Electric Scooter review: Piaggio 1

The cheapest model costs just £2011 with the Government EV grant. The One Active costs £2411 with the grant applied.

What’s it like to ride?

Annoyingly easy once it’s live and you’ve selected a rider map to use. Keep the key fob in your pocket once you’ve used it to unlock the bike. There’s a knob to twist, a brake lever needs pulling in while you select the riding map and confirm your choice with a double tap, and after that the throttle is live and you’re ready to go. It’s every inch a traditional step thru scooter; your feet sit flat in front of you and your legs are nicely shrouded from the elements.

In Sport mode a big twist on the lightweight throttle means useable movement rather than the visceral violence a Zero or one of the bigger electric bikes dishes out. If anything, I’d hoped for a little bit more zap off the lights but as it was, there was no danger of being swallowed up by the traffic. It silently and efficiently makes its way to 30mph, which is enough for most modern cities.

There’s next to no drive train whine, but what’s more impressive is the lack of creaks and groans from the chassis or suspension. Naturally this could be because our test bike was weeks (rather than months) old, but it’s only when you’ve coasted along in neutral on hundreds of new bikes that you realise how many chassis sounds are masked by internal combustion. 

I’m 5’11 and 14.5 stone and the Piaggio 1 was more than happy to accommodate me, aside from the odd full lock manoeuvre to get around a stationary car in front, which could have me knocking my own knees with the handlebars.

Holding speed on the flat was a pleasure; other electric bikes still haven’t quite managed to connect the throttle to the desired road speed. Not so on this bike, it just felt like a crisp ride-by-wire throttle on a well fuelled motorcycle. If that doesn’t sound like a compliment, I can confirm that it absolutely is.

It held a line through corners pretty well and only felt twitchy when I was forcing it to change direction too fast. Anyone that’s ridden a scooter on ten inch wheels will know this feeling. The simple fix for this is to hold on and grit your teeth, or just don’t ride it like a twit. The choice is yours but I can recommend the latter.

The dash layout is functional rather than elegant. The LCD display is 5.5 inches across and has all of the vitals you’ll need to get by. The buttons on the bars and the fit and finish in general around the whole bike outweigh the price tag in terms of quality.

I was genuinely surprised to find it was as good as it was. I pulled over after half an hour or so and tried to find something I didn’t like. The under seat storage was ample, enough to hold certain open faced helmets (but not the Bell I was using), easily enough space for a sturdy lock, a waterproof jacket and a work bag. I liked the shape and style of the LED headlights and ended up just enjoying taking in the details.

Eventually I found the reverse gear (and the beeping that accompanies) a bit of a niggle. Pointless on a small machine like this, it felt a bit gimmicky to me.