The new two-seat Yo-Go buggies popping up across Fulham are the brainchild of local inventor Sam Bailey. He has high hopes they'll soon be in use across London.
Just before taking a spin around Parsons Green, a film crew from German television featured Sam and his creation to see if it might work in Berlin. Other European crews have also sampled the cars. "There you go," said Sam. "We're introducing the Germans and the Dutch to sustainable transport!"
There's no doubt about it, Yo-Go buggies are huge fun. They can park in half the space of a small car, are simplicity itself to drive (one pedal says STOP, the other GO) and have space for shopping bags in two cargo bays at the back.
Experiment
"Sorry about the mess," said Sam, clearing pine needles from one luggage compartment, where someone had used a Yo-Go to transport a Christmas tree.
Yo-Go is the cheap, environmentally friendly alternative to keeping a car which just sits outside the house for most of the time. It is limited to the 20mph speed in H&F, it charges at lampposts (a roof solar panel tops up), and it's a useful two-seater addition to a rental market previously limited to e-scooters and e-bikes. They cost just 20p a minute to hire.
"It started out as a thought experiment," added the 50-year-old engineer who loves finding easy, workable solutions to everyday problems. Other inventions, created in his Fulham workshop, include Pippa, an intuitive cooker monitor which warns of untended pots on hobs (adopted by H&F Council for vulnerable residents) and Leakbot, a clip-on water pipe leak detector.
Lamppost charging
"Most car journeys in London are under three miles as people pop out and about," said Sam, who has two children in borough schools and a third now at university.
"For efficiency it makes sense to have a smaller vehicle with a smaller battery, and there's enough space for the weekly shop for a family of five."
The reason he's trialling the buggies in H&F is because of the borough's huge network of lamppost charging points, because of the blanket 20mph limit, and because the council has given permission for his vehicles to use parking bays for free.
"I live in the borough, the lamppost charging is simple – it effectively uses a vacuum cleaner charging cable, and you need somewhere that's 20mph because it's safer," he said.
H&F Council leader Cllr Stephen Cowan said that as the borough has the highest concentration of electric car charging points, it makes sense to trial Yo-Gos here. "Sam contacted us asking to do a trial, and within a short space of time he was out doing it. These are a very useful addition to the transport offer that people need. We want to democratise this kind of innovation," he said.
Once registered, it's a simple matter of scanning a QR code to activate your Yo-Go. You climb in (it's left-hand-drive, because that's how the £7,000-a-pop buggies are made in China), click on your seatbelt, push the start button, select forward or reverse on the steering column and away you go. No instruction needed! A basic dashboard tells you your speed and your remaining charge range.
Parking is a joy
The buggy is as manoeuvrable as a London taxi. Because its dinky wheels sit slightly outside the chassis, it's very secure cornering, and because there are no sides to a Yo-Go it feels like you're really zooming along despite sticking to 20.
Remove your foot from the GO pedal, and a recharging brake kicks in automatically, suddenly slowing your speed without even needing to resort to the official STOP. Parking is a joy; it's small enough to leave kerb-on in a tiny space.
It's also a real head-turner. People break into a broad grin when they see you merrily sailing by in a banana-coloured buggy. The brakes are powerful, there are indicators and wipers so they're street-legal, and as they are 'unlocked' by a code, they're virtually theft-proof.
Green alternative
Currently, for insurance, drivers can only be between the ages of 25 and 70, must have held a UK or EU licence for over two years, and can't have any more than six penalty points. The range, before a recharge, is 30 miles… longer on sunny days when the solar panel comes into play.
From H&F Council's perspective, the trial scheme is a great way to offer a green and easy alternative to cars. Because of excellent public transport links, just 42 per cent of borough homes have access to a car anyway. Added Sam: "People in London don't drive to work. They use the car for the school run, or shopping or going to yoga… so this is really targeting car use."
Other unexpected uses for Yo-Gos have included builders nipping out to hardware shops to pick up screws and hinges, and home carers darting between their patients, but Sam believes they could soon be a viable alternative for Amazon and other delivery drivers.
Locations
At present there are 10 of the buggies, based at a few points including Parsons Green, along Peterborough Road, by Fulham Reach and near Fulham FC's Craven Cottage stadium. That is soon due to rise to 50.
Currently, the buggies have to be returned to where they started. But as the scheme expands, that will change.
As the rental charge (which includes insurance) is a tiny fraction of the cost of buying a full-size electric vehicle, it's surely the most cost-effective, cutest thing on four wheels in the capital. And other Yo-Go users invariably give you a cheery wave.
