Nouvelles

Lisbon has become the latest major European capital to push shared e-scooters off its streets — and while rental fleets are being cleared out, privately owned scooters are explicitly not affected. If you ride your own machine, the rules that matter are the same as before: ride where your country allows it, respect the local speed cap, and keep your equipment in order. You can browse the full range of electric scooters for adults to see which models fit your city's rulebook. Here are the hard facts. On 21 October 2026, the Lisbon City Council approved Mayor Carlos Moedas's proposal to suspend the shared scooter system in the Portuguese capital. Operators — Bolt, Bird and Lime under the January 2023 agreement — now have 60 days to remove every shared scooter from the city, which takes the removal deadline to around the end of the year. After that, the council can impound leftover vehicles itself and bill the operators. The vote passed point by point: the PSD, CDS-PP and independents in the mayor's coalition voted in favour, the PS, Left Bloc and Communist Party abstained, and Livre and two Liberal Initiative councillors voted against, according to Lusa as carried by Observador. Why Lisbon suspended its shared scooter fleet The official reasoning is public-space disorder, not riding itself. In a press release, the city hall said the decision contributes to "a more organised, safer city with a more orderly and respectful public space for everyone". Moedas was direct about the trigger: "It was a necessary step that we had to take. The evidence of a problem of improper parking of these vehicles in public space and the restriction of the circulation of people." City officials say more than 1,200 badly parked scooters are removed from Lisbon's streets every month (reported by the municipality, confirm with the council's own enforcement statistics). The 2023 agreement capped the three operators at 1,750 vehicles in summer and 1,500 in winter, but enforcement struggled with unregistered units and abandoned hardware. Local motoring organisation ACP, which collected around 20,000 signatures for a suspension petition, has counted over 6,000 scooters on the street and more than 1,300 accidents in 2024 alone (reported by ACP, confirm with official sources) — those operator-side numbers are not independently verified by the state. Shared bans are becoming a European pattern Lisbon is following a well-trodden path. Paris voted private-style shared scooters out in 2023, Brussels has banned shared e-scooters from 1 January 2027, Madrid has restricted them, and Lisbon's own press release notes it is acting "similar to other European cities facing similar problems". The common thread is not that scooters are dangerous by nature — it is that fleets without accountable owners create parking chaos. A privately owned scooter has an owner who parks it, charges it and maintains it. The council also committed, in a deal with the PCP and Left Bloc, to expand the municipal Gira bike-share network (currently around 2,000 bicycles) and to draft a soft-mobility regulation within a year. Livre councillors warned that tearing up the operator agreement could expose the city to compensation claims — a detail to watch as the 60-day removal window runs. What this means for private owners — and what it does not Read the decision carefully and the target is unambiguous: shared rental operations. Privately owned scooters "are not affected", as the council's own materials and multiple Portuguese outlets confirm. If you own your machine, nothing about Lisbon's vote changes where you may legally ride. What does not change is the country-by-country rulebook. In France, privately owned e-scooters are EDPMs capped at 25 km/h with a 12-year minimum age. In Spain, VMP rules require registration in many municipalities. In Germany, only type-approved models under the eKFV regime — for SUNNIGOO, that means the N5 with its ABE certificate — may use public roads; the N9mate is not ABE type-approved for German public roads. In Spain, SUNNIGOO's street-legal family is the N8, N9 and N9mate. And in the UK, private e-scooters remain restricted to private land. Rules apply to that country; EU-wide frameworks like EN 17128 set the safety baseline, but national law decides road access. Where a machine like the SUNNIGOO N9mate fits The SUNNIGOO N9mate is the flagship dual-motor scooter of the lineup, priced at €959 (strikethrough €1,099). It pairs two 1200W brushless hub motors (3200W combined peak output) with a 1152Wh (48V 24Ah) lithium battery, delivers up to 60 km of range in ECO mode (around 50 km in SPORT, 34 km in RACE), climbs grades of up to 38° and carries up to 200 kg. It ships