BERLIN: There's been a boom in rentable electric scooters in cities across the world, thanks to companies like Lime or Bird. However, the current market for buying e-scooters looks quite a bit different.

For one, few companies are selling e-scooters that are actually approved for road use. And secondly, many of them just aren't that good quality, a test by a German consumer goods tester found.

The goods tester, Stiftung Warentest, looked at seven e-scooters that ran between US$380 and US$1,270 (RM1,646 to RM5,500). "All but two models failed. And only one was rated as good," reported Stiftung Warentest.

Breakage, bad brakes and possibly carcinogenic pollutants in the handles were among the factors that led to five of the models being rated as "poor." Two of the models were even broken beyond repair.

Stiftung Warentest recommended only two models.

The one rated "good" was the Walberg The-Urban #BRLN V3, which retails for US$1,030 (RM4,460). The raters were especially impressed by its durability and riding style. While the ability to fold the scooter could be a positive factor, its relatively heavy weight — 15.3kg — as well as a lack of a carry handle and the inability to lock the handlebars — made it hard to carry around.

The IO Hawk Sparrow-Legal, the cheapest e-scooter in the bunch, made second place, being graded as "satisfactory." Its non-slip footboard got a mediocre rating for handling and riding comfort; testers didn't like the fact that the brakes didn't work well when it was wet out.

Similarly to the other top-ranked scooter, it also didn't allow for the handlebars and steering to be locked when it was being carried, which, at 13.5kg, didn't win it favour with the testers.

Stiftung Warentest limited its test subjects to only models that could be folded up, thus making them more appealing to commuters.

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