This Is The UK’s First ROAD-LEGAL Electric Scooter! 

The big problem is going into a shop, and coming out to find a space, where your scooter was parked. Once these become common, they will be stolen, stripped, and on the spare parts shelf before you get home in your taxi. Thieves just wouldn't be able to resist.

If you have to insure it, MOT it and have a CBT, you may as well have an electric moped because 24mph, a 25 mile range and £3500 isn't worth it compared to the likes of the electric Yamaha NEO or Piaggio 1 which are cheaper, are faster and have more range. The amount of space it takes up is the only benefit. Let's hope the Government sort out the laws so we can ride electric scooters legally like bicycles.

Didn't once mention that it's illegal to ride that in bike lanes, modal filters or anywhere a motorbike wouldn't be allowed... you'd think that would come up

You forgot some very important information. Range? Charge time? What it does at battery 0% ? Weight? - Can you carry it? Optional seat? Legal to carry 2 people?

What are the legalities of riding it on cycle paths/in cycle lanes? It's all well and good registering it as a motorbike, but the beauty of a scooter is that it gives you the freedom of a bicycle. If you are governed by the rules of a motorbike and have a massive number plate on the back, you may as well just have a motorbike (at that price). The electric revolution is being stunted. The technology exists to compete with tiny ice cars and motorbikes with the same safety and at affordable costs, but ICE always seems to have an advantage. For example, electric microcars are too slow for UK motorways and dual carriageways. They need to travel at 70mph. A video addressing this and explaining the challenges, costs and regulations that e-manufacturers have to producing what we actually need would be a good idea. In my opinion, what the EV industry in the UK needs is a microcar with enough safety features to travel at 70mph and the freedom to use all UK roads. It needs a range of at least 100miles. Aptera are producing a safe EV that can do 1000 miles on one charge, and travel at motorway speeds. It's too wide for our roads but (if they can do that) achieving what we need seems very achievable. Rant rant, rant.

Doesnt the reg plate mean you now can't ride it on a cycle path?

I think the demo highlights what a silly idea it is rather than how good it is. You can get a sit down traditional style electric moped for £1000 less and with the same legal requirements.

I can see this as being a very high value theft item. How do you lock it to anything? A modern joy rider's dream machine.

I asked a simple question on their Facebook advert about what it would offer over an electric moped at half the price and higher top speed ( Btw they say the top speed is 24mph, not 28). I received an abusive reply accusing me of attacking and insulting people and their choices. Given their attitude I wouldn’t touch one of their products with a barge pole. One other thing is that to get insurance for one of these you will need to do a CBT even if you have moped entitlement on your driving licence (something you don’t need with an electric or petrol moped). I’m sorry I don’t buy the “it’s safer than a moped” statement. The rear light is very close to the ground making it more difficult for drivers to see and most mopeds will have superior suspension and brakes. The height of a normal height person standing up on this should not be much different to someone seated on a moped. Also the Keeway EZ mini can be had for £1299+otr and can carry 2 people and has a 1000w rear hub motor.

It's cool and all that, but I'm struggling to see how the £3500 price is justified. I feel the same way about electric bikes.

The LFP battery and 16" wheels address the main issues with E-scooters. Great job Swifty.

15mph is fast enough for a stand up scooter, a sit down electric moped is needed for up to 28mph and above.

Anyone who wants to go more than about 10 mph on a small-wheeled scooter wants their brain testing!

As somebody that has ridden mopeds for 20+ years this thing i much more dangerous in traffic. All standing mopeds are much less stable than sitting one's because of the higher center of mass and correlated reasons

Did you have any trouble getting insurance for it? Lots of posts on the pedelec forums about people trying to register bikes that break the 15.5 mph speed limit and finding that no UK insurance company is prepared to offer a policy.

Used an electric scooter in Barcelona - had a seat.. much needed on this I think

These things are a bloody menace.

