This is Bo ‘The Turbo.’ Not an adorable children’s program about a mischievous anthropomorphic go-kart, but an electric scooter. And not just any electric scooter—a really, really fast one.
It’s got twin motors. It features design tricks inspired by Formula One. Heck, the founder of the company building it—that’s the ‘Bo’—was an engineer on the 1,000mph Bloodhound Land Speed Record car and a former Williams F1 body. Safe to say this thing will be fast.
So fast, it’s aiming for no less than a Guinness World Record as the fastest electric scooter on planet Earth. The aim? A peppy 160kph. On a scooter.
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“We are firm believers in the spirit of adventure,” said Bo boss, Oscar Morgan. “The UK already has a proud history in this pursuit, with the first car to pass 100mph, then Thrust SSC taking the Land Speed record in Nevada.
“I guess you could say the UK has a proud history of crazy Brits constructing vehicles that ought not be possible.”
The Turbo is spun off Bo’s ‘Monocurve’ chassis, featuring CNC billet-machined components, and skinned in aerospace-grade aluminum.
Then comes a pair of 24kW motors via French outfit Rage Mechanics, who developed a bespoke setup to power The Turbo to over 160kph. Those motors draw power from a 1.8kWh battery, allowing for 241km of range (presumably when not holding on very tight at vmax).
That F1 bit we mentioned? The design of the ram air intakes was inspired by the brake duct inlet setup on an F1 car, for better cooling of that high-performance powertrain.
Now, having completed 18 months of what Bo’s calling “initial commissioning and shakedown” but what sounds suspiciously to TopGear.com like ‘a bloody good laugh,’ it was unleashed at Goodwood where it hit 136.8kph piloted by pro-rider Tre Whyte.
Indeed, Bo said the “surprise in testing was the accelerative performance,” was that it believes The Turbo can out-accelerate a Tesla Model 3.
“E-scooters have been revolutionizing how people move locally, but they are yet to enter the leagues of mainstream automotive culture,” said Morgan. “The Turbo is part of our mission to elevate these futuristic electric vehicles into the top tier of automotive performance.”
And sell them, too. Bo’s planning a very limited run of The Turbo e-scooters, each costing $29,500 (P1.682 million before taxes). Want one?
More photos of Bo’s The Turbo:
NOTE: This story first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
