Urban Native T9, the titanium scooter sold at gold price

Urban Native offers an electric scooter in titanium weighing less than 10 kg… but with a suggested retail price of 3300 euros, which raises questions.

French brands — here designed and manufactured in Europe — must be clever and develop products that stand out from the Chinese bulldozers driven by price. Price and only price, because regarding quality, there’s room for doubt.

This is somewhat the disruptive approach chosen by Urban Native, a French company founded in 2017 by Julien Vaney. Its motto: ultra-lightweight. To achieve this, its flagship model the T9 takes an extreme approach: a Grade 9 titanium for lightness and durability, which is also the inspiration for the scooter. It weighs only 9.9 kg, nearly half as heavy as competitors.

Simple and effective?

The T9’s simple visual design is appealing. No frills or plastics everywhere, just a polished tube structure, two foldable footrests, and a motor-battery directly mounted on the small rear wheel (8.5 inches, compared to 12 inches at the front). No suspension or giant screen, but the new generation will include mudguards and a kickstand. It’s the bare minimum, like a Lotus Super 7 from the golden era. That said, the T9 is connected, and a smartphone allows customization of riding modes.

In the back, the motor delivers 1500 watts and 37 Nm of torque, sufficient to reach the legal top speed of 25 km/h. With its 400 Wh battery, a range of 25 km is claimed, but a more realistic estimate would be half that. Recharging takes about 4 hours via a simple USB-C port.

The braking system features a disc brake at the front and an electromagnetic brake at the rear, unfortunately without ABS. Caution is advised on wet surfaces.

One more detail, and not the least: the price. The Urban Native T9 is priced at 3300 euros including VAT in France. That’s 5 to 6 times more expensive than Chinese competitors… A tough dilemma.

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