voi perkele

Now that some more electric experience is behind me...

I've been slightly bolder in where and how fast to drive. I've been surprised how individual the units are. The braking efficiency, responsiveness to the acceleration button and stiffness of the steering handle may be very different. 

The ~10°C weather already makes me think whether I ought to clothe differently, or at least wear gloves.

But now, as I took over the scooter, I felt almost instantly that something was wrong. It wasn't as fast as it used to be? The news in Helsinki now is that due to the health concerns the scoots will be inactive in weekend nights and the top speed will be capped, but surely that's not yet in effect?

I stopped, took out the GPS app, continued with it and noticed it's peaking at 20km/h. I guess it's just a flick of the switch to "them". I've felt it would have been enough to curtail the use during night time and especially weekends.

Just to make sure, I measured it also on the way back, on a different voi.

A grab from the most dangerous video I've ever taken.

It's not that the speed is peaking at 20, but it's almost if the scooter can't even quite reach that speed, often hovering around 17/18 on a flat surface and barely getting to the maximum. This is perhaps to anticipate so that downhills won't exceed the speed limit too much. (Ok, so the speedometer app might not be super-accurate.)

To me the difference between 25 and 20 is the difference between "whoa this is actually tiny bit fast" and "meh". Or perhaps it indicates that after getting used to the higher to speed the lower speed simply feels wrong. Much like I wouldn't like to switch over to a slower computer.

I'm somewhat amazed how easily such a decision can be made and put into effect. Ok, so it's been discussed for some time already, so it shouldn't be a real surprise. But what if someone really put effort into achieving the "voialty" points in order to be able to get cheaper rides, but these rides are now slower, i.e. you won't now be getting what you invested in?

It might also set precedent for changing the law so that every scooter (owned or rented) could have this as the top speed. If so, it could be the deal breaker. I'll buy a tank instead.