At the 9^th edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, SEAT announced the creation of a new strategic business unit focused on urban mobility and presented its new e-Kickscooter concept and its first electric e-Scooter concept.

The SEAT Urban Mobility business unit will integrate all the product, service and platform-based mobility solutions and is set to market launch the e-Scooter in 2020. The new e-Kickscooter concept will also be included in this unit and complement the portfolio that began with the SEAT EXS in 2018. The range of products is designed for final customers (ownership) as well as fleets and sharing services (per use basis).

SEAT Urban Mobility will continue to collaborate with city and public administration representatives to analyse the suitability of a vehicle that has been engineered for urban mobility such as the SEAT Minimó concept, which was unveiled at the last edition of the Mobile World Congress.

SEAT Urban Mobility will also integrate Respiro, the carsharing platform that currently operates in Madrid and since recently in the city of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Respiro has a fleet of sustainable vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and will soon be joined by the new Mii electric. The new business unit is also going to manage the kicksharing service offered by SEAT in partnership with the start-up UFO and will be enabled by SEAT:CODE, the company’s new software development center.

This strategic business unit will enable us to focus our efforts on the user’s new mobility needs. SEAT is the micromobility centre of competence for the Volkswagen Group, and that means developing purpose designed products for all the Group’s brands, not only for SEAT. In addition, we will also deliver services and solutions for private customers and for fleets.

—SEAT President Luca de Meo

e-Scooter. The final version of the electric e-Scooter will ultimately be commercialized in 2020, and it will be available to both private users and shared services fleets. SEAT has a collaboration agreement with the Barcelona-based scooter maker Silence, which would be build them in its facilities in Molins de Rei, located halfway between Barcelona and Martorell.

The e-Scooter concept is equipped with a 7 kW motor with a peak rate of 11 kW (14.8 hp), equivalent to 125cc, which delivers instant engine torque of 240 N·m. The scooter reaches a top speed of 100 km/h, enough to accelerate to 50 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Furthermore, its driving range on a single charge amounts to 115 kilometers (71 miles), according to WMTC test results.

The battery can be removed and easily charged at home or public charging stations at an estimated cost to all customers of €0.70 for every 100 kilometres. In addition, the e-Scooter concept has enough storage space for two helmets beneath the seat, it is connected, and users can track its battery charge level or location via a mobile app.

e-Kickscooter.The new generation e-Kickscooter features a range of up to 65 km (40 miles), two independent brake systems and a much higher capacity battery that reaches 551 Wh. Sales of the current version, the SEAT EXS presented in 2018, totalled more than 10,000 units.

DGT 3.0: The connected car at the service of road safety. SEAT also presented the DGT 3.0 initiative at its exhibition stand at the Congress, a pilot project in collaboration with the Spanish Traffic Authority that enables cars to communicate with traffic lights and motorway message panels in real time with the main goal of improving traffic flows and road safety, as well as the user experience while driving.

SEAT has steadily intensified its commitment to urban mobility in recent years and now it is a key business unit for the company, beginning with the purchase of Respiro, the launch of the e-Kickscooter, the SEAT Minimó concept and now the presentation of the first e-Scooter concept in the history of the brand.