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Please note that only the original Ecosmart motor and controller are bolt-and-go and plug-and-play on the Ecosmart scooter and any other motor and/or controller would require custom installation and wiring to install. 

Currie electric scooter motors have a larger front endcap than the original EcoSmart motor does, so installing them requires modification or replacement of the EcoSmart's motor mounting plate.  Most people wind up cutting the original motor mounting plate completely off and installing a new motor mounting plate in a different position to be able to install a Currie motor. The alignment between the wheel and motor sprockets is critical to making the chain work, so the motor has to be mounted in the perfect position to get this right. 

You could start off by installing a 750 Watt motor and then see how it works with the original speed controller. Most Razor speed controllers are rated for slightly larger motors than they are paired with, so you might notice more power by simply installing a new 750 Watt motor. The Razor EcoSmart controller is also used on the Razor MX650 Dirt Bike which has a 650 Watt motor.

If you do not notice any extra power than before, or want even more power after installing a 750 Watt motor, then you could install a 36 Volt 1000 Watt speed controller such as our SPD-361000B which may provide the new motor with more power than the original EcoSmart Metro speed controller does.

Of course, if you want maximum power right from the get-go then you could install a new 750 Watt motor and 1000 watt controller both at the same time. 

I have one more thought on this project. We have Currie 36 Volt 1000 Watt motors MOT-SD361000. They are the same size and have the same mounting hole pattern as the Currie 36 Volt 750 Watt motors do. For maximum power, you may want to consider installing a 1000 Watt motor and controller.

A good forum post to read regarding this modification is on this page: https://support.electricscooterparts.com/support/discussions/topics/1000088437

Please note that only the original Ecosmart motor and controller are bolt-and-go and plug-and-play on the Ecosmart scooter and any other motor and/or controller would require custom installation and wiring to install.

For more speed a more powerful motor and controller along with a higher gear ratio achieved by installing a smaller sprocket on the rear wheel would do the job. Over-Volting the original motor with a higher Voltage battery pack and controller would also achieve more speed however that could possibly overheat and burn out the original controller and/or motor. The larger motor and higher gear ratio method is the most reliable way to get more speed.

Regarding gaining more distance, if the scooter is made to go faster the distance that the original battery pack will provide will be decreased. In order to have the same distance when upgrading from a 500 Watt motor to a 1000 Watt motor the battery pack capacity would most likely need to be doubled, and to get more distance with the 1000 Watt motor than with the original 500 Watt motor the battery pack's capacity would need to be increased even more.

The EcoSmart Metro's original 30 Amp controller should be able to handle a 1000 Watt motor on Central Florida's flat roads, however it will not provide the full power that the motor can produce and will limit is power by around 25%. A 36 Volt 40 Amp 1000 Watt controller would allow the motor to run at its full power level. The original 30 Amp controller would allow the scooter to travel more distance on a single battery charge than a 40 Amp controller though.

We have LiFePO4 batteries that dimensional wise would directly replace the EcoSmart's original batteries, however our 12 Volt 7.5Ah LiFePO4 batteries are rated for a 15 Amp maximum discharge current so they can not safely output the amount of power that the EcoSmart uses in either stock or upgrade modified form. I do not know where to get Lithium batteries that can handle a 30 or 40 Amp load however this does not mean they are not available somewhere. Our LiFePO4 batteries can be recharged with any lead acid battery charger because they have a built in battery management system. Other Lithium batteries may or may not have a built in BMS.

I do not know specifically where to purchase a brushless replacement motor for the EcoSmart, however do know that we are planning on having a larger variety of brushless motors in stock for next year.

To achieve your goals of more speed and longer distance I would lean towards custom installing a 36 Volt 1000 Watt motor (MOT-SD36100), 55 tooth rear sprocket (SPR-2555), 36 Volt 1000 Watt controller (SPD-361000B), and a 36 Volt battery pack made of six 12V 15Ah batteries (BAT-12V15A). Due to space limitations the extra three batteries would need to be placed somewhere outside of the scooter's frame like on top of the footplate, or on the rear rack. The extra capacity battery pack would require a larger battery charger such as a 36 Volt 3 Amp charger (CHR-36V3AXLR) in order to recharge them overnight.

SPR-2555 measures 4-1/2" OD x 2-1/8" ID and is a direct replacement for the Razor EcoSmart's original 65 tooth sprocket - it will bolt directly onto the existing freewheel. We have a Chain Length Calculator which can be used to determine what size chain is needed when installing different sprocket sizes. It is recommended to replace the old chain with a new chain when installing a new sprocket because old chains stretch out over time which can cause new sprocket to wear out faster than they should.

If you use the original motor and modify the battery pack from 36 Volts to 48 Volts then the motor will spin faster at 48 Volts than it does at 36 Volts so the wheel sprocket will not need to be changed to have an increase in top speed.

The EcoSmart's original 36 Volt battery pack could be increased to 48 Volts and then you could use the scooter to see if the controller and motor will handle the extra Voltage. If the scooter is only used on flat ground there is a good chance that it will. If the original 36 Volt charger was replaced with a 48 Volt charger then it would charge the 48 Volt battery pack without the need for a second 12 Volt charger and taking off the bamboo footplate.

A larger motor sprocket may increase the number of chain links needed for the modification however it would also make the gear ratio higher. The gear ratio and top speed needs to be kept in line with the power of the motor so the motor can run near its top RPM and make the most horsepower. If the motor is lugged its power output will be significantly lowered and lugging could also cause the motor to overheat and burn out. The EcoSmart's original 18 MPH top speed is a perfect match for its 500 Watt motor. The original 500 Watt motor spins at 2250 RPM and with the scooters original 5.91:1 gear ratio and 16" wheels it has an 18 MPH top speed. If the original motor was ran on 48 Volts then it power would increase to have the potential of 887 Watts and its shaft would spin at 3000 RPM and with the original 5.91:1 gear ratio the scooters new top speed would be 24 MPH. Traveling on a scooter at 24 MPH requires 812 Watts of power on flat ground so for flat ground riding 24 MPH would be a perfect top speed for the scooter if the motor's Voltage was increased to 48 Volts. To put this into more simple terms do not change the sprocket sizes if you upgrade the battery pack to 48 Volts.

The reason it takes an extra 387 Watts of power to go that extra 6 MPH is that the coefficient of drag (air resistance) significantly increases between 18 MPH and 24 MPH.

Here are my resources for the calculations above:

http://www.electricscooterparts.com/motorwheelgearratio.html

http://www.electricscooterparts.com/calculators/motor-voltage-watts-calculator.htm

http://www.electricscooterparts.com/calculators/motor-voltage-rpm-calculator.htm

http://www.electricscooterparts.com/calculators/grade-power-calculator.htm

A scooter could be designed for reliability with a slower continuous cruising speed and a faster momentary full power speed like cars are, however the full power speed could not exceed the limits of the the power of the motor and the air resistance (drag) that is encountered at the vehicles top speed. That's why gearing the scooter for the right top speed is so important. With a 1000 Watt motor and controller the gearing should be calculated for a top speed of around 26 MPH. With a 1000 Watt 3000 RPM motor that has an 11 tooth sprocket, a 55 tooth wheel sprocket, and a 16" wheel the top speed would be 28.65 MPH. This is very close to 26 MPH so I think that this combination of parts would work out very well. The 28.64 MPH calculated top speed does not account for drag so it will be slightly lower than what is calculated anyways.

Please note that only the original Ecosmart motor and controller are bolt-and-go and plug-and-play on the Ecosmart scooter and any other motor and/or controller would require custom installation and wiring to install.