NIU Concept 06 electric maxi-scooter goes big
It can travel at almost 100 mph and it uses AI to learn your habits; this is no ordinary electric scooter.
Chinese electric scooter company NIU is making waves with a concept maxi-scooter boasting an almost-100mph top speed.
The company’s Concept 06 scooter was revealed last week at EICMA and says its 20kW motor is capable of 96 mph. That’s a pretty good clip, and outguns the 74 mph top speed claimed by BMW’s ostensibly comparable CE04 scooter.
“Riding has always been about the connection between rider, machine, and the road ahead,” says NIU. “Concept 06 takes that bond to the next level, blending advanced technology and performance to redefine how riding should feel.”
Electric scooters this powerful aren’t common. Take a look at offerings from Piaggio, Yamaha, Honda, et. al., and you’ll see that battery-powered scooters are often closer to 50cc and machines when it comes to hustling ability.
Those are machines with a limited use case; they really only work in hyper-urban situations – people who live and work within the space of the North and South Circular roads, perhaps. That space encompasses a lot of souls, sure, but it means nothing to all the rest of us who live in Not London.
No doubt that’s part of the reason NIU doesn’t appear to have any dealerships in the UK. But it did at one point. Back in 2021 and 2022, we test rode the company’s awkwardly named UQI GT Pro, MQI +Sport, NQI GTS Pro, and MQi GT EVO.
On the whole, we liked them. And it seems reasonable to assume that if NIU is able to deliver on the promise of the Concept 06, it could return to the UK market.
Range is conveniently something that hasn’t been mentioned by NIU yet. Nor is there any talk of charging time. For comparison, the aforementioned CE04 claims an 80-mile range, and the ability to rapid charge from nowt to 80% in 65 minutes.
What NIU does tell is that this thing is LOADED with tech, including an “intelligent AI co-pilot that learns your habits [and] adapts to your style, keeping you safer, and more connected.”
Not gonna lie: the old man in me hates the sound of that. I’m not entirely sure what it would actually mean in application, but my default response is: kill it with fire.
I’m much more comfortable with all the rider aids that the Concept 06 promises, including: electrically adjustable handlebar and windscreen, adaptive cruise control adjusts, hill descent control, hill-start assist, Push Assist (to make it easier to muscle around), and regenerative braking.
The Concept 06 also constantly monitors what’s happening around you. If other vehicles get too close, you’ll get a dashboard alert and the vehicle will emit “ground projections” (we’re guessing that means lasers) to help alert other vehicles of your presence.
When you’re parked, the Concept O6’s “Sentry Mode automatically records unusual movements and sends instant notifications to your phone,” according to NIU.
“Smart mobility is about making every ride intuitive, connected, and responsive to the needs of modern urban life,” says NIU. “With Concept 06, technology becomes an extension of the rider, adapting in real time and transforming how we think about mobility.”
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
