Yo-Go electric mini carts take to the streets of London

Has Fulham suddenly turned into a golf course? No, those electric carts are Yo-Gos.

Ten of the bright yellow golf carts will be trialled until October as part of a micro-mobility sharing scheme in a small part of London’s Fulham.

Call them golf carts or electric carts, but Yo-Go calls them neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs). They are specially designed for local travel, with a maximum speed of 20 mph. Because they are lighter than a standard vehicle, they are safer for pedestrians, the company claims.

They will cost €20 a minute to rent, but this drops to €10 a minute for members with a £10-a-month subscription. Anyone hoping to drive a Yo-Go must be aged 25-70 and have held a UK or EU driving license for at least two years.

Yo-Go vs. Cars

While the buggies will operate on a similar delivery model to cycle schemes such as those operated by Transport for London and Lime, the company does not want to discourage active journeys but to prevent car journeys, which are often relatively short.

“What we’re hoping is that they will be more of a replacement for cars,” Yo-Go CEO Dr Sam Bailey told Southwark News. “What we want to do is create something that feels more familiar, feels like driving something — where you have a seat belt, you have a roll cage, you have a roof, you can put some luggage somewhere. — so that to be somewhat of an easier exchange, if you’re a car user, to switch to something like that,” he added.

Driving a Yo-Go

So far, 250 local residents have signed up to use ten trolleys, with plans to add another 40 to the fleet. So far there is only one place to pick up strollers, on Woodlawn Road, and they must be returned to the same location after the trip.

That said, the company says the carts have a range of 30-40 miles on a full charge, and some of the NEVs have solar panels in hopes of extending the range an extra 10 miles, but how effective is that, especially in winter? . remains to be seen.

They can be taken anywhere on local roads, but not on motorways and not yet within the London Congestion Charge zone, although access to central London is in the works. They can be parked and left if there is work, with free parking in any municipal parking space.

Council plans

Hammersmith and Fulham, the local council where the trial is taking place, has previously hit out at bike-sharing companies for cluttering the streets, but Lime and Human Forest operate there now. The district previously had an electric car-sharing scheme called Bluecity, but it closed in 2020 after three years in operation.

“These innovative electric trolleys are another first for Hammersmith and Fulham as they offer residents and businesses an affordable, environmentally friendly alternative,” a council spokesman said.

Golf cart towns

While Yo-Go said the pilot was a world first, there are many places around the world that allow golf carts on public roads — especially golf course-filled retirement communities in the US’s sunny states, as well as tourist destinations. , such as Costa Rica, Belize and Catalina Island in California.

But there’s also Peachtree City in Georgia, which has long used golf carts for transportation on public roads, and they are used in parts of China on public roads.

Surprisingly, it makes sense for crowded urban areas where short commutes are common. Golf carts are slower and lighter, which means they are less dangerous for pedestrians. When they are electric, they have no pollution at the point of use. And they are smaller, taking up less space on the road and for parking. Plus, the average driving speed in London is around 9mph – more powerful vehicles are largely wasted.

As Yo-Go noted on its website: “The statistics speak for themselves. Transport is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, accounting for 26% of total emissions. Road traffic is the largest of air pollution and across London an estimated 1,000 people die each year due to poor air quality.”

“But we can change that,” he added. “If every car in Hammersmith & Fulham traveled just 5 miles less per week, it would take more than 10 million miles of traffic off the Borough’s roads each year.”

As Bailey notes, the Yo-Go shouldn’t be a replacement for bikes – but if every car in London was an electric trolley, the city would be a very different place indeed.