Hi - new XB-700Li owner here

[takabanana]

I'm a new owner of a X-treme Scooters XB-700Li "electric bicycle" moped-like thing. :-)

X-Treme XB-700Li Lithium Battery Electric Bicycle

Bought it used, and still working through some initial problems ... hopefully it will all work out ok, but I'm here to find some tips, ideas, and get in some discussions. Thanks!

[takabanana]

BTW- reason for purchasing this specific model.

After Mint.com (awesome site for budgeting and managing finances) told me that my 1998 4-cylinder Toyota Corolla was costing me $1500 a year on gasoline alone, and then $1000-2000 a year on maintenance and repairs, I wanted something CHEAP for getting to/from work. "Cheap" meaning, preferably, a one-time cost of $2000 or less and minimal (as close as possible to zero) recurring costs - so that I can get a ROI very quickly (within 1-2 years).
This bike was perfect. It's fully electric, and does not require insurance/registration/tags. The "slowness" of its 20mph top speed puts it legally in the "bicycle" category in my state of Georgia. I expect to be riding it 50% out of the year, when sunny (days of up to 20% chance of rain), to/from work - which is 10.5 miles away. It's quite slow, but OK for a short distance (I definitely wouldn't ride it farther than 10.5 miles).
I've already measured that it takes me 35 minutes each way on this bike using local roads; if I drive, it's usually 20 minutes, and longer during rush hour (and even worse when there's an accident on the highway).

I almost looked at a moped (30mph or less) with about 100mpg - which would give me lower gas costs than a car, but higher than electric - but that would still add a few hundred $ per year for gas, plus higher maintenance costs than electric.

I am guessing that this bike does about 500mpg - or more. I've seen that the XB-600 (previous "heavier" model due to SLA batteries) does about 500mpg, so I'm assuming that it should do better.