13 Types of Mobility Scooters (for Fun and Independence)

The longer you shop, the more you’ll notice that the types of mobility change from website to website.

Why is this mobility scooter a “compact travel” device here but a “folding portable” one over there?

I spent hours studying how manufacturers and vendors classify their products to simplify all of this silliness.

After you read this article, you will immediately know what you are viewing while shopping to find the right mobility scooter for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Mobility scooter sizes are typically referred to:
  • Compact (small)
  • Full-Size (medium)
  • Heavy-Duty (large)
• The portable type includes a few flavors:
  • Lightweight: Easy to lift
  • Take-apart (disassembling): Break into smaller pieces
  • Folding: Fold into smaller size
• The travel type is another word for portable.
• An indoor type has to be small enough for indoors, so it is either:
  • Compact: smaller size for indoors
  • Full-size: some full-size are small enough for indoors
• You can use any mobility scooter outdoors, but the ones specifically built for outdoors are:
  • All-terrain: use it off-road
  • Recreational: luxury features
• A luxury type is another word for recreational.
• A 3-wheel type can make tight turns, but can tip over
• A 4-wheel type typically makes wide turns but is stable. There are now 4-wheel models that make tighter turns than some 3-wheels!
• A bariatric type is constructed for heavy people (400 lb.+).
• An enclosed type is a almost a car but has a 15 mph maximum speed.

1. Portable

Portable mobility comes in compact (small) and full-size (medium) sizes.

You might also see the compact vehicles referred to as lightweight and travel.

The portability has a few flavors:

• Lightweight
• Disassembly (take-apart)
• Folding
• A hybrid combnation of 2 or 3 of the above

This is how they work:

• Lightweight portable mobility scooters depend on their light materials and small size to make them portable.
• Take-apart (disassembling) models break into pieces so you can carry the lighter weight and smaller pieces.
• Folding models fold into flatter, smaller configurations. Some fold into suitcase-like trolleys that you can pull on wheels.

Lightweight

A compact size can be lightweight, take-apart or folding (or a combination).

A full-size model is too large and heavy to be “lightweight,” so gets its portability from coming apart into pieces or folding (or both).

The lightweight part is difficult to achieve.

The strong materials required to support a rider are heavy.

This is getting better with carbon, a ligthweight but strong material allowing the scooter to be strong and still lightweight.

Be careful when you see “lightweight” describing a full-size mobility scooter.

What’s lightweight to the person writing that might not be lightweight to you.

Take-Apart (Disassembly)

Compact and full-size mobility scooters can gain portability from coming apart into smaller, lighter pieces.

Some models are easy to take apart and re-assemble.

That’s the easy part.

The hard part is making the parts light enough.

When a compact model comes apart, the heaviest piece might be 30 lb.

When a full-size is in pieces, its heaviest piece is 35-70 lb.

I can work with the full-size portable take-apart because my back and feet issues don’t interfere with the strength I need to lift the scooter parts into the trunk.

My scooter-buddy friend Bev and I have been unable to find the right full-size portable for her, because her leg and hand weakness make the parts too heavy for her abilities.

We found that breaking down my full-size mobility scooters into pieces (take-apart portability) was not going to work for her. The pieces are still too heavy for her to lift.

Full-size portable models are not always that portable.

Folding

Folding a mobility scooter makes it smaller and thereby easier to lift into the car.

It’s easier to pick up a small 30 lb. mobility scooter than a large one.

Luggage models fold up into a wheeled, suitcase-like shape that you can pull through the airport like a suitcase.

The Pride iGo is a 3-wheel mobility scooter that folds and then comes apart into two 30 lb. pieces.

This makes it as portable as a mobility scooter gets and in my opinion would be perfect were it not a 3-wheel. If they could just do that with a 4-wheel!!

2. Compact (Small)

A compact scooter is small and lightweight, making it the best option for portability.

This is why compacts are often called:

• Compact Lightweight
• Compact Travel
• Compact Portable

In order to maintain that portability, compacts usually have fewer luxuries to make you more comfortable. A typical compact has a hard seat and no storage.

Compact Models

Some mobility scooter types have multiple personalities. This is not so of the compact size.

They scooters are too small to be all-terrain, recreational or bariatric. Their speciality is portability.

The compact size is for the rider who will not be bothered by this lack of padding and requires a lightweight, small and portable scooter to travel.

3. Full-Size (Medium size)

Not to confuse you, but “full-size” actually means “medium size.” In the size hierarchy, from smallest to largest, we have:

• Compact (small)
• Full-size (medium size)
• Heavy-duty (large)

A full-size combines comfort with the possiblity of portability.

Full-Size Models

Full-size mobility scooters have several personalities.

Full-size models include:

• Portable: in the car or an airplane
• All-Terrain: go off-roading
• Recreational: drive long ways in comfort
• Bariatric: for heavier users

Most full-size scooters are a combination of these types. The Pride Baja Bandit is a portable, all-terrain bariatric!

Each of these (portable, all-terrain, recreational and baratric) as its own section in this article.

4. Heavy-Duty (Large size)

I promise this is the last time I’ll do this. I know it seems like “heavy-duty” is about how tough the scooter is, but it also means “large.” When you see “heavy-duty,” substitute the word “large.”

A heavy-duty is large and heavy, cannot be used indoors (becuse it’s too large and heavy), and can be outfiited to be an all-terrain, recreational or bariatric type.