I ran down some of those roads yesterday. Lovely to see the more "grungy" bits of Bristol featured again :)

£3500 ! what a f@cking joke

Insurance for 2-wheeled vehicles in cities is a really big consideration and not easy in my experience. I've shared my challenges & learnings below. I live in London and have a passion for (e)-motorcycles, owning 4 of them plus 2 e-bikes, and 1 e-scooter. They include: - 2017 BMW C Evolution Long Range (Electric) - 2019 BMW R1250 GSA Adventure - 2007 Suzuki GSX-R 750 (track use only so no insurance for public roads) - 1996 Suzuki DR650 - 2017 Mate e-bike - 2019 Urban Arrow - 2019 Xiaomi 365 (technically illegal on public roads) Sadly, as a city 'motorcycle' owner (which SwiftyGo would fall under), I have first hand experience of how hard it is to insure a 'motorcycle' these days. My electric BMW C Evolution is quite hard to insure as many underwriters don't have them on their books, and it's really hard to get a multi-bike policy if you have quite different bikes. As an example, the BMW C Evolution needs to be insured separately from my BMW GS Adventure as there are hardly any underwriterers that take both. This makes it more expensive to insure as you can't easily use your no-claims-bonus on a 2nd bike and you have to start from scratch. Also, 'bike' insurance has gone through the roof in general the last year. Insuring a 'bike' that is not parked in a brick garage is increasingly difficult, you will have to build up no-claims discount for this bike as it's unlikely that existing motorcycle insurance companies have this electric scooter on their books. A few providers will allow you to 'mirror' your no-claims of another bike but you will not be able to earn no-claims bonus then meaning higher future premiums potentially. If you do end up involved in an accident, your insurance (and no claims bonus if not protected) will be affected not just for the electric bike, but also any other motorcycles or cars you own. I agree with some of the other comments here that whilst it feels like a great product, the reality of dealing with insurance, MOT, tax, and the relatively slow speed means you're probably better off getting yourself a decent electric bicycle that's legal to 15mph or getting a bigger 125cc equivalent electric scooter. I hope that in time, government legislation around e-scooters and e-bikes will ensure greater choice in the insurance market. Would love to see the Everything Electric Show do a dedicated series on insurance for electric cars, electric motorcycles, and electric e-bikes to give advice and highlight some of the short-comings in the market.

Certified LFP batteries are needed and should then eventually be allowed on public transport so that joined up journeys are the norm. For that we need more compact e-scooters. For now you'd need to smuggle them in a bag or risk leaving them at the station and walking at the other end.

I will stick with my naturally aspirated bicycle as it has a seat and all time spent cycling comes for free since the HIIT physical activity extends my life.

I’ve ridden this thing and it’s awesome. Consider trying it before judging it! I’ve been riding mopeds and motorcycles for +15 years and found this thing to feel super stable, and frankly really fun to ride. I’d prefer it to a regular moped for a commute across London, it might sound weird but standing up is just nicer on a busy street. I also like being able to step off, push around an obstacle and step back on super easy vs a moped which is heavy and awkward to push.

"it's butteryyyy!" THANKS JACK

Good to see you putting the new motorbike licence to good use Jack ;)

It's been nearly 50yrs since I did my motorcycle test. But a younger friend did their CBT a few years back. And apparently it's only valid for 2yrs? 🤯 So if anyone wants one of these electric scooter things that are classified as a moped. They need to know they'll be required to pay approximately £200 every two years to resit a CBT test.

In the land of tea and royalty's sway, Where history's tales weave the modern day, A new sensation takes to the street, Quietly humming, with nimble feet, This is the UK's first electric scooter, they say. Through bustling cities and countryside lanes, It glides with ease, breaking no chains, A whisper of progress in the air, As eco-friendly wheels gracefully fare, A symbol of innovation that reigns. No rumbling engine, no fumes in its wake, Just the gentle hum of technology's take, On transportation's ever-evolving scene, Where sustainability and efficiency convene, In this electric scooter's roadworthy stake. From London's streets to the Scottish glens, It ventures forth, where adventure begins, Embraced by commuters, young and old, A testament to stories yet untold, Innovating the way, rewriting the trends. So let us salute this marvel anew, The UK's first, breaking through, Electric dreams now reality's chore, As it zips and zooms, forevermore, This road-legal scooter, bold and true.

