We’ll be honest, we had to check the dictionary and a ‘conurbation’ is an extended urban are typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city.
We’re letting you know because Mini says its ‘Citysurfer’ has been created for people who require mobility while living in conurbations.
The Mini Citysurfer is a 18kgs electric scooter which can be folded into the not-exactly-large boot of a Mini three-door hatchback.
It’s a single-track scooter so it doesn’t occupy too much space when motoring and its light weight configuration means you can carry it onto trains and buses.
Mini calls it a ‘mobility supplement’ – you can use it as a single form of transport or combine it with others to fill-in the gaps between where you park your Mini and your final destination.
You thrust along like a normal scooter to get-up some momentum and then the Mini Citysurfer’s electric motor kicks-in (a thumb-operated accelerator and gearless hub motor in the rear wheel) providing a top speed of 25km/h.
Power comes from a lithium-ion battery installed in the Mini Citysurfer’s frame and re-charging can be done via the 12-volt power socket in your Mini or at home using household power.
Brake energy regeneration tops-up the battery while you’re riding.
Mini says the Citysurfer has an electric range of 15-25 kilometres although of course you can provide the energy yourself like a conventional scooter and if so the electric drive components are completely disconnected and offer no resistance.
There’s even a mobile phone holder and charger on the handlebars and you can use Last Mile Navigation with the Mini Connected XL Journey Mate.
‘Conurbation’ is real and we’ve all probably seen the stats which show how the world’s cities are growing, so concepts like the Mini Citysurfer and production vehicles like the Renault Twizy aren’t science experiments – they’re the future of motoring.
