After spending five years in development, a new Estonian-designed electric scooter was launched on September 20 at the 1,000 Pionniers event in Paris. The Stigo has a top speed of 25 km/h (15 mph) and a range of up to 40 km (25 miles) per charge, and is folded up and ready to roll in just two seconds.
- The Stigo features twist-grip acceleration control, a 250 W hub motor, and a 36 V liFePO4 battery (which can be charged from a regular all outlet). There's LED lighting front and back, side-mounted reflectors, caliper brakes on each wheel and a center-mounted display on the handlebars that shows remaining charge and speed.
At the end of a ride, locking mechanisms in the seat and frame are released to collapse the seat support down towards the back wheel (while raising the footrests at the same time), and allow the front wheel and handlebars to fold into the body of the scooter. When folded, it's reported to be about the size of a golf bag and tips the scales at 17 kg (37.5 lb). Small stabilizing wheels at the rear come into play when the Stigo is being dragged behind, and also act as support when the scooter stands upright.
Unfortunately we don't have any more specs to share with you at the moment, but we have contacted Stigobike's CEO Rando Pikner for more information. We'll update this post when we get a response.
The Stigo is priced at €2,370 (about US$3,200), and is claimed to be street legal in its target market, where it's classed as a limited performance scooter. Its developers plan to ship the first 200 to Europe by Q2 - Q3 of 2014, hoping to increase production to 8,000 units by 2015.
The video below shows the Stigo zipping around the sunny Paris streets earlier this month.
Update (09/24/13): We have received a little more information from Stigobike. The scooter's frame is currently made from aluminum, but the developers are looking into the possibility of using carbon fiber in the future for an extra-lightweight version.
The Stigo has 12-inch tires front and back. The battery pack is not user-replaceable, though we've been informed that the lithium ferrophosphate batteries should be good for a few years before the scooter needs to head for a maintenance workshop for a refresh. A companion smartphone app is being created that will include such things as riding history, and social and security aspects.
Stigobike is looking to introduce its electric scooter to the US by the end of 2014.
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