£3,500? Seriously? Best of luck with that guys...........

We used to have scooters in the 1970's - with long wheel base and "big" pneumatic tyres like these scooters.

This thing looks like a death trap

I really like the directional lights/blinkers, headlights and brake lights on the scooter. I think all bicycles should be required to have something similar because hand/arm signals suck and they are totally useless in low light and the dark.

Yes 20 mph should not need registration, but that which needs to be registered it would make more sense to get something like the wolf king gt or gtr both can hit 65ph and would validate the costs of insurance, registration and mots.

I haven’t seen one of these new Swifty electric scooters yet but I have been riding one of their Swifty Zero kick scooters for over a year (858 miles thus far) and I love it. As someone who was involved in various kinds of motor racing as a kid (go karts, motorcycles, sports cars) I am pretty familiar with what it takes to build high quality, dialed in, vehicles and Swifty has gone the extra mile with all their scooters. Built of high quality materials and designed by people who know what they are doing Swifty scooters are simply the best!

What size bag will it go in ? And what do I need to know about taking it on the train ?

However, you do need to take into account where your center of gravity is now. In relation to the very small lever that is somewhere from the wheel center to the asfalt, your center of gravity is way up there. Hitting a curb or deep enough pothole dead on will get the momentum going and launch the rider without any counterforce…

Huge problem with this EV scoters at least here in Slovenia is that there is no proper regulation so people ride them on the sidewalks doing 60 km/h or even more and are real danger for kids and other pedestrians.

I think you missed a few things. What are the specs of the motor, What are the specs of the battery, How long it takes to charge, What modes it have, Is there any customization on the software or upgrade packages available, How easy is to register, how easy is to insure, How much it will cost per year, Does it need MOT, Will they support spare parts, How much it weights, Materials used, Total weight.

Thanks Jack great review!

I really wish you guys would throw in a metric conversion. Now I have to look up 28mph into Kph and realise... wait that's insane. I want one!!! Take my money, TAKE MY MONEY !!!

How much will it cost to insure?

How easy is it is recharge? Where can you recharge it?

Very expensive for such a short range, although it'd probably be OK around town. And at least it has a reg number so if it causes an accident it can be traced. Can it be ridden in a bike lane?

Your obviously in the UK , the dereliction is soooooo real 😢

Compulsory use of a crash helmet killed the BMW C1, it's going to kill this too.

We need a test drive/review in the rain!

it is cool - however, you can get an electric moped for about 2k - one that you can actually sit on. If you need to have the licence and stuff anyway you might as well go for that.

Shame you didn't include a link saying where from, full spec's etc. And you didn't say how far it will go!

But you are not riding it on a road! If you claim it's a motorbike then it's illegal to ride it on a footpath/cycle path which is what you are doing!

Needs more rake. Like the metalic light blue one...

£3.5k ? I’ll pass and maybe get myself a talaria XXX instead , and get some change too .

Saw an article on this a while ago and was wondering when a review would be made

In Queensland, Australia, the road tax (registration + compulsory third party insurance) would be the same as any other motorbike, electric car, or ICE car up to 3 cylinders - which makes it hard to justify against a small second hand EV, like a Nissan Leaf.

Big question is can you put a deliveroo delivery bag on the back?

Nice review, thanks.

If you have to have a CBT for it as its a "motorbike" dont you need to also display L plates? same as a 125 Motorbike if you do not have a full license?

With the LFP battery, does that mean it can be taken on public transport? It would be great to see an EUC with the necessary modifications to make it road legal and registerable

As a vlog? you did quite well but it's up against the likes of a folding Brompton bike. They fold smaller so may be taken on buses, trains and fit in cars better and can use bike lanes and carry more. Granted not quite as fast but doesn't need registering, insurance and all the rest.

