NAMI has taken their outstanding flagship, BURN-E electric scooter, and cost reduced it, but they seem to have made a critical mistake: they forgot to make it worse than the expensive version in any meaningful way. I’m joking here, but only a little. 

BURN-E electric scooters are very special. They feel special to ride and have enough hand-built exotic scooter-presence that you feel it even standing next to one. So it’s incredible to me that the entry-level BURN-E, with its carbon fiber stem, hand-welded aluminum frame, and acceleration that seems to shove the earth backward underneath you, now costs around $3500. 

I’m not saying that everyone should go out and buy one. This is still a 100 lb beast, so if you’re looking for a >40 mph commute-scooter and have two flights of stairs at either end of your ride, a light heavyweight like the Apollo Phantom, Vsett 10+, or Mantis V2 is going to serve you better.

But if 100 lbs isn’t a deal-breaker, and you have $3500 to spend, just buy it. The ride quality is exquisite and, honestly, slightly better than the original BURN-E due to improved brake-feel. You will not find better ride quality than this at any price.

Ok, before you pull the trigger, NAMI did hold two things back: The BURN-E 2 electric scooter has a much lower top speed, at an ESG certified 43.8 mph vs. Error: Value not specified. for the original BURN-E, and has a smaller, generic, battery. 

Some folks will miss the eye-watering top speed, but I doubt many will notice the difference in the battery, as we were able to cover 49.1 mi on our BURN-E 2 electric scooter vs. 53.3 mi on the original. 

For me, the trade-offs are more than worth it. Take my money, NAMI!

The acceleration of the BURN-E 2 electric scootercompletely exceeded our expectations keeping up with the world’s biggest and fastest electric scooters from zero to 35 mph. It’s only at speeds of 40 mph and above that the bigger scooters pull away.

The BURN-E 2 electric scooter can sustain 35 mph or more, climbing just about any hill. On our 10% grade hill-climb test, the BURN-E 2 was the 4th quickest production scooter we’ve ever tested, arriving just ½ a second behind our all-time champ, the original BURN-E electric scooter.

Top speed is where the reduced performance spec becomes clear. With an RG-certified top speed of 43.8 mph, the BURN-E 2 electric scooter is a full 15 mph slower than the original.

I love going fast on electric scooters, but I rarely want to go faster than 40 mph unless I'm out testing. So 99% of the time, I wouldn’t feel held back by “only” being able to go 43.8 mph.

So for me, giving up some top speed and saving fourteen hundred dollars feels worth it.

The BURN-E 2 surprised us, covering 49.1 mi on our range test course in top performance mode. Only 4.2 mi short of the original BURN-E electric scooter under identical conditions. Not bad, considering the BURN-E 2’s 20% smaller battery.

The BURN-E 2’s braking performance was basically unchanged, stopping from 15 miles per hour in 10.3 ft vs. the original’s 10.2 ft. The new Logan 2-piston Hydraulic brakes on the BURN-E 2 feel noticeably better than the Nutt brakes on the original BURN-E electric scooter. The more expensive BURN-E 2 Max will come with four-piston Logan calipers with even larger brake pads, so we expect its brakes to feel even better. 

NAMI is the Ferrari of the electric scooter world. The hand-welded frame, carbon fiber stem, adjustable shocks, Logan brakes, and new TUOVTT tires give the BURN-E 2 better ride quality than literally any other scooter I’ve ridden, including the original BURN-E.

The shocks let you dial in rebound-damping from bouncy to super smooth. The BURN-E electric scooter is the only high-power scooter that combines adjustable suspension with a welded tubular frame, and that’s why the handling feels so good.

Right out of the box, handling is exceptional, but if you want it to handle like the race bike I used to win a road racing championship, check out ourNAMI setup video to help you get the most out of your BURN-E electric scooter, no matter which version you have.

In terms of raw power, it’s hard to tell the two versions apart below 35 mph.

The sine-wave motor controllers give you ultra-smooth throttle control, even in “X” mode, but it also has five customizable riding modes if you want to tame it even further.

The scooter does have its quirks: the dead space in the throttle is still there but still easy to avoid. Anchor your thumb on the housing and rock your thumb into the lever. 

The throttle begins to engage when your thumb is even with the housing. Anchoring also prevents accidental throttle when you hit a bump. 

High-speed stability has been improved in two ways: the bars are now 27 in wide vs. 24 in and a half, and more importantly, the BURN-E electric scooter now comes with an adjustable steering damper, and our setup video covers how to use that too.

The wider bars are also ½ an inch taller, making this the tallest scooter in our database and a good fit for riders from 5 ft 7 in to well over 6 ft tall. 

The enormous deck is also suitable for larger feet and lets you change your stance during long rides.

It’s not just good for bigger riders; the BURN-E 2 electric scooter is one of the best scooters for bigger riders. Its 330 lb rider weight limit feels like a conservative spec. This may be the most substantial scooter frame ever made. 

