BEAT THE CROWDS IN STYLE… OR NOT

Sinclair C5

Sir Clive Sinclair’s single-seat electric-powered bathtub-onwheels caused much excitement but flopped spectacularly. It was too slow and too exposed to bad weather and to other vehicles. Driving one could be a terrifying experience.

Smart car

The first Smart car recognised a truth that eluded even the great Alec Issigonis, designer of the original Mini – namely that small cars are typically habited by only one or two people. So why bother with a back seat? Bigger than the Ami, and much faster.

The bicycle

One of the few inventions without a downside, the bicycle remains the ideal form of urban transport. It was once the most popular of city transport, from Cambridge to Chennai.

As a uence grew, so did our fondness for sweat-free petrol power.

Electric scooters

This may soon be the fastestgrowing form of urban transport. Simple, brisk, inexpensive and fun, e-scooters are taking o in Europe and America, never mind the questions about their legality (as I write, they’re legal in the UK if rented but not if owned).

Electric bikes They’re booming and they’re here to stay. Most of the fun of a bike but with less e ort, they’re perfect for those who find pedalling a little too hard or have longer commutes. The most irrefutably logical of all forms of personal transport.

Scooters

The preferred urban transport in much of India, and still the coolest form of mobility in Italian cities, the scooter makes sense: it’s cheap, fast and practical. I still miss my old Vespa. The fourstroke engine is now giving way to clean and quiet e-power.