Yet another roofed scooter revives C1 spirit
A German company wants to sell you an electric scooter with a roof, but it’s not the company you’re thinking of.
The person riding this thing doesn’t care what you think. He or she is not of motorcycle culture.
They’ve never stood in a gale drinking tea from a real mug at Reiver’s View (if you know, you know). They’re too busy traveling to their Very Important Job, where they make more money than you do.
That doesn’t mean, however, that we’re not intrigued by this vehicle. Demonstrating that BMW aren’t the only Germans with quirky ideas, Munich-based XYTE Mobility has come up with the XYTE ONE.
It’s a three-wheeled electric scooter with a roof and a windscreen - a kind of blending of the Vision CE concept that BMW unveiled about a week ago, and the C1 scooter of the early 2000s that had inspired it - and this.
The XYTE ONE claims peak power outputs of 16 bhp and and 40.5 lb-ft of torque. Being an electric vehicle, all that will be on tap pretty much from the get go. Top speed is limited to 99 km/h (61.5 mph to those dealing in crumpets and freedom), and claimed range is about 112 km (69.5 miles).
Claimed width is an incredible 79 cm, which makes it thinner than a Kawasaki Ninja 1100SX. The vehicle’s “racing-inspired” seat places your derriere just 63 cm from the ground - something most cruisers wouldn’t even be able to beat - and claimed weight is 206 kg.
Behind the rider is a small boot with a claimed 72-liter capacity. But its dimensions are such that it would not hold a 40-litre Kriega US-40 bag. Make of that what you will.
Speaking of dubious claims, XYTE Mobility says the scooter’s “sophisticated aerodynamics keep you dry in almost any weather.”
Clearly, no one at XYTE has ever been to Wales, where the rain often falls sideways.
If you hadn’t guessed, just by looking at it, that BMW’s C1 is an inspiration for the XYTE ONE, its makers lay things out plainly.
“We refined the XYTE ONE to be the best possible successor of the iconic BMW C1,” the company’s website says.
The love for Bayerische Motoren Werke becomes obvious when you learn that a number of XYTE’s staff are former BMW employees.
“With over 200 years of experience in the mobility industry, of which 120+ years at BMW alone, we know what it takes to create a new vehicle,” states the company’s website.
As with BMW’s efforts, the stated goal here is to create a vehicle that offers the benefits of a scooter or motorcycle (ie, the ability to weave through traffic and park pretty much anywhere) without the need for motorcycle kit.
“No helmet. Full protection. Pure fun,” claims the website.
Hmm, we’re not sure we’d completely buy into that. Seems to us that the same absence of doors that will let in wet weather will also allow your arm or leg or skull to drag against the pavement in a slide.
The XYTE ONE has yet to fully launch but the company is taking pre-orders, offering the three-wheelers up for €10,750, plus VAT. That works out to roughly £9,300 at current exchange rates. Add VAT and you’re looking at something closer to £11,175. A bit spicy for an electric scooter with the power equivalent of a 125cc machine.
By comparison, the roofless (and, in our opinion, more stylish) Maeving RM1S offers more power and more range for £3,680 less.
But the Maeving doesn’t have windscreen wipers. So, you know, swings and roundabouts.
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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.