Adjustable springs and damping mean you can optimize the suspension for just about any weight. The BURN-E 2 electric scooter has the same dance-floor-sized deck as the original BURN-E, so no matter what size feet you have, you will find a comfortable stance.

Taller riders will love the wide handlebars and the 42.5 in handlebar-height from the deck, the tallest we’ve ever seen. It’s not just the ergonomics; the BURN-E 2 also has all of the hill-climbing power you could ever need. Not quite as much as the original, which scaled San Francisco’s steepest hill and launched off of the top of it, but still enough to tie for 4th fastest ever in our hill climb test.

The NAMI BURN-E 2 electric scooter weighs in at just 4.5 lbs less than the original, but it’s still a 100 lb beast. It’s not going to fit in your trunk or under your desk, and you’re not going to want to carry it anywhere by yourself. You can fit it into an SUV, though. 

Some will criticize the non-folding handlebars and slow stem folding, but since this scooter isn’t about portability, we appreciate that they optimized for excellent handlebar and stem-feel instead. Putting folding handlebars on this thing would have as much impact as putting folding mirrors on a semi-truck.

The stem latch mechanism itself is unique, well made, and ends up perfectly snug every time. 

In our previous review, we called out the short brake cable, and it’s still a little too short, so be careful pulling upward on the stem when folding.

! NOTE: Be careful not to lift the front of the scooter by grabbing the frame closer to the stem (big finger trap there! We recommend taking a moment to clearly see what we’re talking about to keep yourself safe) Grab closer to the deck instead as shown in the photo above. It’s important to make this distinction because due to the scooter’s center of gravity, you will naturally want to hold closer to the stem.

The gorgeous display appears to be slightly brighter than our original NAMI BURN-E electric scooter, and, as always includes a USB charging port for your phone. It also has cruise control that lets you dial in your speed, but we’re unsure how useful that is on a beast scooter. We love thumb throttles, but this one isn’t our favorite. We’d love to see NAMI switch to something more like the vertically rotating throttles used on rental scooters than the big paddle-style one they’re using here. 

A fast scooter needs a strong headlight to see far enough ahead at night, and the NAMI BURN-E 2 eclectic scooter has it. It’s not as strong as the all-time champions: the Wolf Warrior series, but still very good. 

We called out the original BURN-E for the turn signals not being visible from behind. So we were happy to see them not wrapping around the back. Unfortunately, the new connector for the rear motor obscures the view of the right turn signal and brake light, but we think other drivers will still get the point.

Our BURN-E 2 arrived equipped with TUOVTT 11 in x 3.5 in tires rather than the 11 in CST brand tires we’ve seen on every 11 in scooter. They have better feel when cornering than the CSTs but felt slightly less stable in a straight line than the CST tires on our original NAMI BURN-E. Most people won’t feel the difference, and almost no one will see the difference because the TUOVTT tires and CST tires use an identical tread pattern.

We’ve covered the steering damper, wider bars, and Logan brakes, but here’s a breakdown of some other significant differences between the BURN-E and BURN-E 2.

Aside from using a smaller battery, one of the places the BURN-E saves money is by using generic battery cells. In the long term, generic cells probably lose 5% more charging capacity over the course of 500 charges, but that adds up to about  25,000 miles, which is a lot for a scooter. 

When it’s time to recharge, the NAMI BURN-E 2 electric Scooter now comes with a single 5A charger that will take it from zero to 100% in 6 hours. I like that the fan lets you know when it’s charging, but the sound can get old if you have to be in the same room. 

Waterproofing has clearly been improved, though IP rating remains at IP55, and fenders are as good as ever.

The motors can now be unplugged from the main harness, which comes in handy during tire changes.

It now has a steering stop that’s more resistant to bending, though the damper is now acting as the steering stop, when installed.

Minor improvements are everywhere! Fasteners have been upgraded with larger heads on rotor bolts, deck bolts, and fender bolts. This may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, this will prevent many stripped screw heads. 

And then there’s the welding of the belly pan. It doesn’t ride, but it looks much better.

Turn Signals now wrap all the way around the back; and look amazing, though the new motor plug partially blocks them. 

We don’t usually review the box itself, but let's just say the original box was not the most successful design. So we were happy to see the BURN-E 2 scooter arrive double boxed and in excellent condition.

So who is this scooter for? To be honest, the NAMI BURN-E 2 electric scooter and all [esg_unit 100 lb] beast scooters are for hard-core scooter enthusiasts. No one needs the performance of a 100 lb scooter for their commute, and you need to be a bit of a scooter nerd to appreciate the full tunability of this scooter.

The BURN-E 2 scooter is for riders who enjoy the rarity, long-range, and the ride quality of a hand-built, premium-scooter but are willing to forego a name-brand battery and eye-watering top speed to save fourteen hundred bucks. 

I’m honestly shocked at how good this scooter is for the price. 

This is the coolest scooter you can buy for about thirty-five hundred dollars. 

Basically, it’s the Ferrari of scooters at a Lexus price. 

Maybe they should have called it the NAMI BURN-E “SE.”