Move Electric verdict: 3.5 stars out of five
In short
A brilliant first take on two-wheeled city e-mobility from one of the leading brands in the market.
What is it?
It’s called the Piaggio 1 and is, in my humble opinion, possibly a bit of a game changer in electric scooter terms. It is made by a recognised manufacturer of petrol powered scooters, with all the heritage, brand equity and experience that comes with decades in the marketplace. It’s also priced properly and something that will appeal to fashion conscious teenagers almost as much as it will commuters that have had enough of playing on their phones on packed busses and tubes.
But what actually is it?
It’s part of a range of electric scooters that the Piaggio Group are introducing over the next couple of years.
There’s two models of Piaggio One to choose from. The base model has a 1.2Kw motor, while the Piaggio One Active produces 2Kw. Flat to full charging takes six hours and is achieved by removing the battery from the scooter and carrying it to wherever you’re going to charge it. This makes charging easy, providing you can carry the battery. It also opens ownership up to a much wider audience than for bikes that have a fixed battery and need a charger cable running to them.
The Active model is the faster of the two and is good for nearly 40mph, while the base model tops out at 25mph. A full battery offers thirty miles of range, which sounds pitiful but isn’t when you sit down and work out what your city commute looks like. Piaggio is predicting that after 800 charges the Lithium Ion battery will have lost approximately 30 perc ent of original capacity.
Join the debate
Add your comment
There are two issues with the 1 Active that readers might want to be aware of.
First, a rear puncture may leave the bike unusable for long periods. My bike has been back at the Piaggio dealer for over a month and remains unusable because while the tyre size is common, Piaggio cannot supply replacement tyre valves (the Piaggio 1 uses an unusual valve design on the rear wheel).
Second, my bike struggles to maintain an indicated 23 mph up a hill with a 10% gradient.
A good bike for a flat city. But good luck if you get a flat...
Tempting. Warranty info would be helpful. Ideally they would offer the option of a second battery in the luggage well, so for a longer trip you could double up (I assume one would fit?). And of course you could have a spare battery or two - one charging at work and another at home means you ae always ready to go. Plus removing the battery could be a good anti-theft device if the batteries are "matched" to the individual scooter