Also, an L1e class vehicle cannot legally be ridden on a cycle/footpath. It must be used on the road. So at 0:20, you are being rather misleading by showing it being ridden on what looks like a cycleway/footpath. I'm all for personal e-transport (I use a DIY ebike to commute 13 km each way), but please get it right! :)

i think the LARGER you make the front wheel on these things, the safer they'll feel. Put a huge front-wheel with integrated motor that can go proper motorbike speeds, maybe even integrated batteries into that wheel (tho i do worry that IN-WHEEL batteries may not survive the constant vibration very well).

I thought it was just in Bristol where you can ride the because their a pilot zone.

I really doubt the basic battery chemistry deserves much of the blame for battery fires in cheap battery powered micro mobility products. But sure, LFP can be very robust, if correctly implemented.

Very nice. Ground clearance maybe a touch low?

Looking drip on that scooter , especially rocking the tn’s

England takes a giant step BACKWARD.

I like this but i feel its a really niche scooter. If i was going to spend 3500 on a scoot i would get one of the bigger faster sit down ones. Not being able to legally take this down bike paths is a deal breaker for me as well. I can see a small market for people who want short trips and have somewhere inside to lock it up but no garage, and want something a bit faster and are rich enough to not mind paying for insurance and dont mind wearing a helmet. Its just such a small market. But thank you for pushing the market forward swifty, and good luck.

I would advise anyone before buying anything electric eg existing e mopeds to check insurance costs first. That goes for cars and even the Citroen Ami which in the UK you WILL need a full car licence to get insurance despite the fact it's classed as a moped in France etc. Yes the rules also say here that it can be driven on a full moped licence but the insurance companies think otherwise and will decline insurance. Just try getting insurance first.

I once tried to get a 'boosted' Sinclair C5 road legal and had a good chat with the DVLA. They were very helpful, but said the main issue they saw was with the tyres. They said the tyres had to be 'speed rated' and bicycle tyres aren't officially speed-rated for any speed! I'm surprised this scooter doesn't have the same issue.

Defeats the purpose of having an e-scooter which you could fold and carry onto a train. That one is bigger than a fold up bicycle and probably weighs a lot more too. The purpose of e-scooter is to satisfy the last mile of your journey. Government should stop messing about and allow regular e-scooters of sub 15mph on roads and bicycle lanes. I've frequently travelled at much faster than that on a normal bicycle so any argument about hurting someone if you crash into them, they need to consider a bicycle travelling at 20mph is legal and likely do more damage.

I think this form factor has a great future. Something in between a bike and an e-scooter. Bigger wheels, proper suspension, still compact and light, safe and fun.

As a stand on scooter style moped, you can't ride this in cycle lanes. £3.5K is a bit overpriced for this; you can pick up a newly registered (imported 2 years ago) _electric_ 125 equivalent A1 light motorcycle with a 5.6 KWh battery and a top speed of 58 mph for £2.5 or less, if you don't mind putting up with SEAT's shockingly poor after sales service.

Nice!!! So what's the range....

A £250-ish electric scooter is a way forward for common ppl, not that rip-off thing. By the way, it's a most environmentally friendly mean of electrical energy driven transport. Why it's almost always not mentioned? In fact stupid government officials banned super efficient super low emission super eco-friendly thing. The real cost of riding electrical scooter is about 1 pens per 1 mile in today's electricity price in UK you use to charge your scooter - so efficient and eco-friendly e-scooter is.

The only way that an escooter should be ridden, with insurance, training, numberplates, lights and everything. Yep, happy with this- so long as it needs to get an MOT also. brakes, charging, waterproofing, tyres all need to be legal for this to work. Well done for pointing it out, and I hope that the early adopters have a great time with it. I defo wouldnt want to carry that into my house, looks like it weights about 40kg and it will be interesting to deal with if it gets a puncture. Imaginative pricing, (but it wont put off the "must haves"), my car cost less and it does 90mph and I can drive it to Scotland and back. Still, good niche product. Well done, Swifty, (what do they call the fans of their scooters?). Not as healthy as walking though, I do a lot of that to keep fit.

