Piaggio’s next electric scooter, the Piaggio ONE, is designed with young riders in mind. And in case that wasn’t already clear by the fact that Piaggio first teased their upcoming scooters on TikTok late last month, then the new designs should hammer the message home.
Gone are the classic Vespa lines. In their place is a much more modern, city-centric scooter design.
Unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show, the new Piaggio ONE electric scooter is the company’s first follow-up to the Vespa Elettrica scooters.
The scooter line actually consists of three models, each of which is targeted at a younger, more urban audience. By designing scooters with lower power and that are intended purely for urban use, Piaggio was also able to lower the entry cost of the scooters to match the spending level of younger riders.
The three models in the Piaggio One family include the entry-level ONE, the ONE+, and the ONE Active.
The entry-level Piaggio ONE includes a 1.2 kW electric motor and a top speed of just 45 km/h (28 mph). That will qualify it under moped laws in most countries and prevent riders from needing a motorcycle license.
The ONE’s battery is a 48V and 25Ah unit for 1,200 Wh of capacity, which Piaggio claims is enough for 55 km (34 miles).
The next step up to the Piaggio ONE+ retains the same motor and top speed, but boosts the battery capacity to 2,300 Wh. That results in a maximum range of 100 km (62 miles).
Some motorcycle media outlets have incorrectly reported this model as having a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). However, the Piaggio ONE+ has the same speed rating as the base-level Piaggio ONE and is outfitted with the same motor. Such a small motor (just 1.6 hp) would of course not be possible of powering a 100 km/h (62 mph) scooter.
To get a real speed boost, riders will need to upgrade to the Piaggio ONE Active. That is the flagship model of the bunch and sports a more powerful 2 kW motor. That higher power motor enables a faster top speed of 60 km/h (36 mph). Because the scooter has a higher power motor but retains the same 2,300 Wh battery as the Piaggio ONE, it gets a slightly lower range of 85 km (53 mi).
All versions of the scooter claim a charging time of six hours, and the batteries are removable for remote charging.
FKA Twigs says her latest work – a live performance piece at Sotheby’s – is part of her “huge and healing journey” over the last few years, in which she’s learned “how to use and live in my body again”.
The 36-year-old singer and actress opened her first major exhibition on Saturday, the day after her third album – Eusexua – dropped.
It’s a decade since the Cheltenham-born star – real name Tahliah Barnett – released LP1, and a world away from her first professional gigs as a backing dancer for stars including Kylie Minogue and Jessie J.
Described as “a physical and artistic quest for self-healing”, The Eleven comprises a rotating group of 11 “movers”, cycling through 11 ritualised motions that each last 11 minutes and are designed to improve your life.
Each addresses an issue with modern living, including our relationship with technology, simplifying our lives and self-awareness.
For example, if you’re suffering from screen addiction, the first part of a ritual might demand rubbing your hand when you discover that instead of being in the moment you are itching to check Instagram on your phone.
Or if you’ve got personal traits you want to fix, you might “take two hours out on a Saturday to think, ‘Oh, why do I get angry when I stand in a queue in Sainsbury’s?’ You know it’s not because of the queue”.
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She tells Sky News she choreographed the project to “create a sense of calm, and to just gain more control over my life so that I can concentrate on the things of beautiful and wild and free and not get bogged down with all of the noise”.
Twigs, who studied opera and ballet from a young age, will take part in some performances, which will also feature a revolving cast of “special guests”.
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It’s not only a first for Twigs, but also for Sotheby’s, as the first piece of live performance art in the London gallery’s 280-year history.
Image: Pic: Jordan Pettitt/PA
‘I’m a wild-rooted, earthy woman’
Twigs cites Madonna, Tracey Emin (her pen pal as a teen) and Serbian conceptual artist Marina Abramovic as three of her muses, adding: “In the last two years, as I am a grown-up now, I’ve really looked to these women just to encourage me to keep going and get my message out there.”
Twigs explains: “There have been so many women that have just created something so much bigger than themselves, and they haven’t given up, and they’ve kept on going and they’ve ignored the naysayers.”
Her work is also inspired by her own life, rich pickings for the star who says: “I feel like I could get 10 albums just out of my life and from [ages] 16 to 18 if I just sat down and really thought about it.”
She says she only wore a certain shade of blue in the year she was writing the album (“a worn Japanese blue” according to the star) and created “a modular wardrobe” along with collaborator Yaz XL to sit alongside the project and “take the stress of looking good out of your life”.
One thing Twigs is clear hasn’t inspired the exhibition’s message is the California wellness trends so popular with celebrities and millionaires.
She says: “I’m half Jamaican from a single-parent working-class family. So, I don’t really know of those Californian things too much. I’ve just made it from my life experience and I’m a wild-rooted, earthy woman.”
