Leccy scooters - Seat Mo, Silence S01
Discussion
Noticed on BikeTrader this morning that Seat Mos are now being sold new for £2495 at various Seat dealers across the country. That's a massive drop & says to me that once they're sold, Seat UK will be dropping them from sale. (The Mo is Seat's branded version of the Silence S01, made in Barcelona)
Is it a good deal for a dealer in Spain to bring a large van here & buy up stock for resale back home? Or maybe £2495 (inc.) is just dealers flogging them off at cost & shows that full retail price had a huge margin built in - coz, well, 'leccy innit, & greenies will pay over-the-odds to virtue signal???
My take on why they're not selling is that the scooter wasn't marketed well by Seat; that using Seat's existing car dealer network to sell them through wasn't a good idea as large dealer groups have no interest in selling a niche product; that PTW customers don't want to buy from a volume seller of cars because the workshop at most main dealers is not very good at fixing cars never mind an electric PTW which the quality of workmanship is even more safety critical on.
Even at £2495 I think I'd pass (if I was in the market for such a bike). That money buys a new Suzuki 125 Address which is far less likely to become a useless garage ornament the moment it has a fault.
Is it a good deal for a dealer in Spain to bring a large van here & buy up stock for resale back home? Or maybe £2495 (inc.) is just dealers flogging them off at cost & shows that full retail price had a huge margin built in - coz, well, 'leccy innit, & greenies will pay over-the-odds to virtue signal???
My take on why they're not selling is that the scooter wasn't marketed well by Seat; that using Seat's existing car dealer network to sell them through wasn't a good idea as large dealer groups have no interest in selling a niche product; that PTW customers don't want to buy from a volume seller of cars because the workshop at most main dealers is not very good at fixing cars never mind an electric PTW which the quality of workmanship is even more safety critical on.
Even at £2495 I think I'd pass (if I was in the market for such a bike). That money buys a new Suzuki 125 Address which is far less likely to become a useless garage ornament the moment it has a fault.
Admittedly I'm not in the market for one but the fact I've never heard of them or was aware that Seat was selling them suggests they haven't advertised much
Edit - just had a quick Google they were £5800 !!!
The idea of the battery pulling out so you can charge it at home whilst also immobilizing it seems like a good idea, but bearing in mind I generally see girls and young lads on scooters 41kg sounds like a problem and that it should have been split into two batteries
I suspect battery theft will also be a problem
Edit - just had a quick Google they were £5800 !!!
The idea of the battery pulling out so you can charge it at home whilst also immobilizing it seems like a good idea, but bearing in mind I generally see girls and young lads on scooters 41kg sounds like a problem and that it should have been split into two batteries
I suspect battery theft will also be a problem
Edited by KTMsm on Saturday 20th January 14:13
OutInTheShed said:
People are paying similar money for 15 mph e bikes.
OK range for commuting, adequate top speed for town, quick to 30.
You need license, tax and insurance and a helmet I suppose.
I can see it's a concept which would be useful for a lot of people.
Good point. I saw quite a few in Barcelona a fortnight ago (they're made there by Silence). Mostly rentals or fleet scooters for pharmacy deliveries or estate agents to run around on. OK range for commuting, adequate top speed for town, quick to 30.
You need license, tax and insurance and a helmet I suppose.
I can see it's a concept which would be useful for a lot of people.
Skeptisk said:
That is very cheap. There aren’t that many e bikes cheaper than that. Does it have a lockable space for a full helmet?
Under-seat storage yes, but more suited to an open-face helmet. I don't think it would take a full-face one.I just can't help but feel that some of the large dealers groups selling them would be worse than useless if one they sold developed a problem. They're already shoite at providing aftercare for the thousands of cars they sell so I can't imagine them being particularly helpful if a leccy scooter they've punted out the door at cost price develops a fault. Plus I know the branch of the large Scottish dealer group near me has had a good few of these sitting gathering dust in a storage room for at least a year with no maintenance charging on their batteries. Not sure what effect that has on them but I doubt a deeply discharged battery on a new leccy scooter is going to aid reliability.
Tempting at the price but I it's a gamble. Might be less hassle just to flush £2495 down the toilet.
Assuming they are reliable it seems like an absolute bargain for a city commuter. I've wondered why there isn't more of a market for electric 125 scooter equivalents. It's not like people typically go long distance on them. There's loads of them about in China.
If there is a load of propriety stuff in there that you can't sort out yourself if it goes wrong you're probably screwed. So it will be a case of if you feel lucky.
An illegal E-Bike is probably tempting for people though.
If there is a load of propriety stuff in there that you can't sort out yourself if it goes wrong you're probably screwed. So it will be a case of if you feel lucky.
An illegal E-Bike is probably tempting for people though.
EasternBlocGeek said:
Plus I know the branch of the large Scottish dealer group near me has had a good few of these sitting gathering dust in a storage room for at least a year with no maintenance charging on their batteries. Not sure what effect that has on them but I doubt a deeply discharged battery on a new leccy scooter is going to aid reliability.
Li-ion batteries can be stored for years as long as they are stored charged at the correct voltage and there is nothing to deplete them, so it shouldn't be a problem. Something you would need to check if you end up buying one. Donbot said:
An illegal E-Bike is probably tempting for people though.
Looked into this myself but if it doesn't meet UK/EU laws for an EAPC (Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle) then it's a motor vehicle. There's plenty of people running around on these illegal 'motor vehicles', untaxed, uninsured & unlicenced. With the seeming hierarchy of liability that seems to be in place now (don't know if it's official or unofficial) it just takes one minor collision with a pedestrian who falls & bangs their head, & the rider is potentially on the hook for providing a lifetime of care. Not something I can afford or want to risk. I'll keep it legal & sleep easy.EasternBlocGeek said:
Donbot said:
An illegal E-Bike is probably tempting for people though.
Looked into this myself but if it doesn't meet UK/EU laws for an EAPC (Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle) then it's a motor vehicle. There's plenty of people running around on these illegal 'motor vehicles', untaxed, uninsured & unlicenced. With the seeming hierarchy of liability that seems to be in place now (don't know if it's official or unofficial) it just takes one minor collision with a pedestrian who falls & bangs their head, & the rider is potentially on the hook for providing a lifetime of care. Not something I can afford or want to risk. I'll keep it legal & sleep easy.I see the laws on personal e-mobility as a s
tshow that needs sorting out, and if people are sensible I don't really care what they are doing.The laws need to be sorted out and fairly and clearly enforced.
As is the case now the police appear to be reluctant to enforce the law. And the people who get away with it won't get any training or use PPE.
In Spain the equivalent Silence S01 is listed at €6680 (£5732) on their website including the battery purchased outright, although they were available on an offer for €4995 (£4286) for quite a while a year or two ago.
With UK Seat dealers seemingly having a fire-sale, after-sales & warranty work will probably be non-existent. Battery fault? That'll be £3k for a replacement sir.
I'd be tempted - if I was about to move to Barcelona. Otherwise I'll pass.
With UK Seat dealers seemingly having a fire-sale, after-sales & warranty work will probably be non-existent. Battery fault? That'll be £3k for a replacement sir.
I'd be tempted - if I was about to move to Barcelona. Otherwise I'll pass.
OutInTheShed said:
.
I can see it's a concept which would be useful for a lot of people.
They're massively popular over here (NL), with 3 different companies in our area offering rent by the km/minute scooters. One uses Nui scooters, not sure what make the others are. The 25kph limited one don't need a helmet and can be ridden on the cycle paths, although some cities are stopping that now.I can see it's a concept which would be useful for a lot of people.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Saturday 20th January 22:46
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