Electric Mopeds and Scooters

Small, nimble electric mopeds are popular choices in cities, able to cover short distances without contending with traffic too much.

The past few years has seen battery technology become cheaper and smaller, allowing them to be used in lightweight scooters as an alternative to their noisy, petrol counterparts.

But how good are they? Every moped available in the UK is listed here, and a few new companies in Asia that are starting to shake up the market.

The terminology around electric mopeds is rather murky and confusing. There is a government definition which is important to understand for your purchase. In this article I will use scooter and moped interchangeably, and for clarity have included a guide below.

Anything that is not an EAPC needs to be taxed, insured and registered.

Prices are very reasonable – usually below £2,000 with premium models reaching around £3,000.

Most of this goes towards the battery, with options for doubling up the battery for added range increasing the cost considerably.

The benefits are very low fuel prices (around 2 – 3p per mile), no tax and very little maintenance.

Insurance will be required, and an MOT every 3 years or so.

You can see a full pricing table here.

Charge times vary, and most are on a standard 13A home plug so will be a lot slower than the Tesla superchargers.

However, some come with removable batteries so you can charge them while in the office / overnight, which reduces range anxiety.

For legal reasons, they are restricted to 30mph. However most will be able to physically do more than this if unrestricted.

For most city driving this is perfectly acceptable, with more and more UK cities introducing 20mph zones. The important thing becomes acceleration to get away from lights, and video reviews show a lot of these are nice and nippy.

Thanks to the 30mph cap, a CBT is required, but this can be done on a provisional license and you don’t need a full bike license.
The law is changing quite regularly to come inline with EU laws, and hopefully we’ll see a simplification as European moped laws are a lot more logical and practical for younger riders in cities. Please check the link below for full information.

You need to wear a helmet at all times too.

Visit the Government Website.

In theory, yes – 20%!

There’s a lot of benefits of electric bikes, the main being no emissions. They meet the government target of 0 CO2 emissions and can travel at least 19 miles (31 for larger bikes) between charges.

However, many models are new and the government has been disappointingly slow with updating their lists. There are few officially supported because they are still in the application process.

On the government site there are currently two bikes that qualify for 20% discount, but the dealer should apply these discounts so you don’t need to worry.

There are very few companies out there currently offering insurance for electric scooters and mopeds due to the technology being relatively new.

One of the best options out there, and a well established name in supporting chinese and non-standard petrol mopeds, is Bikesure.

To get the best possible price, quote code G4179.

For more info on electric bike insurance visit bikesure or Lexham.

Alternatively, visit “The Bike Insurer” who compare quotes from 33 different brokers to find you the best price.

Other options to consider that are increasingly offering electric motorbike and bicycle insurance are:

• RAC Motorbike Insurance
• Ethical Breakdown Cover
• The Bike Insurer
• Lexham Insurance

NIU are a Chinese company that produce some incredibly affordable, well equipped bikes. Packed full of technology, they’ve been taking Asia and Europe by storm as both personal vehicles and a big hit with share schemes in places like Berlin and Paris.

Starting from just £1,900, the M series is a lightweight scooter designed for 1 person to nimbly commute or run around the city.

The N series is more akin to a traditional moped and is priced at £2,235.

Both contain GPS tracking, LED lights, in-battery displays and bluetooth connectivity.

Incredibly clever, simple and solid design has made NIU the most popular electric moped / scooter brand in the world, with over 400,000 units sold!

NIU Are Available at Urban Ebikes

The Super Soco is a sleek, tech heav bike that’s surprisingly affordable at just £2,349

Limited to 28mph, it joins the ranks of many scooters able to be driven at 16 on a CBT license. Unlimited, it will achieve 45mph.

So, not a performance demon but at this price point that’s not surprising.

Instead you get a Bosch 1200w motor good for 40 miles, and importantly comes with a removable battery.

There’s an excellent review in the video to the right.

