Dualtron Thunder 2

Dualtron’s latest upgrade to the Thunder brings with it a number of upgrades and changes developed by user complaint and inquiry over the years of its production.

It’s been over 4 years since the Dualtron Thunder was released. Back then, it was a model that shook the extreme scooter landscape and pushed the standard further. Fast forward four years and the Dualtron Thunder 2 hit the shelves.

Thunder 2 is one of the fastest Dualtrons to date, with the Dualtron Storm LTD and the Dualtron X II Up beating it by a small margin. With an acceleration of 4.4 s (0-30 mph) and a top speed of up to 100 Km/h (62 MPH), thanks to the Dual 2700W BLDC Dual Hub Motors, the Thunder 2 is indeed a racing scooter.

The Thunder 2 is hard to control on low speeds since both motors are always engaged, and pushing the throttle even slightly makes the scooter bolt forward. It also doesn’t help that the ECO mode button is hard to reach on the dashboard. This makes riding the Thunder 2 on busy streets feel awkward at times.

New controllers and Boost mode

The Thunder 2 also features new controllers. The current ones are 72v 45A + 15A boost. How boost works now is that you simply double tap the throttle, and enjoy an extra power delivery of +15A per controller (for a total of +30A) for 10 second intervals. Once the boost is over, a cooldown activates, which prevents you from boosting for the next minute or so, and gives the controllers some time to cool down. It’s a pretty simple and smart design choice.

The Thunder 2 comes in two battery configurations: 72V 32Ah and 72V 40Ah. The website states that the max range of the scooter is 130 Km (80 Mi) and 170 Km (105 Mi), respectively. As we all know though, this is only achievable in lab conditions (steady speed of 25km/h, perfectly flat road, lightweight driver). In reality, unless you have all the time in the world, you’ll be pushing on that throttle as hard as you can.

Real Range of the Thunder 2

We tested the real range of the scooter for you. We took it out to the road and depleted the full battery while racing as aggressively as we could. Unsurprisingly, the weight of the driver plays a huge role in battery life. Here are our results:

100kg (220 lbs.) rider = 50km (31 Mi)
75kg (165 lbs.) rider = 60km (37 Mi)

You can obviously make that distance a lot longer by driving more carefully but please do not expect the full advertised 170 Km (105 Mi) / 130 Km (80 Mi).

A huge improvement

The Thunder 2 comes with a LG-M50LT 21700 battery that can easily hold the 10,800W peak power, something that was not possible with the old MJ1 18650.

Revamped regenerative brake

One huge issue the Dualtron Thunder has is that the regenerative brake can burn the controller. This happens when the electric brake is set on max power, and engaged on a full battery. This issue has been addressed in the Thunder 2. Now, the regen brake is automatically disabled as soon as the 83.5V mark is reached. You can now safely set your regen brake settings to max level without the need to worry about the safety of your controller’s MOSFETs.

Battery Durability

The longevity of a battery is measured in charge cycles. Basically, the more you use a battery, the more it loses capacity. Based on my calculations, the Thunder 2 should start losing performance after 25-30.000 km, which is a lot for an escooter. One cycle is counted when battery is charged 85% unlike Thunder at 95%.

‘Nutt 2’ Brakes

Good brakes should be (a) powerful enough to stop the vehicle fast, (b) easy to activate and (c) be durable. While the ‘Nutt 2’ does fulfill criteria A and C, it does fall behind in point B when compared to the previous model.

First of all, the ‘Nutt 2’ comes with longer levers which makes the braking process take longer. The gap between the pads and the disk is so wide you have to pump the brake 2-3 times before it fully kicks in. Talking about the disk, it’s the same as found on the first ‘Nutt’ model – there was no improvement in that area.

Secondly, the brake is now harder to install. The caliper tube, which used to be flexible in the ‘Nutt’ model, is now rigid, making it hard to fix the brake in a good place.

At this point, I’d recommend you change the brakes as soon as you get the scooter. The ‘Magura Mt5e’ and ‘Magura MT7 PRO’ are good options, and even the first ‘Nutt’ model would still be a better alternative than the ‘Nutt 2’.

Tires

The Thunder 2 comes with 11-inch ultra-wide no-flat tires. Basically, the tires are now filled with a sealant that instantly reseals any puncture. While a welcome feature, the sealant also makes the wheels heavier. I might be lucky but I haven’t got a flat a single time in my 4 years of riding my Thunder, so I’d rather keep using the lighter PMT 90/65R 6.5″ T41 SLICKs instead.

Turn Signals

The Thunder 2 comes with turn signal lights on the rear side of the deck only. While it’s a great improvement over the first model, it’s still not ideal missing the front. I manged to manually install turn signal lights on my Dualtron Thunder, I had to install two yellow caps in front by carbonrevo and with the help of an electrician we were able to create the turn signal lights with current light controller and to install a button switcher.

Less wobbly but still not perfect

Most electric scooters come with a folding mechanism that makes it possible to carry them around. While it’s a nice feature to have, it also means that there is one extra mobile part that can get wobbly, or even loose. The Dualtron Thunder was no stranger to these issues. As you could see in one of my previous videos, Thunder users have to manually disassemble and tighten the nut on the steering bar periodically.

The Thunder also has issues with the headset piece, and the only way to fix that is to replace it completely with a kit manufactured by Sonken Engineering, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ds-Xw4W66U.

The Thunder 2 tries to address those issues by featuring a completely new folding system. Now, you have two big washers that tighten it, as well as a double folding clamp to hold the stem in place when unfolded. The big screw that used to be on the bottom of the steering bar is now gone too, as it used to get loose often.

While better, the system is still not ideal. The stem still gets wobbly after a couple hundred kilometers. There are, once again, community-made parts that can solve the issue. The first one is to install the upgraded folding clamp for Dualtron Thunder 2 (link). Check this forum thread for more details https://forum.madcharge.com/d/143-dualtron-thunder-2-loose-steering

Other new features and upgrades found on Dualtron Thunder 2:

Motors all time dual, no more single or dual switch
Reworked regenerative brake
Controllers with 72v 45A + 15A boost.
New Folding/Steering system
Arm deck reworked
Footrest with taillight and brake light added as standard
Horn also as default installed
Better tires with no flat sealant included
New rubber deck, completely new to electric scooters
Upgraded kickstand
Better charging ports protection
LED lights from analog to digital
Turn signal as default installed but only on rear
New button switch controller for lights, eco, horn etc..