Two scooters, $43 apart, built for different jobs
Put the Merits Silverado Extreme and the Shoprider Excursion side by side and the prices are so close as to be meaningless: $5,338 against $5,295. That $43 gap tells you nothing useful, which is a problem, because these are not variations on the same machine. They are built around opposite priorities, and picking the wrong one is an expensive mistake to live with.
The short version: the Silverado goes further and faster over rougher ground. The Excursion carries more weight and needs less room to turn. Everything else follows from that.
This is a specification and suitability comparison based on manufacturer-published figures, not a hands-on test.
We may earn a commission if you buy through these links, at no cost to you. The commission is effectively the same on both machines, so it plays no part in the comparison.
| Specification | Merits Silverado Extreme | Shoprider Excursion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5,338 | $5,295 |
| Weight capacity | 450 lb | 500 lb |
| Top speed | 9.5 mph | 6.5 mph |
| Range | Up to 55 miles | Up to 24, 29 or 37 miles depending on battery option and rider weight |
| Ground clearance | 5.1 inches | 4 inches |
| Turning radius | 82.7 inches | 73 inches |
| Overall length | 61 inches | 56 inches |
| Total weight | 387 lb | 324 lb |
Where the two scooters are the same
Before focusing on the differences, it helps to remove a few things that do not separate them. Both have a 20 inch seat width. Both use an 8A off-board charger. Both use pneumatic tires. Both are four-wheel heavy duty scooters, and both sit in essentially the same price bracket.
That means this decision should not come down to a small price difference. It should come down to how much weight the scooter must carry, how far you expect to travel, where you expect to drive, how much room you have to turn, and how you will transport or store the machine.
Range and speed: the Silverado is built for longer outings
The Merits Silverado Extreme All-Terrain has a listed range of up to 55 miles and a maximum speed of 9.5 mph. The Excursion reaches up to 24, 29 or 37 miles depending on the battery option and rider weight, with a top speed of 6.5 mph.
For someone who expects to spend a long part of the day away from home, the Silverado’s extra listed range can matter. It gives more room for long paths, larger properties, extended community outings, or a day that involves several stops before returning to the charger. The higher top speed can also matter on longer open routes where covering distance efficiently is more useful than making tight turns.
The Excursion’s range needs a little more attention before buying because its published figure changes with the battery option and rider weight. A shopper should not simply see the highest listed range and assume that every Excursion configuration will provide it. Ask the retailer which battery option is included or selected and which range figure applies to the configuration you are considering.
Weight capacity: this can rule a scooter in or out
The Excursion carries up to 500 lb. The Silverado is rated for up to 450 lb. For some readers, this is the most important difference in the entire comparison.
If a rider is close to the Silverado’s 450 lb limit, the Excursion’s higher capacity gives more headroom. Do not choose a scooter whose maximum capacity exactly matches your body weight. Clothing, personal items, bags, and anything carried on the scooter can matter when thinking about the total load.
This is also where price becomes almost irrelevant. If one scooter does not provide enough capacity for the rider and what the scooter will carry, its speed, range, or turning radius cannot make up for that mismatch.
Turning radius and overall size: the Excursion needs less room
The Shoprider Excursion 4-Wheel Heavy Duty has a 73 inch turning radius. The Silverado’s turning radius is 82.7 inches. That difference favors the Excursion when the scooter needs to reverse direction in a tighter area.
The Excursion is also shorter and narrower. It is 56 inches long and 27 inches wide, compared with the Silverado at 61 inches long and 29 inches wide.
Those measurements matter when you are deciding where the scooter will live. A standard single garage is roughly 9 to 10 feet wide, and a standard interior doorway is about 32 inches. Width alone does not tell you whether a large scooter will work in a particular home, because turning room matters too. Neither machine is an indoor scooter. The Excursion, however, gives you a smaller footprint and a tighter turn when placing it in a garage, a van, or a shop aisle.
If storage space is tight, measure the actual route before ordering: the doorway, the place where the scooter must turn, and the final parking area.
Ground clearance, wheels and climbing: the Silverado favors rougher terrain
The Silverado has 5.1 inches of ground clearance, compared with 4 inches for the Excursion. It also has larger wheels: 14 inch pneumatic wheels at the front and 16 inch pneumatic wheels at the rear. The Excursion uses 12.5 inch pneumatic wheels.
