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The majority of Fisher Price Power Wheels vehicles are really focused at children above the age of three, which you would think means a great choice for parents with children in this age group. Not so. Parents’ continuously pay large amounts of money on the vehicle that looks the best for their particular child and wrongly assume that they all have the same great Fisher Price performance, capability and fun factor under the hood. Wrong again.
For so many parents, their child’s battery powered ride-on just becomes a costly mistake and either ends up cast aside or not really used or they actually spend another large sum of money to now buy the appropriate vehicle. This super quick parent guide attempts to help those parents on the verge of buying a Fisher Price Power Wheels vehicle for their child and hopefully will save you from making the same costly mistakes like so many other parents before and provide your child with maximum safe driving fun at the same time.
Speed
Buy a model that will give your growing child the necessary speed that they will inevitably want as time goes on. Power Wheels vehicles are currently powered by either a 6 volt battery or a 12 volt battery. 6 volts will generally drive the vehicle at about 2.5mph, whereas the 12 volt battery will power the vehicle forward at a maximum of 5mph. However, these ‘official’ top speeds are under perfect conditions running on a fully charged optimal battery and a perfectly flat, smooth and clean road surface. In reality, you will probably achieve a little less speed.
The 6 volt 2.5mph limit is fine for your older child when they are just getting used to their new toy, but give it a few weeks and the ‘crawling’ 6 volt speed becomes very boring, very quickly for them, particularly as other kids on bicycles zip past them!
Off Road Driving
Buy a model that is capable of dealing with everyday surfaces other than just the smooth road. In reality you kid will want to drive over concrete, grass and gravel. Some Power Wheels vehicles have been designed for kids that mainly use them in their grass back yard or in the park, but countless parents buy models that simply come to a standstill or enter into crawl mode when they get onto grass and the parents spend most of the time pushing their child and vehicle out.
It is not only the ATV or off road looking vehicles that have off road capability, some of the normal cars have great off road capability as well. Being able to perform over less desirable surface conditions really comes down to the power of the battery (12 volts = best), traction ability (the new Monster Traction = best), tire tread and width (wide rugged tires = best) and weight of vehicle (lighter = best).
Brake Safety
Buy a model with the Fisher Price Power Wheels ‘Power Lock’ braking system. This is especially important for the faster 12 volt vehicles as opposed to the slower 6 volt vehicles. It’s one thing for your child to race their new ride on toy at top speed downhill, but it is always nice to know that when it comes to stopping that the vehicle’s braking system can actually stop your child quickly and under control.
The Power Lock braking system is being fitted to most of the 12 volt vehicles now and really does go a long way in providing more capable stopping ability for your child to maximize safety and minimize harm for them. For the older and more advanced drivers out there, this braking system also allows you to pull off some great slides!
Top Power Wheels Picks For Older Children
The most popular and consistently highly rated Fisher Price Power Wheels vehicles that have 12 volt batteries, ‘more than’ smooth road surface capability and are fitted with the Power Lock braking system include: Barbie Jammin Jeep, Rubicon Jeep, Ford F150, Cadillac Escalade, Kawasaki KFX Ninja, Barbie Ford Mustang and partially applicable is the Lightning McQueen.