2022 Legatus Metropolitan in Malaysia – electric scooter, up to 140 km range, 3-hour charge, RM13k

Some three years in the making, Legatus EV is nearing its debut into the Malaysia electric vehicle market. It’s first offering, the Legatus Metropolitan electric scooter (e-scooter), is designed for the urban arena, notably in the areas of light commuting and commercial delivery.

Styled and developed for the Malaysian market, the Legatus Metropolitan is intended to be an affordable transport solution, with final pricing “around RM13,000”, pending final vehicle type approval (VTA). With a launch scheduled to take place in the next two months, paultan.org was given a first look at the Metropolitan and told, “please take it for review and let us know what you think.”

Assembled in Malaysia to Legatus’ specific design brief, the Metropolitan e-scooter comes with an external-mount motor, eschewing the use of the hub-mounted electric motor typically found in EVs of this class. This motor design allows for affordability, scalability and future proofing of the Metropolitan, with Legatus developing more Malaysia-specific electric two-wheelers to be launched in the near future and a view to the export market in ASEAN.

While details of the motor remain confidential for now, what we call tell you is the Metropolitan will give a mixed cycle use range of 120 km, with a governed top speed of 100 kmh. While this may not sound like much, Legatus’ market research indicates this is adequate for urban use and within performance norms of e-scooters found in densely populated areas.

Now in final prototype form, some further improvements will be implemented, into splitting the current lithium-ion phosphate 60 volt 50 Ah battery pack into two to allow for easier removal from the Metropolitan for remote charging. Charging time is claimed to be three hours and the e-scooter comes with three power delivery modes, with Mode 1 giving the best range of 140 km but lowest speed, while Mode 3 raises performance to the level of a 100 cc internal combustion engine scooter.

Addressing the issue of range anxiety when using EVs, Legatus is in the process of implementing a public infrastructure pilot project, using the Metropolitan. This will bring battery swapping to the Malaysian market as well as develop a public electric charging eco-system for EV users.

Returning to the Metropolitan e-scooter, we will be putting it through the paces in the next few weeks and subjecting it to real world riding conditions, including range tests across a variety of terrain and riding styles as well as suitability for purpose. In the meantime, more EV news will be forthcoming on paultan.org, highlighting developments in both two-and four-wheeled EVs in the Malaysia market.

Update: Legatus EV wishes to clarify that while the styling of the Legatus Metropolitan might look the same as some electric scooters available online from China, a lot of work been done underneath the bodywork to ensure homologation and safety compliance to Malaysian standards. It should be noted a similar electric scooter available from China has a 50 kmh limited speed, while the Legatus Metropolitan will achieve speeds in excess of 90 kmh.

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