Piaggio ONE: Teen-friendly, battery-powered, low price tag

[advrider]

Whether or not we like it, the future of powered two-wheelers is electric, and the just-released Piaggio ONE is further proof of that.

In North America, the Piaggio Group is best known for sub-brands Moto Guzzi, Aprilia and Vespa, but in Europe, the Piaggio scooter brand is also important. In general, the small-cc scooter segment is particularly important, as it provides cheap, practical transportation to all of society, but especially teens. And, as we all know, motorcycling is a dangerous drug. Get those kids hooked, and they’ll be customers for life (maybe that’s why the Euro two-wheeled culture is far stronger than it is here in North America?).

So, it’s quite interesting to note that Piaggio’s next entry-level scoot, the Piaggio ONE, is a battery bike aimed at teens.

All-round LED lighting, and a TFT screen to boot. Photo: Piaggio

This isn’t the Piaggio Group’s first attempt at a battery-powered step-through. A few years back, much flap was made over the Vespa Elettrica, that brand’s foray into the world of electric two-wheelers. In the time since, we certainly haven’t seen these machines taking over the streets, and pricing is no doubt partly to blame.

That shouldn’t be an issue with the Piaggio ONE. We have not seen North American pricing or availability yet (indeed, it may never come here … insert sad horn noise …). However, it’s priced very reasonably overseas, around the £2,500 mark in the UK. That converts to roughly $3,500 US, or $4,200 CAD. Not bad at all, certainly in line with cheaper gas-powered scoots from Japan.

The ONE has LED lights, selectable throttle maps, spacious underseat storage, and TFT instruments. Decent specs, especially at that price point. We do not know the battery range, though. It seems Piaggio plans multiple versions of this scooter, so perhaps range will change between them. We do know this machine has a removable battery, which means quick-swaps should not be difficult.

For more deets, we’d suggest keeping an eye on Piaggio’s UK website, as that’s the spot you’re most likely to get easily-parsible English-language information.

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