Spanish · 5 years on Samui
Spanish cycling enthusiast and eco-travel advocate on Koh Samui for 5 years. Carlos covers all bicycle and e-scooter content with a focus on sustainable exploration.
Updated: May 2026
Riding the full ring road from Chaweng - clockwise to Nathon, north to Mae Nam, east back to Chaweng - last February on the EK3, I completed 52 kilometres with 38 per cent combined battery remaining. No charge stops, no range anxiety, no speed reduction to conserve battery on the ring road sections. The EK3's dual battery makes the ring road circuit a relaxed day trip rather than a range calculation. At the Nathon waterfront market I parked for 45 minutes without worrying about the return - the battery figures made the arithmetic trivially comfortable.
On the north coastal road from Chaweng to Mae Nam last November - 18 kilometres of flat, scenic tarmac - I reached the Mae Nam beach car park with 88 per cent combined battery remaining. I had left Chaweng fully charged. Adding the Fisherman's Village and Big Buddha to the circuit extended the total to 38 kilometres, returning with 58 per cent remaining. The north coastal corridor is the EK3's most natural Samui route: flat, consistent surface, destinations spaced at intervals the dual battery makes trivial, and an eco-resort setting that matches the EK3's environmental character.
From Chaweng south to Lamai last October - 14 kilometres of coast and slight elevation - I used 14 per cent combined battery. Extending to Hua Thanon fishing village added 6 kilometres and 7 per cent. The return to Chaweng used 18 per cent. Full south coast day from Chaweng: 40 kilometres, 39 per cent battery. The south coast circuit reveals the EK3's dual battery advantage most clearly - a tourist who adds spontaneous detours to the standard Chaweng-Lamai circuit can do so without calculating whether the battery will support the addition.
Planning a market day on the EK3 last January - the Nathon waterfront market, the Lamai morning market, and the Fisherman's Village evening market, total 58 kilometres over a full day - I arrived home with 28 per cent combined battery. Three markets, one charge. A single-battery e-scooter on the same circuit would require a midday charge stop at either Nathon or Lamai to complete all three comfortably. The EK3's extended range converts a logistically complex multi-market day into a single-charge itinerary.
Above the Nathon ridge last March I tested the EK3 on the mountain road toward the central viewpoint - 6 kilometres of 8 per cent gradient, rough tarmac. Battery consumption was 3.5 per cent per kilometre on the ascent, compared to 0.9 per cent on flat coastal road. After 5 kilometres I had used 18 per cent on the climb; the return on the descent recovered 4 per cent. The EK3's limits on Samui are the same as all e-scooters: mountain circuits without charge points, gravel plantation tracks, and beach access sand paths. On tarmac routes below 80 kilometres, the EK3 has no practical limit.
Five years of riding the Horwin EK3 on Koh Samui has produced a consistent set of recommended routes: the full ring road circuit, the north coastal corridor to Mae Nam and the Fisherman's Village, the south coast day to Lamai and Hua Thanon, and the multi-market circuit combining Nathon, Lamai, and the Fisherman's Village. All four routes stay on tarmac, all four use the dual battery's range advantage to remove charge-stop planning, and all four connect the island's best markets, beaches, and landmarks within a single-charge day.
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