I have not ridden my scooter in the past two week or so, and when I checked today I saw new firmware was available (here in the U.S.A. at least):
We are entering Fall (which lasts a few weeks before Winter takes over, often) so I may be able to get a few more weekend rides on the scooter. If I notice anything new or different, I will make a post.
Since I received my original Max G3, I have read of at least two instances where folks reported seeing new firmware available … followed by responses from folks saying they did not see anything. Folks also said Segway was doing small rollouts to just 500 users.
Well, nearly two months later from when I first powered up a Max G3 and did the initial firmware update … the firmware appears to be officially released. At least, here in the U.S.A.
Here are the in-app release notes for each of the four firmware updates:
There is a new option available that controls the acceleration of the scooter. I set mine to the lowest setting, and now the jerky acceleration is much, much better. In a short ride (less than a mile) I tested the same bumps that normally make my Max G3 feel like the motor is cutting off and it is throwing me forward a bit towards the handlebar. That seems to be almost entirely gone.
This is a huge improvement in ride ability. While it is still not quite as smooth and nice as my cheaper Kugoo G5 was, it now makes the Max G3 a scooter I would have still wanted after a test ride.
More to come…
See Also: part 1 and part 2 (and more coming).
Now with my scooter background disclosed, let’s get to the actual subject of this blog entry: The Segway Max G3 electric scooter.
As soon as I knew my Kugoo G5 could not be repaired, I began looking for my next scooter. I was interested only in a name brand that might be sold in actual stores. Brands like Segway, GoTrax and a few others showed up at retailers like Best Buy, Target and Walmart. I decided to focus on those brands and see what they offered that was comparable to my Kugoo.
The GoTrax models I could find at retail looked terribly underpowered and limited for my needs, but Segway seemed to have some comparable models. As I searched on YouTube, I started seeing videos for the Segway ZT3 Pro – a $1000 scooter that looked like it had similar power and range as my Kugoo. After watching a few videos, and seeing that the Segway website offered replacement parts, I decided that would be enough searching. “Just buy it,” I thought. (One could spend weeks or months just researching, and finding every scooter has reviews saying it is the best thing ever, and reviews saying it is total garbage. Not helpful.)
Although the reviews on Amazon looked good (4.6 stars out of 5), my attempt to “just buy it” there was halted when I saw this message:
Frequently returned item
Check the product details and customer reviews to learn more about this item.
How is a product so well rated, but also so frequently returned Amazon has to warn customers about it? To get an answer to that, I headed to REDDIT and asked there. I braced for the expected set of nasty replies and vitriol, which seems to be what REDDIT is mostly good for these days.
To my surprise, I actually got helpful responses. Perhaps the electric scooter community is just nicer than most? (Well, maybe not entirely as there were certainly the unhelpful “Segway is trash!” responses that didn’t bother to explain why that was the case.)
But one response caught my attention. I was asked why I wanted the ZT2 instead of a Max G3? Well, because I didn’t know anything about that model, and when I looked it up, I saw it was $200 more.
After a few nice replies, I learned that the Max G3 was likely a better fit for what I wanted.
And that’s how I decided to buy a Max G3 directly for Segway.
Unfortunately, after spending over half an hour trying to buy the scooter there, I gave up. The site would get stuck, “Next” buttons going nowhere, and refuse to let me put in a valid billing address. I’d enter my shipping address, then when it wanted me to enter a billing, it would then change both to the billing (a post office box, which they cannot ship to). Lather, rinse, repeat.
I even had a $100 discount code someone on REDDIT offered me and there were some extra promotions (extended warranty, etc.) I could get if I bought direct.
But I couldn’t.
Someone on REDDIT suggested using Best Buy since “they are easier to return to.” I decided to go that route, even after a chat with their customer service said they could not price match the $100 discount on Segway.com. Bummer. At least I could get 0% interest financing if I wanted, or a 10% bonus ($120 credit?) from Best Buy.
I ordered on Sunday evening, and the scooter arrived the following Tuesday morning. I did the quick assembly (attach handlebars and insert four screws, attach license plate holder) and let it charge.
I was blown away by how well the scooter seemed to be designed. While it is stupid and annoying to buy something you cannot use unless you “activate it” (what do people without cell phones do?), this nonsense is getting more and more common.
