The electric scooter you don’t need to park near a plug

A British company has launched the world’s first electric scooter with Lithium batteries that can be removed for charging; conventional electric scooters need to be parked within an extension lead’s length of a socket while they charge.

The econogo yogo carries two fully-detachable and portable lithium batteries. One battery powers the 1500W motor and the other is a spare to extend the scooter’s range from 44 miles to 88 miles.

It is claimed that the battery can be fully charged within one hour.

The yogo has a top speed of 38mph and costs £1999. It is also available in a restricted to 27mph so that it can be ridden by those who passed their driving test before February 2001 without the need to take the CBT motorcycle qualification.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “With over 60,000 buying this size of motorcycle each year in Britain the potential market for this practical design is sizeable, but the stumbling block for electric scooters is often excessive weight and poor power – it will be interesting to see if the yogo fares better.”

• Econogo website