History of electric scooters
Xiaomi M365 and the canonization of the consumer electric scooter (2016–2026)
A standalone historical profile of the Xiaomi Mijia M365 — the folding electric scooter Xiaomi unveiled in Beijing on 15 December 2016 and that over ten years became the reference platform for the entire consumer industry: the foundations of the Xiaomi + Ninebot partnership (April 2015 investment in an $80 million round and the joint acquisition of Segway), the canonical specifications (250 W BLDC, 36 V, 7.8 Ah, ~280 Wh of LG 18650 cells, 25 km/h, 30 km range, IP54, 8.5″ pneumatic tyres, regenerative + disc braking, ~12.5 kg, single-stroke folding stem), its role as the hardware base for the first Bird (September 2017) and Lyft (2018) fleets in Santa Monica, the cultural phenomenon of hacking (m365 DownG, ScooterHacking, botox.bz custom firmware, unlock to 30+ km/h, Zimperium CVE-2019-7367), the market evolution (M365 Pro July 2019, Essential / 1S July 2020, Pro 2 July 2020, 3 Lite June 2022, 4 Ultra November 2022, 4 Pro 2023, 5 Pro January 2025), the split between the Mi and Ninebot Kickscooter brands after the ES2 launch in late 2017, and why every modern specification — IP54+, ~12 kg of weight, ~30 km of range, single-stroke stem, rear disc brake — is the formalization of the M365 specifically, rather than of some abstract 'average scooter'.