If you’re looking for a budget and practical scooter produced in the UK, then the TS1200R ticks a lot of the boxes.

Buy SuperSoco Online at Urban Ebikes

Govecs are a German company with characteristic excellent build quality and reliability.

However,, this does come at a bit of a price, and their offering is focused mostly on B2B sales with a lot of customisation for emergency services and delivery companies.

Charge times are quick and range is good because of this, but they are also double the price of other options with little UK presence.

They are a more established company and hopefully we’ll see more in the UK soon.

• Go! 1.4
• Go! 2.4
• Go! 3.4 (125cc equivalent)

Visit Govecs

This simple yet effective 50cc equivalent moped comes with a huge range of customisation options. Available in 4 colours, it can also be equipped with a fixed battery, or 2 different levels of removable batteries.

Choice of a 800W or 1500W motor, and 25 or 40Ah batteries lets you tweak this scooter to your needs. The 40Ah battery will see you good up to around 70-80 miles.

A fully spec’d model with 40mph top speed and 70 miles range is just £2,799.

Spare batteries and a hardened, insulated delivery box also available.

Watch the video to see just how silent it is!

Delivered to you with full registration and numberplate.

Visit the Urban EV Website

Definately one of the cheapest electric mopeds out there, this bright scooter delivers impressive stats for the price.

Sadly it suffers from a long charge time and few customisations. Users have also reported slow acceleration. Test drive before purchase!

eGen offer three different models:

• eG3 – A sleek, stylish scooter for 2
• eG5 – Economical single seater
• eGX – Blends the lines between Bike and Moped, with big range and speed

Their range is both stylish and well priced, with the eG5 starting at £1,800.

All bikes should be available with government discount, however it’s a slow process that is ongoing.

The main benefit is a removable battery on all models.

The Artisan 1200 is a fully customisable scooter, with a lot more finishing touches than the rest of this list.

Colour, leather seats, box accessories and most importantly, you can choose between either fixed, removable, or double removable batteries.

With the double removable batteries you can see a range of an impressive 75 miles.

The simplicity of design and low cost makes this a firm favourite.

Sadly information is still quite light on this bike, and looks like they’re Germany only for now.

It’s a new sports bike with a big battery and more rugged look than other scooters.

However a partnership with Bosch suggests some impressive new tech.

It uses the same motor as the Schwalbe, but is less restricted giving it a bit more umph.

Visit El Moto

Ekobikes offer a variety of models, all with similar specification but varying design.

The Dolphin, NYSA and the Jasper all have a range of 30 miles, with a top speed of 30mph. Sadly removable batteries are not an option, and charge times are quite long.

This is due to using Lead Acid, rather than Lithuim batteries. Lead Acid are cheaper but worse than Lithium.

This is not surprising however, as the costs are very low, and there is a secondary market for them on eBay.

Visit Ekobikes

As you may have noticed, there is a theme with “e” as a name.

ERider offer three variations:

• Model 15 (Capped to 15mph)
• Model 30 (30mph)
• 30 Moda (Removable battery, updated design)

My favourite would be the Moda, as it has 2000w of power from a lithium removable battery and a 50 mile range. It’s the most expensive, but a removable battery is really worth it!

The styling also looks modern with a bit of a classic nod.

Juicy Bike has a huge range of high quality EAPCs but has recently entered into the scooter market with heir Retro-Li.

And Retro it is! So much chrome.

Charge time isn’t specified, but we would guess 6 – 8 hours.

Available in Red, Blue or White, it is a stylish and affordable bike that can carry two people.

If we’re talking about cool looking bikes, this has to be the peak. It’s my favourite bike and one that I wish was available sooner in the UK, but nothing has been released yet.

Built by Munro, a Chinese company designing a stylish bike after the Indian style of motorcycles.

This super retro but modern look works fantastically, and is constructed with Bosch motors and removable battery packs. You can double the range by doubling the batteries.

