Last year around 100,000 electric scooters were sold across Europe. The final balance for the first five months of 2021 marks about 35,000 pieces, waiting for a growth in numbers thanks to the warm season. The markets that absorb the majority of e-scooters are the Netherlands and Belgium, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. The Italian market, on the other hand, is settling down after a record 2020, given that 6,088 zero-emission scooters were registered last year, with a growth of 268.8%, to which 377 motorcycles were added (+125.7 %) and 4,378 mopeds (+ 8.3%). Then, in the first five months of 2021, the total of electric two-wheelers registered 3,694 pieces, that is 2.74% of the market, with a growth of 13.35% in reference to the same period of 2020 and even of the 118.5% considering 2019. Numbers beaten only by those of pedal assisted bicycles which are confirmed as a constantly growing market phenomenon. In five years, e-bikes have quintupled their sales figures, going from just over 50,000 pieces per year to 280,000 in 2020, with a growth of 44% on 2019.
Finally, as regards scooters, the latest available data tell of 125,000 units sold in the first 7 months of 2020, with a growth of 140% compared to the same period of 2019. A boom that will soon have to deal with new traffic rules , which provide for compulsory insurance and the use of helmets. In this ever-changing scenario, the Vicenza-based Askoll moves, which in 2015 entered the two-wheeled electric mobility sector, starting precisely from scooters. The company was founded in 1978 by the current President, Elio Marioni, immediately specializing in components for household appliances, aquariums and ponds. Motors and pumps that have accumulated over 800 patents over the years. Then in 2008 the European branch of Emerson Electric was acquired and a research path began which in 2015 led to the birth of the first zero-emission scooter. Two years later the adventure in sharing Europe began with Cooltra and in 2018 Askoll Eva SpA, the division specialized in mobility, was listed on the stock exchange. Apart from the purchase of the lithium-ion cells, which takes place outside, in Dueville (Vicenza) there is everything, from design to production in four plants close to each other.
Askoll currently has 1,500 employees worldwide, of which 500 in the Italian headquarters, for a turnover of around 200 million euros, to which Eva contributes 5%. Even if up to now the scooters built each year have not exceeded 7,000 units – they are the best sellers on the Italian market -, the production capacity is already looking to the future, with the potential of 30,000 e-scooters, 20,000 e-bikes and 20,000 scooters per year. In this regard, the range of mopeds has recently been renewed, but the big news on the launch pad are the scooter and the central motor for bicycles. The first is an absolute novelty for Askoll, it is designed for shared mobility and uses a three-wheel layout with one front and two rear wheels, all 10-inch and anti-puncture. The goal is to have a safe and stable vehicle, with damping systems present both on the fork and on the rear axle. The latter has a patented mechanism that allows the platform to tilt and also includes regenerative braking to increase the autonomy, which reaches 60 km.
The maximum speed, as per code, is 25 km / h and the maximum load is 110 kg. The equipment includes GPS tracker and telemetry, with a battery protected by an intelligent lock that can be opened with the key or with the app. All the cables are hidden in the frame, there is a digital display and there are also the lights always on, with the rear also acting as a stop. The second novelty is the central motor for e-bikes, which will go into production at the end of the year. Here Askoll will clash with four players who have been sharing a market for some years – Bosch, Brose, Schimano and Yamaha – which still continues to grow (in Italy alone 280,000 e-bikes sold in 2020, with a growth of 44% on 2019) . It will do so with the Askoll Drive C90A, a product designed for high-level mountain bikes, which weighs only 2.9 kg but can deliver up to 90 Nm of torque and 250 W of nominal power. A compact bottom bracket motor equipped with an inertial platform to measure the thrust on the pedals, detect the external context and calibrate the power according to real needs and the level of assistance chosen.
