We don’t really talk about 2-wheeled transport on this site, except with our occasional peace-keeping missions surrounding the never-ending ‘war’ between motorists and cyclists, but today we’re stepping into unchartered territory… electric scooters.
Scooters aren’t particularly big business in the UK - they’re mainly used by delivery drivers for commercial use, but could this all be about to change?
SEAT has launched, or will soon be launching, a fully electric scooter which they want to replicate the purpose served by 125cc petrol-scooters in the UK. The official presentation will take place in Barcelona, the home of the SEAT brand, on the 19th of November at the Smart City Expo World Congress. This is an international event with over 800 exhibitors which all share the same goal of reimagining our approach to urban development.
Sustainable solutions for city dwellers is one of the most challenging aspects that manufacturers are coming up against. Luca de Meo, the SEAT President, stated: “the constant growth of large cities makes achieving efficient mobility one of the main challenges to overcome. Today we are taking a further step in our urban micro-mobility strategy by confirming the launch of the first eScooter in the history of the brand.”
Barcelona is a fitting place to launch this new ambition of SEAT. Not only is it the home of the brand, but Barcelona also has the most motorcycles per capita in Europa and a ‘long-standing affinity with two-wheeled vehicles.’
The new eScooter will be developed alongside a Barcelona-based electric motorcycle developer which is suitably named ‘Silence.’ The eScooters will be made available for both the private market and also fleet sharing companies.
There’s very little more detail available about SEAT’s scooter yet, but we can gather some knowledge from what Silence offer. According to their website, they offer the SO1 model which has a removable battery, meaning the vehicle doesn’t necessarily need to be charged at the roadside. The model comes with a 3-year warranty and a marketed electric range of 115 kilometres.
The SO1 also offers GPS tracking to your mobile device so you always know where you left it and you can also get the real-time battery status too.
All of this is based on the Silence electric scooter, which is currently on sale for €6,250, however, we know that SEAT is likely to have a much bigger budget to throw at this project and their model could be significantly more advanced, but we will have to wait and see!
What do you think? Has this electric scooter got legs? For those living in the inner city it could prove to be a very exciting concept and because the output will be similar to that of a 125cc, you might not need to pass a full motorcycling test to be allowed to ride one on UK roads. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments...
