Building electric bicycles and scooters using the same motors as washing machines and dishwashers. The stroke of genius from a company based in Vicenza with a passion for sustainable mobility.
The question is: can electric scooters and bicycles be built using the motors from washing machines and dishwashers (suitably evolved and adapted)? In Vicenza there is a company that has been doing exactly that for a few months, and that is staking a good part of its credibility on electric mobility (so much so that it is investing 60 million euros in it).
Not a small company, but an industrial group of 2,500 people, headquartered in Vicenza and with eleven other plants scattered around the world. A group that has decided to step out of the shadows (literally) and throw all its energy into the world of smart mobility, by setting out to manufacture electric bicycles and scooters. A bold, entirely Italian project by Askoll, from design and engineering to motor production, from batteries to design, through to final assembly and sales.
What drove them? The peaceful (and silent) invasion of e-bikes began some time ago. The pedal-assisted bicycle is popular, at least in Europe. The same goes for electric scooters, also on the rise. The figures? In Italy, where incentives are not lacking, e-bike sales have exceeded 50,000 units a year. How to go about it? The electrical know-how was already there within the company. What was needed was a concrete response to the problems that now plague individual mobility: ever-rising fuel, maintenance and vehicle ownership costs, urban gridlock, increasing parking charges, noise and air pollution, and ever more restrictive low-emission zones.
"We decided to do our part to make our cities more enjoyable," declared Elio Marioni, the energetic chairman of the Askoll group and the driving force behind the new project. "This year pedal-assisted bicycles and scooters; next year we will also launch a fully electric car. And for Christmas we launched the Christmaskoll initiative."
There are currently two products: the eB1 bicycle and the eS1 electric scooter, both — needless to say — powered by an evolution of the highly reliable electric motors that drive washing machines and dishwashers.
The first is a pedal-assisted bicycle with a range of over 100 km before needing to be recharged. It has four different levels of assistance, the motor activates only when pedalling, and the speed can comfortably reach 25 km/h. Recharging is simple: just remove the battery (which weighs less than 2 kg) and plug it into any electrical socket. Price and technical specifications here.
The second is an electric scooter with a range of around 100 km and a top speed of 50 km/h. Its large wheels make it stable in any riding condition, and thanks to the dual-compound tyre (hard in the centre for better rolling and soft on the sides for greater grip in corners) it offers agility and safety. The lithium-ion battery recharges from a domestic socket in around three hours, at an average cost of 15 cents for a "full tank". Like all electric scooters, it is exempt from road tax for five years and benefits from a reduction of up to 50 per cent on insurance. You can find prices and specifications here.
But Askoll's adventure in sustainable mobility does not end there. Since last spring, at a dizzying pace, the Vicenza-based company has opened, in addition to an e-commerce site, single-brand stores and concession corners across Italy: from Vicenza to Verona, from Padua to Bergamo, then Mantua, Catania, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Rome and, most recently, Milan. But at Askoll they promise: "The peaceful invasion is not over yet — we will be opening more stores." More information on the Askoll website.