Once I activated the scooter, I ran through the app and looked at things that could be customized. It was neat being able to enable higher speeds, including a speed faster than my Kugoo G5, and having the nice display with auto-lock when you walk away from the scooter. The built-in “Find My” support, really impressed me. No more trying to hide an AirTag somewhere and hope a thief wouldn’t find it.
But all of this ended when I rode the thing…
First, let me say that this scooter is zippy. It has intense acceleration — even without BOOST MODE. Possibly too much, even. It is very aggressive, and I would sure like a way to lower that. My electric bike has a similar “problem” where, if you are at a cross walk waiting for the light to change, starting to peddle will engage the motor and try to jump you into traffic. (It took many rides to get used to that eBike trying to kill me!)
I feel similar with the scooter, though I expect I may get used to it. I really hope there will be a way to reduce the acceleration. I like to get to top speed, but I don’t need to get to it that fast.
The next issue is how badly this thing rides. Compared to the Kugoo G5, this thing (maybe due to the thin tires) it just so much rougher and challenging. While it handles bumps okay, hitting any bump makes it feel like it is slowing down to brake (or the motor cutting off). I tested with the traction control feature ON and OFF: no difference that I could tell. I also tested with and without the energy recovery (which, as you slow down, causes the wheel to generate power to send to the battery). No difference that I could tell.
Between the jerky speedups and the erratic feel of “just riding,” it was not nearly the pleasant experience I had when first learning to ride the Kugoo scooter. Or the GoTrax.
Sadly, in this world of “online order everything,” test drives are impossible. I am convinced had I had a chance to ride this first, I would have never purchased it. And if this had been my first scooter to try, I probably would have decided scooters were just not for me.
Overall, while it does seem to be a “really good” scooter, the riding experience for this $1200 scooter is a huge step back from the $800 Kugoo G5. My ride down to the post office and back (8 miles) was not fun.
Some searching on Facebook groups and REDDIT groups let me know I was not alone. The term “jerky acceleration” comes up often, with some folks saying theirs is just fine, and others saying it is jerky. The interesting thing is that even Segway Support has a document about “jerky acceleration” (though the problem they describe is a hardware defect).
After so many people told me I was the problem and my scooter was fine, I turned to Segway Support. After going back and forth with them (great support, by the way), they suggested I return my scooter for replacement. The things I, and many others, described were not supposed to be that bad.
Even though I ordered online, I was able to return my Max G3 to a Best Buy store. They had none in stock, and shipping to store would take many more days than directly to me, so I had them refund the unit, and then went to order it. Unfortunately, I was unable to do this since I had yet to receive my new Best Buy credit card I signed up for to get the special offers when buying the scooter. I had to go back to the store and let them order it, and wait for the replacement to arrive.
Look for part 3, shortly…
Last Updated: 8/9/2025
This page will have real-world milage from a full charge of a Segway Max G3 electric scooter. As I add new entries, I will add notes about what modes and speeds the scooter was used in. This data is pulled from my Google Spreadsheet which you can also view for more details.
If you only see a few lines, you can scroll down to see the rest of the data.
If the above spreadsheet does not appear, you can view it directly in Google by this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JLHODzT0rHM8j7HqzIONhAYdAPIy0QwH1X1bI4haOsM/edit?usp=sharing
The Max G3 is an amazing piece of tech. While this $1200 scooter does not have even half the range my $799 Kugoo G5 had, nor the smooth ride (thinner tires), everything else about it seems much better. However, if you look at some reviews, and search posts on REDDIT and Facebook groups, you find many users reporting jerky acceleration. My unit definitely has this issue, and I’ve been e-mailing with Segway Support over it the past 7 days since I initially received my unit.
This post is a compilation of what I have learned so far, based on user reports and official information from Segway.
First, Segway has posted an article, which I found inside the Segway App’s help section, specifically about riding feeling “jerky”.
You can also read this article on their website:
Riding is jerky | Segway eKickScooter Ninebot MAX G3 Series/F3 Series | Ninebot
Whatever this issue is, it is common enough for them to address it inside the app and on the website. However, as I went to write up this post, I found they have similar entries like this for other scooters, so it is not limited to just the Max G3 and F3 series.