On recent visit to Norway I was impressed by the number of electric scooters for public use scattered around city streets. It appeared that a user would approach one of the scooters use a smartphone to activate and then off you go.

Lots of sensible and well-researched information here but I'm going to ignore the actual product and the people whining about it to simply say that it's a pleasure and a relief to watch a professional presenter who speaks with a natural delivery and has full control of his material without reading a prompter word for word. So many RU-vid amateur reviewers would do well take some inspiration from this work...it's not an easy job folks!

Anybody who can’t see where this is going is mad, what they’re doing is there in moving private and personal transport that was cheap and efficient, and making you register, hence the numberplate. This will mean that a future date they can tax you instead of the cars they are going to get rid of.

Needs a seat option too. I saw a guy the other day that had attached a wooden stool to his scooter - was quite amusing but did the job!

I like this chap but this felt a bit advert-y . It may have been an oversight but range and weight weren’t mentioned. First time Ive not fully trusted one of their reviews.

Thanks

Shouldn't you have L-plates too if riding it with a CBT?

I'm more interested in what the cameraman is sitting on 🤣

The best use case for ths that I can see is Royal Mail: carrying light small items and having to quickly hop on or off the vehicle while remaining in close proximity to it. For everything else, a bicycle is more comfortable, safer, more stable, and cheaper!

If you're going to go to the hassle of doing your CBT, fill out the V5, check the MOT, insure it and all that other jazz with a motor vehicle, you might as well spend a little more and get a proper moped with two seats, built-in locking, and a storage box. The cost and bureaucracy defeats the point of having something ultra light and compact, and the vast majority will continue riding non road legal scooters without number plates because the fuzz aren't going to stop them.

interesting review - about time govnt got their act together on micro-mobility regulations. For me I would probably feel safer on a full e-motorbike like a Maeving but would be interested in test driving the GT500.

A car keeps you dry in our wet climate; it has more wheels for stability.... if you're going to be out in the elements, why not go for an e-bike or moped?

Every road user using anything other than their own 2 feet should be financially accountable for any damages to property or persons resulting from their mode of transport. As such everything under that umbrella should have registration and insurance, and be subject to roadworthiness checks.

I appreciate the vid but the costs involved rather defeats the object. That budget would get you a much more amenable vehicle.

I had a NUI motor cycle and what a pain in the ass to insure, tax (even although its Zero you still have to do the annual tax) Might as well buy an electric bicycle.

Either you're too tall or the handlebar stem is too short, but you will not comfortably ride this thing for more than 5 miles.

it might be a car replacement, but I don't know anyone stupid enough (I hope) to drop £3500 on this, holy cow

I think 28mph is too much for a stand-on scooter. Especially for tall people like Jack.

In Australia there are now lots of private e-scooters ‘presumably’ with a 15.5mph limit but the reality is they go 50+km/h. The issue at that speed is none have indicators!

I bought an electric scooter that was road legal years ago (I have the registration docs to prove it), but i found it impossible to insure. Maybe the insurance market has caught up since then but in the end I gave up and finally got rid of the scooter.

Good luck with riders paying £3.5k for it with all the legal requirements. They’ll just chance riding a cheaper £600 one and ride where they want like they currently do.

They were legal in Edwardian times. Over a century ago. Not tax etc.

Anyone have an insight into when an electric scooter like this would be preferable to, say, an electric Brompton? The Brompton would be more portable and comfortable to ride, and more stable?

By the time that Rishi reacts it be Keir. Nice addition to the choice, but its a whole new ball game with the registration requirements and all that comes with that.

Mr Loony whats the range?

uphill performance ?

Great to see more vehicles and more choice in the market for people. Its so frustrating that the government have just been dragging their feet with legislation.