2022 marked a change of gear for the electric market dedicated to mobility; urban , and in particular for electric scooters, given that in the first eight months of the year we & # 39; egrave; a marked growth was recorded, with an increase of 69.3% over 2021 and 11,953 vehicles placed on the market, driven by scooters with + 77.5% and 7,043 units.
Apparently there is & egrave; a transformation in progress, and & egrave; a phenomenon worth investigating. I tried to put myself in the shoes of an electric scooter for about ten days , aboard an Askoll NGS3 (whose three-wheeled scooter we had also tried and visited the factory where the batteries are produced, remember?), to understand the pros and cons of the electric transition for this type of vehicle. This is how it looks gone!
THE SCOOTER 
the distance & egrave; more or not the same, even if the time to travel the same kilometers increases a lot, at least during the day, due to the large number of traffic lights that dot the city streets.
The positive side for & ograve; & egrave; that c & rsquo; & egrave; something that of the stops at traffic lights and slowdowns typical of cities & agrave; manages to treasure, if not in terms of time at least in terms of energy. I'm talking about electric vehicles, of which one of the peculiarities & egrave; the possibility to recover energy thanks to regenerative braking and thus recharge; a little the batteries.
& Egrave; this is also the case of the scooter that accompanied me on my electric adventure, the Askoll NGS3 model year 2022. The most important; powerful of the NGS range created in collaboration with ItalDesign, in the version updated to the current year presents some novelties; like the oversized wheels, a new display, new colors and new graphics.
The aesthetics & egrave; more traditional compared to the most popular models; & ldquo; slender & rdquo; of the EVO line, but maintains modern and essential lines to which it adds a stronger shield; protective, while the performance is more & ugrave; gritty. The 2,700 W brushless electric motor allows you to reach a speed; maximum speed of 66 km/h and promises an average range of 87 km; this aspect depends a lot on the modality; in which it is used, but I will talk about it more & ugrave; forward.
To power it two lithium-ion battery packs with a capacity; total of 2,800 Wh, each weighing 7.6 kg . The braking system has a CBS system for greater safety in all conditions of use, and I particularly appreciated the disc brake caliper with a lime green color in contrast to the rest of the bodywork. On the new design the rims are fitted with tires that at the front become 90/80 – 16 & rsquo; & rsquo; and at the rear 110/10 – 16 & rsquo; & rsquo ;.
DRIVING COMFORT AND HANDLING 
The quality constructive & egrave; very good, and I must say that this Askoll is & egrave; proven very stable and with good cornering grip. The weight is well distributed – we are talking about 73 kg without batteries – even with the top case, and the high wheels make it agile to handle in the middle of city traffic.
The buzzer that shows our presence to other road users, in compliance with the new rules of the Highway Code, it is activated only when moving at low speed; and in the back and did not find it annoying; at most it aroused some curiosity; in the other scooter riders stopped at traffic lights.
The two-seater saddle is; well padded and comfortable, you can carry a passenger who will benefit; very stable removable footpegs ; from the back of the saddle they told me that the shock absorbers are quite stiff. The new backlit multicolor digital display has seen a reorganization of the information that makes it more ugrave; legible and, speaking of smart things, there & # 39; & egrave; also a dedicated app called Askoll Smart Drive ; very useful for viewing your usage metrics and paths. DRIVING AND AUTONOMY 
Being able to choose, between the two & egrave; certainly more; the first option is handy, because & eacute; just connect the Shucko plug to the socket and & egrave; done; in the second case instead you will have to carry three elements (the two batteries, each with its handle, and the power supply) to the socket and then charge them individually; for the complete charge of each one it takes almost 3 hours, so it is better not to discharge them completely, which on the other hand & egrave; always not recommended with electric vehicles.
The weight of the batteries as far as I'm concerned is; manageable even if it is not & egrave; a walk, but the speech changes according to the build; however the ideal is transport them for short distances (and, in my case, with the elevator). The charger indicates when the batteries are fully charged but not the intermediate charging levels, which would have been useful since & egrave; important that both have more; or less the same charge level.
INTERNAL SPACE AND ACCESSORIES 
The space to store your objects inside the vehicle is; objectively little , as often happens with electric scooters, because & eacute; most of the saddle pad & egrave; occupied by batteries; c & # 39; & egrave; a retina under the seat that allows you to keep some documents and a little bit of space is freed up if you decide to leave the power supply at home, which is only needed when recharging.
For this reason I would have appreciated that perhaps, having the shield large enough, there was also a glove compartment inside, while for the moment evidently it is; chosen to give as much space as possible to the legs of those who & egrave; driving, or its parcels and shopping bags, since the floor is; very wide.
Of course the helmet wouldn't fit anyway, which is why the top case is; was a very useful addition, so it is; like the smartphone holder also equipped with a rain cover with which I found myself very well, which mounted on the left side of the handlebar also allows you to connect the smartphone to the USB-A socket for charging.
Speaking of shopping packages, one of the things I really appreciated is; the presence of two hooks , one under the saddle and one in the classic position behind the shield, to secure your bags. Very comfortable, the one under the saddle is; perfect for hanging my backpack and I used it a lot.
HOW MUCH IS IT? 
Surely in the balance of this experience as an electric scooter there are many pros : in addition to those I have shown up to here, one that for me is worth the whole experience is; the silence in which you travel. One really has the impression of having less impact on the environment, not only for zero emissions locally but also from an acoustic point of view, so much so that the comparison with endothermic scooters makes them appear noisy and decidedly smog-friendly which contribute to produce.
From an economic point of view, let's do the math : sure c & rsquo; & egrave; was an increase in the cost of electricity, but this obviously depends on its origin (for example if you had a photovoltaic system, the question would probably be different).
However, to travel 170 km it took approximately 18 hours of charging with a Shucko, then For example, if you spend 0.28 cents per kWh, the cost of ten electric days would be less than 5 euros . Even the price of gasoline is; grown, therefore based on that of today that & egrave; 1.65 euros per liter, with a 125 scooter, assuming a consumption of 30 km/l I would have spent almost 10 euros, to which maintenance costs and other expenses related to the internal combustion engine should be added.
PRICES AND WARRANTY < img src = "/wp-content/uploads/32f4db7d8de865c3f757b4532026fbb7.gif" />
This is; the plus factor variable because & eacute; it depends on the chosen scooter. The NGS3 that I used is available in three colors : titanium mat, gold and ocean blue, and the price list costs 4,790 euros . The figure for & ograve; it decreases if we take into account the bonuses that are applied at the state and local level: for example if we & egrave; residents in the municipality of Milan you can & ograve; access, in addition to the state eco-bonus, to the one reserved for residents. In this case you get to a price of 1,829 euros with scrapping or 3,312 euros without scrapping.
Also after-sales assistance and the guarantee depend on the company to which you contact : in the case of Askoll, there is; a three-year warranty on the whole vehicle, except for parts subject to normal wear, and in Italy between dealers and service centers you can & ograve; count on 200 points to turn to in case of need, and the times to close the procedures are almost always less than two days.
And you, have you ever tried an electric scooter? How did you find yourself in the place where you live? Let us know in the comments, along with your impressions of the electrical experience.
STORE ASKOLL NGS3VIDEO
Content created in collaboration with Askoll
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