It looks like the attention-grabbing Fern Green ID.Buggy Concept is not the only electric vehicle Volkswagen has bring to table at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. It has a pair of rather unconventional looking electric scooters too. The two electric scooters, namely, Streetmate and Cityskater, are the German automaker’s take of zero-emission “micro mobility” designed with city dwellers in mind. VW is calling them “city specialists” with the Cityskater is a described as near-production while the Streetmate as a world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.
First up is the Streetmate, a larger of the two concepts designed with “medium-range urban travel” in mind. The Streetmate looks like a regular fat-tire bike or moped minus the frame and saddle. Instead, it has a kick scooter platform that, oddly, continues to a front end that looks all-too bicycle-ish. If a fat-tire bicycle (or moped) and an electric scooter had a child, the Streetmate would be it. You can choose to ride it standing like a regular electric scooter, or seated by flipping down a saddle cleverly integrated into the lone pillar.
You can choose to ride it standing like a regular e-scooter, or seated by flipping down a saddle hidden away in the front pillar. Also unlike current slew of electric scooter, it has a steerable front wheel. Well, didn’t we say it is a lovechild of a bike and a scooter? Armed with a 2.7 HP hub electric motor, paired to a 1.3 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the 65 kilograms (143 lbs) Streetmate makes a top speed of 45 km/h (28 miles an hour) and does 35 kilometers (22 miles) on a single charge – if the scooter is in Eco riding mode.
Other highlights include thumb-operated throttle control, anti-lock disc brakes, regenerative braking and a 5.3-inch weatherproof color display. And oh, did we mentioned that it is phone-enabled? With a smartphone connected to Streetmate, the phone will afford it with turn-by-turn navigation and also serve as a digital key for starting the vehicle and also disarm the security alarm, which sounded exactly what Hyundai is proposing with its Digital Key technology.
Up next is the smaller and possibly the wackiest looking electric scooter, the Cityskater. Everything about the Cityskater is super weird. For starter, it looks like a child’s kick scooter. You know, those that beginner skatescooter that has three wheels? Yeah, those. It has an opposite configuration, though, where the smaller wheels are up front with split board and articulated. Even weirder is, it has the main pillar sticking in between the rider’s legs from behind and instead of the usual T-shaped handlebars, it has a lone central control for the rider to hold on to and also for throttle and braking.
Clearly, the Cityskater is a last mile transportation solution because, it is lightweight – weighing just 15 kilograms (33 lbs) – and it is foldable for easy lugging around. It is powered by a 0.5 HP electric motor, paired to a very modest 0.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, that makes a top speed of 20 km/h (12 mph) and a range of just 15 kilometers (9 miles). Both the Streetmate and Cityskater are concepts which will eventually join Volkswagen line of electric mobility.
All images courtesy of Volkswagen.