Another common report of “jerky acceleration” is likely just that this scooter has WONDERFUL torque and accelerates incredibly fast. Reports from users with “good” Max G3s say this is wonderful and super smooth. However, the throttle is touchy and if you are trying to hold a slower speed (i.e., you are in Sport mode with a max speed of 28 mph then you want to slow down to 15 and cruise through some tricky spots), the scooter will feel jerky, as if the motor is pulsing on and off.
On my scooter, this is very noticeable. As I ride, it feels like the motor is cutting off and I am pushed forward a bit towards the handles each time it happens. Very annoying. And, when I was initially trying out Sport mode, it felt dangerous. Because of that, I have been riding in lower speed modes, and avoiding Sport entirely.
There are reports that the earlier firmware had issues like this, but an update solved it. Recently a new firmware was released which some users reported made it better — but that update was quickly removed. I have not seen it pop up in the USA yet.
I think there are two issues here. The touchy throttle sounds like something they can fix in firmware, or maybe make go away completely just by reducing the acceleration. (I’d suggest slow acceleration in normal mode, fast acceleration in Boost mode.)
But for my problem, I feel the jerking even when running with the throttle all the way down in Drive mode (16 mph). While I certainly do have the problem when trying to maintain a slower speed, it still happens when I have it maxed out — which tells me my scooter has a different issue than “acceleration is really fast.”
A real puzzler is how many users responded that this scooter does not have variable speed. They say the motor is either on or off and that “all Segway scooters are like this.”
However, when I asked Segway Support about this, they said it 100% has variable speed and you should be able to maintain any speed level you want. I suspect the users saying this have the same problem I have and may not know it’s a problem — they think “that’s just the way it is.”
And then there are plenty of folks saying everything is perfect — specifically, every YouTube review I have seen so far. Not one of them mentioned any issues with acceleration. Perhaps they had review units that were inspected to make sure they were 100% working?
I will update this page with more details. Segway Support thinks something is wrong with my scooter, and asked me to disassemble some stuff to send to them for inspection and repair. When I explained I just got it last week, they suggested returning it to the seller for replacement.
I will be doing that, and if my second unit has the same issues, I plan to return it. Mine is not a pleasant experience compared to every other scooter I have ridden.
Here is something I am wondering about … When I plug in the Segway Max G3 to charge it, the tail light will light up and slowly fade up and down as it charges.
At some point, I heard a sound I did not recognize. I assume it was a sound from the scooter. I opened the Segway app, and saw that the scooter was now at 100%. I now assume this sound means “I’m done charging now.” I also noticed that the brake light was solid red instead of fading. I now assume that “fading on/off means charging” and “solid red means done.”
You will notice it says 100% with an estimated range of 40 miles. This means the app is showing the low-end of the “40-50 miles” range that their marketing states of this scooter:
However, you will also see that the time left for charging says 33 minutes. So are we done, or are we not?
I left it plugged up to see what happened. After a half hour or so, I noticed that the brake light as now completely off. I now assume “off” means “I am done charging now, for real this time.” The app still shows the same 40 miles estimate, but no longer has the “time left” readout:
My question is … what is the purpose of having the initial “I’m done” with the sound, 100% in the app, and the brake light changing to solid, but still having a “oh, but wait, there’s more time to charge” indicator. I wondered if that extra time would get the range estimate higher than 40, but as you can see it did not.
Thoughts?
The tech in this scooter is amazing. There is a TON of battery diagnostics. I’ll have to post about that at some point. But first, I need to finish my multipart blog post about what I dislike about this scooter, in hopes it might save someone from making a $1200 mistake if they also don’t like those things ;-)
Until then…
I have a writeup in progress that will document the things about the Segway Max G3 electric scooter that I really dislike. (Sneak preview: If I had test ridden one first, I would not have gotten one. Period.)
But, as I learn that more and more owners are experience the same jerky throttle issue that is my #1 complaint, I thought I’d post this quick update. Inside the Segway app, the jerky motion is addressed with the following entry about a hardware issue:
Perhaps this is why all the YouTubbers have amazing, fantastic glowing “reviews” of the scooter, and then there are those of us experience absolutely awful throttle control wondering why none of them mentioned how bad this scooter rides.
More to come… (Including how awful the range is on this $1200 scooter.)