A London council is introducing electric buggies to cut emissions on its roads, but are they a practical solution?. “Is that thing road legal?” scoffs the driver of a white van as I complete a careful loop of Hammersmith roundabout, to the sound of loud guffaws from his front-seat passenger.
![[Esther Addley]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/06/05/Esther_Addley.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
I assure him it is, though honestly, you can see his point. The Yo-Go – a bright yellow electric buggy with two seats, one gear and no side panels – does not look entirely at home on one of the capital’s most notoriously congested junctions, squeezed between buses, delivery vans and construction lorries many times its size.
![[Sam Bailey with two of the vehicles.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b279761b1e5f816a07a6f7f7e29e793fa024fb70/0_187_6559_3934/master/6559.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
On my third or fourth circuit at the request of the Guardian’s photographer – of what I learn only later is Britain’s most dangerous roundabout – a sideways rain sets in and I realise I haven’t checked in advance which of the chunky switches is the windscreen wiper. My hands are freezing, my hair is flapping in my face and, I can’t deny, I’m thinking about my Ford Focus.
It’s a fun if slightly white-knuckle ride but here in west London members of Hammersmith and Fulham council think this could be the future of short-range urban travel. They are enthusiastically backing the rollout of the cheerful buggies across the borough in the hope that those residents who haven’t yet abandoned their cars for a rental bike might be tempted, on a dry day at least, to try a vehicle that looks more suited to a fairway than a four-lane gyratory.
Can it catch on? The explosion in urban pedal and electric bike rental might suggest so, with at least 40 such schemes now operating in Britain in cities from Aberdeen to Plymouth. But with the capital’s wealth of public transport options, on top of widespread docked cycles, ebikes and car-share provision, do Londoners really need another transport rental scheme? And does it have to look this … goofy?.
