’s number one electric scooter company. They’ve made self-balancing scooters, two of the world’s most popular commuter scooters, and they’ve even made a couple hundred pound super-scooters, the GT1 and GT2. But for some reason, Segway Ninebot has never made an off-road scooter. Until now.

The brand new Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro is the first time we get an off-road scooter with the reliability of a Segway. It’s got a single rear motor that puts out 650 Watts of nominal power and 1600 Watts of peak power in boost mode, so if you’re not careful, this scooter will pop a wheelie.

It’s got full suspension with a motorcycle-style front fork and a monoshock in the back. Plus, the ZT3 has big 11-inch hybrid off-road tires. So you’ve got everything you need to go riding in the dirt. And, it’s got a bigger battery and more top speed than the Segway Max G2.

Before you get too excited, let me tell you what the ZT3 Pro is not. This is not a successor to the GT1 or GT2. With a top speed of 24.7 miles per hour and a pre-order price of $949, you might think of it instead as a slightly faster off-road version of the Max G2.

But the ZT3 also has a ton of new features of its own, and its performance tests blew us away. In boost mode, the ZT3 Pro has the fastest acceleration and hill climbing speeds we’ve tested on a single motor electric scooter.

Who Is This Scooter For?

The Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro has a little more speed, and just as much reliability, as the Segway Ninebot Max G2. For roughly the same price, it adds the functionality of a good off-road scooter for hitting trails on the weekend or the commute.

It’s also got some of the best engineering we’ve seen on an under-$1,000 electric scooter and its power gives it the utility of a dual motor scooter without the added cost.

If this sounds like it might be for you, read on to learn more about the features, specs, and performance of this latest electric scooter from Segway.

Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro Specs

Our Full Video Review

Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro: Performance

Top Speed

The Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro’s official ESG top speed is 24.7 miles per hour, an average of two speed runs in opposite directions to cancel the effects of wind. That’s 3.3 mph faster than the Segway Ninebot Max G2.

Our measured top speed and Segway’s spec both more or less hit the 25 mph limit because of firmware limiting. This is done for a few reasons, one of which is routing power for acceleration and low-end hill-climbing torque.

Acceleration

Performance testing for the Segway ZT3 Pro really surprised us, especially when it came to the scooter’s Boost Mode. While the highest riding mode won’t boost top speed, it has a huge effect on acceleration and climbing.

The ZT3 Pro doesn’t compete with the Segway GT1 when it comes to top speed, but in boost mode it‘s only 0.5 seconds behind the GT1 for 0 to 15 mph acceleration – while Segway’s other big single-motor scooter, the Max G2, lags almost 2 seconds behind.

The ZT3 Pro’s 0- 15 mph time in boost mode is 2.8 seconds, which makes it the fastest-accelerating single motor electric scooter we’ve ever tested under $1,000.

The Segway ZT3 Pro is 1.2 seconds faster to 15 mph than the Ninebot Max G2 and 0.4 seconds faster than the new VMAX VX2 Extreme.

Hill Climb

In sport mode, the Segway ZT3 Pro impressed us with its hill climbing time of 11.8 seconds, beating the Ninebot Max G2’s time of 13.1 seconds. In boost mode, it hit the top of our steep test hill in 9.6 seconds.

The ZT3 rips up hills faster than any under-$1,000 single motor scooter we’ve ever tested. It’s faster uphill even than the mighty VX2 Extreme and less than a second behind the legendary GT1.

Range

The ZT3 Pro has a 6% larger battery than the Ninebot Max G2, but much of that power is allocated to the more powerful motor, and the ZT3 is over 13 pounds heavier than the Max, so likely to get less range overall.

On our hilly ESG range test course, the ZT3 Pro covered 20.5 miles, riding in sport mode, which is exactly typical for this price point, but six miles less than our tested range for the Ninebot Max G2.

Braking

The ZT3 Pro stopped from 15 miles per hour in 11.3 feet, which is almost a foot shorter than the Ninebot Max, and that’s due to the dual disc brakes. Segway did something kind of conservative with the braking design, with smaller rotors than usual and mechanical calipers. They want to make this as safe as possible.

The rotors are 120 millimeters and there’s a different caliper on the front than in the back. The back is actually a stronger caliper that grabs from both sides, and the front is more traditional and grabs from one side. (I would actually swap those if this was my scooter.)

Larger diameter tires also give these brakes less leverage against the road, so that also makes these brakes like very easy to use, but they do require a stronger squeeze on the levers to get maximum braking power.

Ride Quality

On the road, I got a little bit of tire noise from the hybrid off-road tires. It’s not bad, not distracting, but it’s there. I can hear it because there’s zero motor noise.

The 11 inch tires feel really really smooth. The suspension is long travel, though it’s not as silky smooth as the Ninebot Max, because it doesn’t have oil damping like the front of the Max G2.

One thing I should point out: this suspension is not adjustable at all. You don’t have any damping, and you don’t have any preload adjustment. So you get what you get. For me at 165 pounds, it feels a little stiff, but I’m a bit lighter than the average rider.

All that said, off-road I noticed the stiffer suspension really made sense. I didn’t come anywhere near bottoming out. The suspension and tires handled all of the rocks and bumps I got into. These are definitely better than 10-inch tires off-road.

Something else that starts to make sense off-road is the 25 mph top speed limit. At around 23 mph I started to feel like I’d hit my own limit. Although I didn’t do anything too crazy, I did ride through some pretty deep gravel at one point, and on the whole, I’d have to give the ZT3 Pro a thumbs up for both serious dirt and gravel riding.

Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro: Design, Build & Reliability

Segway calls their suspension system SegRide, which is really a combination of the tires, the suspension, and the steering geometry. You’ll notice that the stem leans back more than most stems, and the further it leans back, the more stability you get, but that can sometimes also end up crowding the rider.

Just as they’ve done on the new E2 Pro, Segway curves the stem forward at the top, so the dashboard doesn’t end up in your lap and you’ve still got plenty of room to ride and great stability. The build quality, as usual, is excellent.

If you look online, you’ll see that there are accessories, like luggage and a seat that you can mount on the deck. But if you look at the scooter, you might wonder where it all goes. Well, there are these little covers and you don’t notice them at first, but they just pop right off.

The ZT3 Pro also has a really cool-looking charger cover. You can’t miss this it with all the red. I love the plug-in position. If you’re plugged in and the scooter falls over, it won’t get damaged. The charger is 3.9 amps and has one of the thickest cables I’ve seen on a charger.

Oh, and those distinctive lights put out about 4 Watts, which is 1 more than the brightest lights we usually see, so unless you’re hitting the trails at night, you probably won’t need to buy additional lights for this scooter.

Segway Ninebot ZT3 Pro: Is It Worth It? Our Verdict

Segway’s app gives you customizable modes (you can even delete speed modes if you want) and allows for downloading new features that don’t exist yet, and the ZT3 is future-proofed with over-the-air firmware and app updates.

Pros of the ZT3 Pro? You get an off-road scooter with Segway reliability, excellent hill climbing, and an insane amount of engineering-per-dollar, both in the app and just anywhere you look on the scooter. All of that for less than $1,000.

I can think of few cons. By comparison with the Max G2, the ZT3 Pro is a little heavier, has less range, and the suspension isn’t quite as smooth on the road. But as far as its off-road capability, features, and overall performance goes, this scooter is a big win for Segway.