factory-limited to 20 km/h, the speed cap accepted for e-scooters on most EU public roads, with a RACE mode for private land and closed circuits. Honesty matters here: a 3200W-peak dual-motor machine is built for riders who want torque, hill-climbing ability and all-weather traction — the exact qualities a hilly capital like Lisbon demands from a scooter. But its road legality depends entirely on where you live. If your country caps e-scooters at 250W–500W for public roads, the N9mate's place is on private property and closed tracks; the SUNNIGOO N8 (650W nominal / 1200W peak, CE EN 17128) is the mainstream street commuter in the family. Know your venue before you buy — venue matters more than wattage. Battery safety is the quiet half of this story There is a second, less visible reason cities are wary of scooter fleets: lithium batteries. In the United States, senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer and Ritchie Torres sent a letter to the CPSC's acting chair on 16 October 2026 pressing the agency to finish mandatory lithium-battery standards for micromobility devices, citing CPSC figures of 367 lithium-battery fires and 45 deaths between 2017 and 2024 (reported by Fingerlakes1, confirm with CPSC's published data). New York's fire department has already logged 362 battery fires in 2026 alone, per the same report. For private owners, the lesson translates directly: use the manufacturer's charger, match the voltage (a 48V pack charges at 54.6V — never "make do" with a 36V-class 42V charger), charge on a hard surface away from exits, and stop using a pack that has been crashed or swells. The N9mate's six-layer BMS guards against short circuit, overcurrent, overheating, over-charge, under-voltage and over-discharge — but no BMS replaces a careful owner. The parking discipline cities actually want Lisbon's monthly figure of 1,200+ impounded scooters is, at its core, a parking failure story. Private riders keep their street access only by not repeating the rental industry's mistakes: park out of pedestrian paths, never block crossings, lifts or doorways, and store your scooter indoors where your building rules allow. Cities that banned shared fleets — Paris, Brussels, now Lisbon — have all kept private ownership legal. The fastest way to change that is to ride and park carelessly. Conclusion Lisbon's 60-day scooter clearance proves that cities will close public space to fleets they cannot manage — while private, well-maintained, correctly parked scooters remain welcome almost everywhere; buy for your venue, ride to your local rules, and the privilege stays yours. FAQs 1. Are privately owned e-scooters banned in Lisbon? No. The 21 October 2026 council decision suspends the shared scooter system and gives operators 60 days to remove their fleets. Privately owned scooters are explicitly not affected, and existing national rules for private riders continue to apply. 2. How fast is the SUNNIGOO N9mate on public roads? The N9mate ships factory-limited to 20 km/h, the cap accepted for e-scooters on most EU public roads. RACE mode, which raises the pace for private land and closed circuits, must only be used where local law allows. For German public roads, the N9mate is not ABE type-approved — only the N5 carries that certificate in the SUNNIGOO range. 3. Which SUNNIGOO scooters are street-legal in Spain? For Spanish public roads we recommend the N8, N9 and N9mate family, which is positioned for Spain's VMP framework. Always check municipal registration requirements, as Spanish cities administer VMP rules locally. 4. Why are European cities banning shared e-scooter fleets? The consistent reasons are improper parking, blocked pedestrian space and enforcement difficulties with large fleets. Paris, Brussels, Madrid and now Lisbon have all restricted or removed shared operations, while private ownership with an accountable owner remains legal — which is why parking discipline matters for every rider. People also ask: Brussels bans shared e-scooters from 1 January 2027: what riders should know 250W EU standard explained: EPAC rules vs e-scooter wattage limits Spain's VMP rules: only 140,000 of 4 million scooters registered About SUNNIGOO: SUNNIGOO is a European brand manufacturer of electric scooters and e-bikes, with EU warehouses in Germany, Poland and France, a 2-year warranty on motor and frame, CE EN 17128 certification and its own service center in Messel, Germany. Orders ship in 3–7 working days from within the EU. Whether you ride a street-legal commuter like the N5, N8 or N9, or a dual-motor flagship like the N9mate on private land, you get EU-based stock, duty-free delivery and service that does not disappear after the sale.