You wouldn’t think that a company previously best known for manufacturing high end, minimally designed synthesizers would have any expertise in coming up with fresh form and unique look for a new electric moped. But that’s what you see here, the work of the intriguingly named Teenage Engineering of Stockholm, in collaboration with Swedish mobility experts Vässla. The remarkable thing about it is what it costs, which we’ll come to later. But first you’ll be wanting to know some details.
First the name. The moped is called EPA-1, the letters standing for En Passar Alla, which is One For All in Swedish. Idea is that there’s a wide variety of accessories and options to personalise this two-wheeled urban transport to your specific needs. There are eleven different mounting points on the blacked-out frame of the pictured EPA-1 for a helmet box, passenger seat or front rack, among others. Teenage Engineering suggest that riders can add their own accessories.
Urban-oriented black is just one of the colourways, very much featuring on the synthesizers which made Teenage Engineering’s name. But in keeping with the One For All philosophy, a wide range of range of bright colours is available. Scratches? Don’t worry, that’s what it’s designed to cope with, as colour is more than just surface deep. Available colourways are, you might say, strictly Bauhaus: in addition to black, there’s blue, white, red and yellow.
Teenage Engineering EPA-1: Form follows function
Chunky, form follows function design follows the look of key Teenage Engineering sound products. Range is up to 75 miles, depending on the battery pack selected: more than enough for daily urban adventuring. Top speed is a racy 27 mph, best not achieved on your local cycle path unless you’d like to upset the local constabulary, or - worse - your local neighbourhood watch group.
The electric scooter market is full to bursting right now. But Vässla’s decision to collaborate with a leftfield design-led company with serious expertise in a very different field was always bound to attract attention. The company stresses that this is more than a gimmick. They’ve put it like this: “the dream was to create something unique. That's why everything is designed from the start. Not because it's easier, but because it becomes better”.
Added features include LED headlights and an alarm system. There are thoughtful touches too from this battery-operated machine: USB-A and USB-C ports are there to charge your phone, laptop or tablet. Moped charging time is four hours to full charge for the smaller battery version, and six hours for the EPA-1 with bigger battery.
So to the cost of the EPA-1. For reference, a Teenage Engineering OP–XY synthesizer costs £1,899 but then it does feature a sequencer and sampler plus an in-built speaker for “room-filling sound”. The EPA-1 has none of these which may explain the price differential. Order your EPA-1 now and Teenage Engineering will ask just £1,500 from you. That's £499 over for added accessories. Sounds just great.
Next up: The 10 best electric motorcycle brands right now.