Heavy-Duty Models

Depending on the features, a heavy-dutyscooter can be any or a combination of:

• All-terrain: of-road
• Recreational: long drive in comfort
• Bariatric: for the heavier user

Each of these (all-terrain, recreational and baratric) as its own section in this article.

A Scooter Can Be More Than One Type

There are very few pure examples in each category. For example, the full-size Pride Baja Bandit has portability, all-terrain and bariatric features.

The Baja Bandit:

• Comes apart into pieces for transport, making it portable
• Handles users up to 400 lb., making it bariatric
• Has lights, shock absorpers, a strong motor, and a high ground clearance, making it all-terrain

It’s fair to call the Baja Bandit a full-size portable bariatric all-terrain type!

Matching Your Mobility Scooter to Your Goals

I will help you brainstorm your scooter goals and needs to help you narrow down the type of scooter to buy.

We will explore the right mobility scooter based on your answer to these questions:

What are your limitations? Weakness (disability limitations) and pain alter which type is best for you.

Will you use the scooter indoors? An indoor vehicle must navigate rooms, doors and hallways. The scooter must fit the space and maneuver the obstacles and turns.

Will you use the it outdoors? An outdoor model must work on sidewalks, pavement and potentially off-road areas like dirt roads or boardwalks.

How will you transport the it? If you want to take it with you in the car, you will need to get it into the trunk, either by lifting it yourself or using a specialized lifting device. If you want to take it on a plane, you will need an airline-friendly vehicle.

How will you store your it? Will the mobility scooter be in your way when you’re not using it? Will it fit in a closet or under a bed? Will you need a shed or a garage?

Do you want to have fun? It doesn’t have to be just about getting to the store and back. The scooter gives you the opportunity to get fresh air and sunshine. Do you want to ride a wooded trail or take a two-day camping trip? This can be about fun, too!

Whether you are looking for your first scooter or considering an upgrade, this guide will help you navigate the options and find your perfect match.

I Thought I Wanted an All-Terrain

After I’d started my research, I was drawn to the Pride Baja Wrangler, a heavy-duty, all-terrain monster of a model.

But I didn’t want to jump into my new hobby at the top.

I had never purchased a mobility scooter before.

What if I didn’t like riding?

Maybe I should start smaller and work my way up.

I suppressed the urge to buy the biggest, most awesome scooter I’d found because I needed to start smaller.

I bought my first two (two!) mobility scooters last Saturday.

I Bought a Full-Size 3-Wheel

The first mobility scooter I bought was a Pride Mobility Go Go Elite Traveller 3-wheel.

My husband and I arrived at the seller’s father’s home. The father had passed away, so the daughter was selling this model.

I took the scooter for a fun drive on the road. As I headed back, I drove over a bump between the street and the driveway.

The front wheel hit the obstacle at an angle. The scooter started to tip to the right.

I instinctively let go of the throttle. The electromagnetic brakes worked perfectly. I immediately came to a stop.

At the same moment, I put my right foot on the driveway.

That stopped the tipping, and I learned a valuable lesson: My gut feeling that 3-wheelers were unstable was true, and here was the proof.

Imagine my friend with multiple sclerosis in this situation. She can’t move her legs sometimes!

I bought the 3-wheeler, not as my main mobility scooter, but to post videos of this instability.

I’m a healthy person with a bad back who can stop a three-wheel from throwing me.

I would never recommend one to my readers, most of whom have disabilities and would not do well if their vehicle tipped over.

I Bought a Full-Size 4-Wheel

The next purchase was a Pride Mobility Elite Traveller 4-wheel.

They are full-size portable scooters that come apart into smaller pieces that are easier to lift into the trunk of the car.

I acquired the full-size portables over the heavy-duty all-terrain because I needed portability.

I want to take my scooters with me in the trunk of my car.

I went to Hampton Beach because my two scooters fit in my car trunk.

The beach trip would have been postponed if I bought the Baja Wrangler.

I’d Need a Cargo Carrier

Had I purchased the Baja Wrangler I’d been wanting, I would have needed cargo transport to carry the scooters to the beach.

The Go Go Elite scooters fit in my car because they disassemble into smaller pieces.

The Wrangler is huge and does not disassemble.

Had I purchased the Wrangler, I would have needed a cargo carrier and ramp for the back of my car!

I still have the Wrangler on my To Do List, but I also need to work my way up to the commitment of a cargo trailer.

It’s another investment, and it requires excellent driving and parking skills.

By buying the full-size portables instead of the heavy-duty all-terrain mobility scooter, I was saying that portability in the car was more important to me than the ability to go off-roading.

It was the right decision.

So much so that I bought a third full-size portable one: A Golden Technologies Buzzaround Carry-On 4-wheel.

I lend my extras to my scooter-buddy friends. We get fresh air, sunshine and have a lot of fun riding around the neighborhood, local parks and the beach.

Choosing the right type of mobility scooter can be life-changing.

Conclusion

Whew! Who knew there were so many types of mobility scooters?

From my Go Go Travellers that took us down the Hampton Beach boardwalk to heavy-duty models that can handle a mountain trail, there’s a type for everyone.

Choosing a mobility scooter is a bit like choosing a dance partner—you want one that matches your style, keeps up with your pace, and makes you feel confident.

This is about reclaiming your independence and rediscovering the joy of movement.

My new scooters have already taken me places I thought were out of reach, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next.

So, whether you’re considering your first scooter or looking to upgrade, I hope this guide helps you find the perfect match for your mobility adventure.

Here’s to new horizons and the wind in our hair – no matter how many wheels get us there!