Price? To be confirmed. Around $1200 in China, but expect this to double for the UK market.

Visit Munro Motors

Rieju are an established Spanish company with a range of petrol bikes and off road bikes. Build quality is assured with such a well respected brand with proven experience in bike building – something lacking in this list.

This is reflected in the price, with it costing slightly more than others. The interesting point is it seems to have two modes: Scooter and Motorcycle.

Motorcyle mode would let you increase speeds to around 40 miles an hour, though the 30mph moped mode would be required legally without license.

Finance is available and there’s a strong existing network of dealers and suppliers for spares and repairs, which makes this a very appealing proposition.

Visit Rieju

Another Spanish company, SCUTUM produce a range of battery and production technologies for EVs.

Their focus is on silent vehicles, which Scooters fit perfectly into and has established work with emergency and delivery services in Spanish cities already.

The S01 is an upcoming consumer vehicle, due 2017.

The design looks excellent, with removable batteries via a trolley system, along with huge range and speed.

0 – 30mph takes 4.5 seconds, and will continue up to 60mph, with a range of 40 miles.

This is all very promising but there’s no word on pricing just yet which will be the deal breaker.

Visit SCUTUM

Taking inspiration from the East German 2 stroke petrol scooter produced by Simson Schwalbe, this iconic scooter has been reborn as an electric version.

Fully customisable on myschwalbe, it features all of the classic styling but with a rather more modern set of stats:

• 100km / 60 Mile range
• 45km/h / 30mph top speed
• 1 or 2 Batteries
• Four hour recharge time

Produced by Govecs (a familiar name on this list), the base model costs €5,390, or €6,640 with all of the extras thrown on.

More info

Torrot is a Spansih company who are focusing on making fun electric vehicles, with a range of Kids mini bikes and EAPCs.

Their MUVI marks a step into the Moped market and we see once again an excellent design.

Two models are available:

• City – 30mph
• Executive – 45mph

Both come with removable batteries that give a good range of 40 miles.

It comes at a price though – the £3,300 price tag is a little steep, though quality is high.

It’s recently been made available in the UK through eGen.

Another of my favourites because of how ridiculous it is, the MotoChimp is a stylish (or hideous) mini-scooter from a company called Vanda in Singapore.

Not yet released, they are aiming for a price tag of around £1,500, appealing to city commuters who currently use Bromptons or similar folding bikes.

Compact and fun, I am not sure how many of these we will see around. If the top speed was a bit higher, it would be ideal for tottering around the shops in. But pulling into 30mph traffic does not look like a fun time.

However, speeding down pavements and side alleys to get to your city office? Sure thing!

It’s worth pointing out that Vanda also make the Dendobrium – the complete opposite of the Motochimp.

Visit Motochimp

Unu are an established B2C scooter based in Berlin, Germany.

A slick website with the ability to buy online places them as unique in this list, providing a low cost, custom built electric scooter.

Prices start from €1,799 with finance available, going up to €2,799 for the top of the range model. An excellent price for a slick looking scooter.

A removable battery makes charging easy, and gives a healthy range of 50km / 30 miles with a single battery.

The benefit is that the whole package is delivered to your door, with a ready to ride Scooter!

Visit Unu

Vmoto are a UK dealership of low emissions scooters, produced in Nanjing China.

Based in London, there is huge demand from delivery market which is reflected in their range:

• V120L – City / town
• V120LD+ – Aimed at long distance deliveries
• City 80 – Inner City

All are well designed, with impressive stats that  hold up well to competitors.

Fast charge times, high range and removable options make them practical and puts much of the range anxiety at ease.

The City80L has a range of 30 miles on 3.5 hours charge from a removable battery, making it the perfect commuter scooter.

The V120LD has a huge 100 mile range which really does push the limits of what we’ve seen with electric mopeds.

Any other Scooters caught your eye?
Any questions you want answered?

Comment below!