British micromobility company Yo-Go could soon be scaling its pay-as-you-go yellow electric buggies nationwide.
Founded by clean energy entrepreneurs Sam Bailey and Matthew Boulton, 10 Yo-Go buggies are currently roaming in London’s borough of Hammersmith and Fulham as part of a pilot scheme to test their performance.
Residents can hire the buggies as they would any other micromobility service – by scanning them on an app and returning them to a parking location at the end of the hire.
“We’ve tried to make a micromobility solution that’s easier for people to transition to from a car,” Yo-Go Co-Founder Sam Bailey told Zag Daily. “Trying to get someone to switch from a car to an e-bike or e-scooter is quite a big leap. It’s a very different vehicle to use. Our solution is a micromobility vehicle that is positioned a lot closer to a car.”
The Yo-Go buggy has a steering wheel, seat belt, roof, rail cage and can accommodate a driver and passenger as well as luggage. It has a range of 30 miles, top speed of 20 mph, and can be driven on roads that have up to a 40 mph speed limit.
“Whilst legally the vehicles can be driven on roads with limits up to 40 mph, Yo-Go encourages users to use them for journeys on 20 mph limit streets which are now extensive across London,” Sam said.
They cost £0.20 per minute and drivers must be aged between 25 and 70, with at least a two-year-old driving license.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council have permitted free parking for the buggies in the borough. Riders can park them in any standard car parking bay within 30 metres of where they hired the buggy from.
Yo-Go is collecting data as part of the pilot, such as what journeys users are making, the purpose of their journey, and what vehicle residents are choosing to use if not a Yo-Go buggy.
According to Sam, the data indicates that Yo-Go is replacing 2.5x as many car journeys as public transport journeys.
Yo-Go is planning to add 50 more buggies to the Hammersmith and Fulham pilot later this year and scale to other UK cities if successful.
“We’re hoping this is a much more usable solution for a car driver to transition from a full size car to a micromobility vehicle.”
