Scooters are no longer dinky vehicles you’re embarrassed to be seen on. Companies like BMW and others have seen to that. But Horwin, makers of the Senmenti 0, are possibly taking the recent upskill too far.
First of all, it doesn’t look like a scooter. That’s fine, though. Nor does BMW’s CE 04. That’s… sort of the point. Vespas are for hipsters and Italians who really don’t care. Have you seen Rome’s streets? They’re basically essential. The Senmenti 0 isn’t just a looker, though. It does things scooters… aren’t supposed to do.
The mental Senmenti 0
That’s because the Austrian/Chinese company has opted to make its two-wheeled conveyance an EV. This gives the Senmenti 0 some series skills. Among those is a top speed of 200km/h and a range-per-charge of 300km. These are respectable, but not any reason to be scared of this little critter.
The fear comes in when you consider acceleration. The Senmenti reaches 100km/h in just 2.8 seconds. As far as scooters go, that’s absolutely mental. It boasts similar acceleration to Suzuki’s sadly-canceled GSX-R1000, thanks to its rear-wheel torque of 600Nm.
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A collection of smart features might make up for its sphincter-tightening takeoff. The bike includes scene recognition and also keeps an eye on driver posture. There’s a Sentry Mode (which is exactly what it sounds like), plus hill-descent and hill-start assists baked in. Its 16.2kWh battery is supercharge-compatible, so it can top up in 30 minutes (provided you have access to a 400v supercharger, which you don’t).
Heated seats and handlebars, collision sensors, ABS, TCS, several riding modes including one for rain, various smart start options, and an automatic windshield round out the features. The Senmenti 0 goes a long way toward making a pre-order attractive but there is a catch. You can reserve one for just R1,800 but the full price has yet to be announced. We don’t reckon a superbike-scaring scooter going to be cheap, though.
Source: AutoEvolution