Finland approves new 4-wheel electric vehicle for road use

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) approved a new type of four-wheel electric vehicle that requires no driver's licence for road use, reported Xinhua, quoting a press release of Traficom on Thursday.

Produced by the Finnish company Scouter Mobility, the two-seater vehicle's maximum speed is 25 kilometers per hour. It can be used wherever bicycles are allowed and shares the same traffic rules and liabilities as those for bicycles.

However, it must have standard transport insurance, according to Traficom.

The Scouter is a new mobility solution without harmful emissions, Traficom noted.

Jukka Juhola, an expert at Traficom, said in the press release that the Scouter was the first electric L-class vehicle to receive European Union type approval in Finland. "This means that the vehicle can be accepted for road traffic elsewhere in Europe on the basis of the Finnish approval," Juhola said.

"Road transport lacks a lightweight solution designed to make short journeys with goods and passengers," said Petri Pitkanen, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Scouter Mobility.

"In addition to zero emissions, simplicity, safety and fun have been our key design criteria," noted Pitkanen, adding that Scouter-type solutions are needed to achieve the carbon neutrality goals of cities and resorts.

The technical tests for the vehicle's electric transmission were carried out by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).