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.
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.
‘Is that thing legal?’: trialling the Yo-Go on Britain’s most dangerous roundabout A London council is introducing electric buggies to cut emissions on its roads, but are they a practical solution?.
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.
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.