Ground clearance affects what can pass beneath the scooter without the underside getting too close to the surface. Wheel size affects how the scooter meets changes in the ground. On rougher outdoor routes, those two specifications give the Silverado the stronger setup on paper.
The climbing figures point in the same direction. The Silverado has a 10 degree gradient rating. The Excursion lists a safe climbing angle of 8 degrees (14 percent). These figures should not be read as permission to tackle any slope that appears to match the rating. Real routes can include uneven surfaces, turns, loose material, or transitions at the top and bottom. The useful comparison is simply that the Silverado has the higher published climbing figure.
The Excursion does list full suspension. That is worth noting for a rider who expects uneven ground and cares about ride comfort. The Silverado’s supplied specifications in this comparison do not include a suspension specification, so no direct suspension comparison should be made here.
Transport and handling: both are large, heavy machines
The Silverado weighs 387 lb in total, and its heaviest piece is 185 lb. The Excursion weighs 324 lb in total, with a listed battery weight of 50 lb. That makes the Excursion 63 lb lighter overall, but neither scooter should be approached like a small travel scooter that one person simply lifts into a car.
For regular vehicle transport, plan around a vehicle lift, a trailer, or a van with a ramp. The right choice depends on your vehicle and how often the scooter needs to travel with you.
The Excursion’s shorter 56 inch length, 27 inch width, and lower total weight can make vehicle placement simpler than the larger Silverado. The Silverado’s extra size may be entirely reasonable for someone who is choosing it specifically for the longer range, higher speed, larger wheels, and greater ground clearance.
Battery choices and charging
Both scooters use an 8A off-board charger, but their battery information is different.
The Silverado requires two 100Ah, 12V, Group 27 AGM batteries. The Excursion lists 50Ah, 60Ah or 75Ah battery options, with battery capacity also stated as 12V 75Ah x 2.
Because the Excursion’s published range changes with the battery option and rider weight, confirm the battery configuration before ordering. If battery replacement cost, charging time, or battery warranty details are important to you, check with the retailer because those details are not supplied here beyond the Excursion warranty information discussed below.
Warranty: the Excursion has supplied terms, the Silverado does not
The Excursion comes with a limited lifetime warranty on the frame, 1 year on electronics, and 6 months on batteries.
No Silverado warranty terms were supplied for this comparison. That does not mean there is no warranty. It means you should ask the retailer for the current written warranty and read it before ordering rather than assuming the terms match the Excursion.
Which scooter fits which kind of buyer?
Choose the Silverado when distance and terrain matter more
The Silverado makes more sense for a rider who expects longer outdoor outings and wants the stronger published figures for range, speed, ground clearance, wheel size, and gradient. Its up to 55 mile range and 9.5 mph top speed separate it clearly from the Excursion, while the 5.1 inches of clearance and larger front and rear wheels support the same outdoor-focused case.
The tradeoff is size and weight. It is 61 inches long, 29 inches wide, 387 lb in total, and has an 82.7 inch turning radius. A buyer needs enough storage space, enough turning room, and a realistic transport plan.
Choose the Excursion when capacity and maneuverability matter more
The Excursion makes more sense for a rider who needs up to 500 lb of capacity or wants a large heavy duty scooter that is somewhat easier to position. Its 73 inch turning radius, 56 inch length, 27 inch width, and 324 lb total weight all move in that direction. Its limited lifetime frame warranty is also a concrete term that buyers can consider.
The tradeoff is that its top speed is 6.5 mph and its maximum listed range is lower than the Silverado’s. Its range also depends on the battery option and rider weight. For a buyer whose main concern is fitting the scooter into available space and maintaining more capacity headroom, those compromises may be entirely reasonable.
Bottom line
There is no overall winner here, and there should not be. These scooters cost almost the same but emphasize different needs. The Silverado is the more distance-and-terrain-focused machine. The Excursion is the more capacity-and-maneuverability-focused machine.
Start with the specification that can disqualify a scooter for your situation: weight capacity, available storage space, turning room, transport method, or required travel distance. Once those basics are settled, the choice becomes much clearer.
Related: Want something cheaper? The Merits Pioneer 9 and Pioneer 10 sit around $1,500 below these two.
Related: Need to carry a passenger as well? Two-seater mobility scooters are a different class of machine.
Related: Both weigh over 300 lb, so read how to transport a mobility scooter before deciding.
