Spanish carmaker SEAT began production of its MÓ eScooter 125 on Tuesday. The electric scooter has a lot of tech onboard but, mostly, I just want to take its little battery for a walk and maybe try to feed it a puppucino.
Production of the electric scooter is in collaboration, and follows a period of joint development, with the electric motorcycle company Silence from Barcelona, Spain. The two companies seem to have a solution to the problem most commuters face when considering EVs: charging.
The eScooter 125 has a detachable battery that riders can bring indoors to recharge upon arrival at their destination. Riders will need neither specialised plugs nor adapters. The battery will charge off a regular plug in your home or office.
The battery comes with tiny wheels and a handle so it can be carted along like luggage. It also has a light ring on its face that seems to display charging status. It’s like a matryoshka doll of sustainable mobility. A possible side-benefit to the detachable battery is theft-deterrence. How will someone steal your e-scoot without its power source?
The eScooter will start at €6,250 EUR, just above $10,048. It has a max speed of 95 kilometres per hour. Its range is moderate, at around 125 kilometres. It also has three riding modes and a reverse gear to make getting out of packed parking lots that much easier. Reverse gears are usually found on larger two-wheelers but I can’t see why it wouldn’t be useful at some point on a scooter.
And the EV scoot sports this tech in an unexpectedly put-together machine. Clever concepts so often come piece-meal from startups seeking to disrupt a segment. Or they will come as a complete vehicle that may as well be a proof-of-concept. But this is a fully realised machine with the support of a major European carmaker.
Yes, it looks like many production step-through scoots. At first glance, it’s just some run-of-the-mill machine but even if you don’t love that battery, the scooter offers enough that could add to something greater than the sum of its parts. Maybe SEAT saw this potential.
I would even go as far as calling its design handsome. It’s practical, as most scooters are, with generous under-seat storage and other perks, such as location features and shareable key on mobile phones. This scooter is just packed with small quality-of-life touches.
For many commuters, EVs don’t seem feasible due to a lack of charging stations, but the MÓ eScooter 125 gives mostly anybody a way to address that lack of infrastructure using systems that are already in place. With this EV, all you have to do is roll your battery into the office and recharge.