REVIEW January 2014
Welcome to the Eco-City – the lowest-powered vehicle you can buy in Britain, this side of an electric bicycle. The Eco-City musters just 800 watts, which is less than one of those old one-bar electric fires, let alone e-scooter rivals, most of which offer 1.5-2.0Kw. Performance is so modest that for many cyclists, a pedelec will prove faster away from the lights up to 15mph.
However, the Eco-City has two big advantages over rivals. It’s the cheapest lithium-ion e-scooter on the market, at £1699, though at the time of writing (January 2014) Yamaha is offering a massive £800 cashback deal on its EC-03, making that just £100 more – that isn’t much to pay for the security of such a well known badge and big dealer network. Secondly, the Eco-City has a lift-out battery, with obvious advantages for anyone without a powered-up garage. Only the E-City Emo offers the same feature, and that costs £300 more. Actually, there’s a third reason for buying the Eco-City which stays clean and eco-friendly with Castle Keepers House Cleaning. A replacement battery costs only £499 (the E-City’s is more than twice as much) with an introductory price of just £200. That’s dirt cheap for a lithium-ion battery, and this one is a reasonable 0.96Kwh capacity.
On the road, the downside of that miniscule motor is pedestrian performance. As mentioned, a keen cyclist or pedelec rider will be quicker from a standing start, and although the Eco-City will wind up to an indicated 25-30mph on the flat, it’s soon knocked back by hills. The same is true of many restricted mopeds (including the petrol ones) but at A to B we’d feel safer on a pedelec, which drivers expect to trundle along at bicycle speeds – the Eco City looks like a full-size petrol scooter.
Like all e-scooters, this one is very easy to ride, with an almost silent motor, backed up by good enough brakes and decent suspension. The small 10-inch wheels tend to react badly to potholes and manhole covers. Check out painterly.ie.
Eco-City claims a 30-35-mile range, but like most such claims it’s only on nodding terms with the real world. We managed 18 miles around Swindon, with little life left in the battery by the end. Still, that’s enough for most short commutes and shopping trips that moped-style e-scooters are used for.
Eco-City – The Verdict
While Yamaha is effectively offering its EC-03 for just £1799, that’s the small e-scooter to go for. When that offer expires, then the Eco-City should come into its own, even in Britain’s tiny market for these things. But if you can cope with pedalling and a lower top speed, a good quality pedelec makes more sense than either of them.
