Bo M2 Review: This Premium E-Scooter Steers For Me!
[Music] I’ve tested a lot of electric scooters over the years, and honestly, most of them eventually start to just kind of blur together. But every now and then, one comes along that feels truly different. And after a couple of weeks riding the Bow M2 around, I can confidently say this is one of those scooters. Hey everyone, Micah here with Electrek and today we are checking out the Bow M2. This is an electric scooter that is unlike any other out there. I can all but guarantee that. Come along with us while we check it out. The Bow M2 is not your average escooter. It is a purpose-built premium commuter vehicle. It’s got real design polish, engineering refinement, and yeah, a price tag to match. And we’re going to get to that, though. But first, let’s talk about the construction. This scooter is built around a single piece aluminum unibody frame. B calls it the mono curve chassis, and it’s honestly beautiful. There are no welds, no hinges, and no folding joints. Just one clean, sweeping curve of aluminum. It looks futuristic, and more importantly, it feels rock solid. Even when you’re riding hard or bouncing over rough pavement, the frame doesn’t flex or creek the way a scooter with a folding mechanism usually does. If you’ve ever felt that little bit of play in a typical folding scooter, this is the total opposite. It honestly feels more like a motorcycle frame than a scooter. Though the fact that it doesn’t fold means it arrives in a bit of a strange shaped box, which I was ready to ride right off the bat. Playtime aside though, unboxing this thing shows just how unconventional it really is. And then your first ride on it solidifies that weirdly solid and planted feel that the unibody construction provides. But the real standout feature here and the thing that blew me away probably the most is the steering. It makes use of something that B calls safe steer. Now, one really awesome design feature that I’m going to try to explain here, and I hope I do a good enough job explaining it, is the steering damper. So, you’d think that this scooter steers like any other scooter, but in fact, when you release the bars, it returns to neutral. It returns to that center line. And that’s important because we’ve got a steering damper built into the steering column here. And it prevents you from getting those speed wobbles. It prevents the the tank slapper, some people call it, on a on a motorcycle or the oscillations of the bars. And it just makes the ride that much more stable. In fact, generally scooters you cannot ride without hands. It’s incredibly dangerous. But on the bow here, you can because it’s got that steering damper and it stabilizes itself. You can actually take your hands off the bars. Now, it feels weird for me to do it, and I don’t like to do it for long periods of time because it seems so unnatural on a scooter, but I physically can do it. I can ride without hands on the bars, and that’s just kind of crazy for me. It’s some beautiful engineering that they’ve built into this thing, and it probably comes from the fact that it’s actual automotive engineers that are designing the the Bose scooters. So, I think that’s just a really cool differentiator here. [Music] Now, let’s talk performance. The Bow M2 uses what is rated as a 400 W motor, but that number is just sort of a sticker. The motor actually peaks at,270 W, giving you a top speed of 22 mph or 35 kmh. That’s fast enough for bike lanes and most urban commuting, even if it’s not quite class 3 ebike fast. If you’re on big streets, I can still see cases where some people would want to go faster, though. So, I’d call this a great bike lane scooter or maybe a road scooter as long as the local traffic isn’t going much more than 25 miles per hour. Acceleration is strong from that over 1,000 W peak motor, especially in sport mode, but it’s not jerky. There’s also an eco mode if you want to conserve battery, but I didn’t really use the eco mode that much because frankly, it’s just not quite as fun. Personally, I stuck with sport mode because it was powerful without being twitchy, and it felt like the best balance of power and performance for me. Range is rated at up to 26.2 mi or 42.2 km, or conveniently exactly one marathon. I was able to get over 20 m consistently on real world rides myself going around the city, which is more than enough for most daily commutes, I would say. That 672-Wh battery charges in about 4 and 1/2 hours with the included fast charger. Braking is also pretty well thought out. Up front, you’ve got a sealed mechanical drum brake. And in the rear, you’ve got a regenerative braking system through the motor that comes with electronic ABS. That regen system can load up as much as 1,000 watts of power during braking. So, it’s not just stopping you, it’s also feeding that energy back into the battery. The braking is smooth and progressive. And again, thanks to that steering damper, you can break really hard without the front end starting to get squirly. Everything just feels pretty nicely balanced and like it was designed to work together. Also, kind of like it was designed by people who worked in automotive engineering because in fact it it was. These guys have backgrounds in Jaguar, Williams, and Land Rover, which might explain the more premium looking design as well. Next up, the ride quality on the BO M2 is honestly among the best I’ve experienced for a scooter with no suspension. Now, that is the caveat here that there is no true actual suspension. But B has something it calls the air deck system. Basically, a layer of EVA foam under the deck that absorbs a lot of road vibration. Combine that with the 10-in tubeless air filled tires and the silicone grips, and you’ve got a ride that feels pretty good on a bunch of different types of decent surfaces. No, it is not going to soak up giant potholes, but for normal city streets, it’s a surprisingly smooth experience, and it definitely soaks up the normal road vibration. Just don’t expect it to smooth out any road craters. You would want a scooter with long travel suspension for that. Lighting here is pretty good, I would say. It’s got an 800 lm headlight up front. Then there are these wraparound daytime running lights and a bright rear brake light. The whole scooter is IP66 rated, so rain is not a problem for the hardware. though, of course, I still don’t recommend riding in the rain unless you have to. You know, slippery roads, low visibility, and wet leaves, they don’t exactly help scooters out any. There’s also a mouse interlock phone mount included, though I didn’t use it because I’m a Peak Design mount guy myself. But one thing I did make use of were the foldout bag hooks that also have a neat lockable anchor point built right into them for your U-lock. And the steering damper makes it a bit safer to carry bags there than a typical damperless scooter. There’s also a built-in motor immobilizer that you can trigger from the Bose smartphone app in case someone does cut through your U-lock. So, at least you can force them to have to carry the scooter away, I guess, instead of making an easy escape riding it. To sum it up, let’s talk about the price because that is the ultimate factor for a lot of people. At $2,490, the Bo M2 is not cheap. In fact, it is probably downright expensive. Now, you can get a capable scooter for half that price. Definitely, you know, this is a lot of money, but this model isn’t about raw specs or dollar per watt value. This scooter is definitely for someone who wants premium design, premium features, and a premium ride experience. And if that’s you, then yeah, it might be worth it to get something with features that no other scooter has. And if you’re looking to spend a bit less, B also has their M1 model, which starts at $1,990. It’s got lower power, but shares the same great design DNA. But after riding the M2 here, I’d say that the upgrade is worth it if you want the best experience. And let’s be honest, if you’re considering a scooter built by former Jaguar and Land Rover engineers, and that looks the part for something like that, then price is probably not your first concern on such a premium product. Ultimately, the Bow M2 is one of the most refined electric scooters I’ve ever tested. Between the uni-body construction, the steering damper, and all the small but meaningful design choices, it feels like a real vehicle. Not a toy, not a gimmick, but a real scooter vehicle. If you’re just looking for a cheap ride across the neighborhood, then this is not it. But if you want a serious commuter scooter that feels rock solid, rides like a dream, and turns heads while doing it, the Bow M2 absolutely delivers. Thanks for watching, everyone. We hope you enjoyed that review of the Bow M2 electric scooter. If you did, why don’t you give this video a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe so you won’t miss any of our future electric vehicle videos. We’ll see you here next time. [Music]
The Bo M2 is one of the most refined electric scooters I’ve ever ridden, and it’s a pleasure to ride each time I hop on it. Check out what I mean in my video review! To grab your own visit, find it here: https://us.bo.world/products/m2 (in the US, or use their Europe site across the pond).
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