The exhibition includes intimate photographs and Polaroids taken by Twigs’s partner, photographer Jordan Hemingway, who she lives with in east London.
Image: Twigs with her partner, photographer Jordan Hemingway. Pic: PA
‘It’s about touching, slapping and holding yourself’
Twigs says rather than seeing the images as revealing, she sees them as “true”, adding: “I don’t really see my body in that way. Revealing or not revealing, I’d probably feel more awkward in an outfit I didn’t like, you know?“
The star goes on:“Over the past few years, I’ve been on a huge healing journey and, have had to learn how to use and how to live in my body again.”
She says one message of the show is shrugging off body hang-ups: “It’s about touching yourself and slapping yourself and holding yourself and moving in a way that just gets rid of all inhibitions.
“It’s about realising that we’re in our vessels and we can take control of them… Express ourselves. It’s raw and it’s wild and it’s ugly. And in that way, it’s perfect.”
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It’s been a challenging few years for the singer, filing papers to sue her former partner Shia LaBeouf over alleged abuse four years ago, next month will see the case finally come to court in LA.
Twigs says the 38-year-old Hollywood star physically and emotionally abused her during their year-long relationship.
LaBeouf has denied the claims but apologised for the hurt he has caused.
Image: Twigs has been inspired by ‘strong’ women. Pic: Aidan Zamiri/ Ivor Novello Awards
‘Sistah Space feels like home’
With one in four women suffering domestic abuse during their lifetime, it’s a reality Twigs feels needs to be addressed.
As an ambassador for Sistah Space, a UK charity supporting African and Caribbean heritage women affected by domestic and sexual abuse, Twigs says she has found strength from the “strong women” around her.
Twigs explains: “I think that domestic violence and interpersonal relationship violence is a really misunderstood subject, and I think it can be even more complicated when you’re of colour and from different cultures.
“Sistah Space is an amazing organisation that helps support women and survivors, find their voice again, find their feet again after going through something really horrific. Sistah Space feels like home to me.
“I spoke to Ngosi [Fulani, the founder of Sistah Space] today on the way here, actually. And all of these incredibly strong women really inspired me to make this work and to keep going and to have tenacity and strength and all of these things to carry on and fight through in my own journey.”
Image: Twigs with actor Bill Skarsgard in The Crow reboot. Pic: Lionsgate
Eusexua
The exhibition ties in with Twigs’s new album Eusexua – a “Twigism” coined by the star summing up that lightbulb moment when things just click.
With a new album out, a film out in the UK next month (the reboot of cult classic The Crow opposite Swedish actor Bill Skarsgard) and filming another, plus this exhibition, there’s no denying it’s an exciting year for the star.
But with her feet firmly on the ground, Twigs is just happy to be sharing her work with the world.
She sums up: “I feel like I’ve always kept myself very busy and I really love what I do and I love expressing myself and I love the arts and I’m just really grateful for all the opportunities to get them out there into the world.”
The Eleven is at Sotheby’s in London from Saturday 14 to Thursday 26 September and is free to view.
FKA Twig’s third studio album, Eusexua, is out now.
Justin Timberlake has called on the public to “call a friend or take an Uber” if they have been drinking after he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired following his arrest in June.
The 43-year-oldappeared in person at Sag Harbor Village Court in the Hamptons, New York state, on Friday to enter the new plea, a lesser charge compared to driving while intoxicated, which he denied last month.
The judge sentenced Timberlake to a $500 (£380) fine with a $260 surcharge and 25 hours of community service at the nonprofit of his choosing for the non-criminal traffic violation.
After the sentencing, the singer said “even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car”.
He added: “There are so many alternatives. You can call a friend [or] take an Uber.”
Image: Timberlake arriving at court today. Pic: Reuters
The 10-time Grammy winner added: “This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”
The Cry Me A River singer was arrested in the early hours of 18 June after police said he failed to stop at a stop sign and could not stay in his lane while driving in Long Island, New York state.
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Image: Justin Timberlake. Pic: Sag Harbor/Reuters
Court documents stated his eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and that he “performed poorly on all standardised field sobriety tests”.
During the proceedings, the singer remained standing throughout. He said he grew up in a small town and appreciated the kind of strain his arrest has made on Sag Harbor.
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Image: Timberlake pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of impaired driving. Pic: Reuters
He said he has had a lot of time to reflect on his actions. “I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself,” he said, adding he is “grateful for the opportunity to move forward” and use his platform to hopefully help others make “better decisions”.
“I should’ve had better judgment,” he said to the judge. “I understand the seriousness of this.”
Timberlake, who had his licence suspended last month, had previously pleaded not guilty to the greater charge of driving while intoxicated, which can incur penalties including jail time and fines up to $2,000 (£1,520) for a first offence.
The Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife.
The alleged behaviour includes physical and emotional abuse, according to court documents.
The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court and was bailed until another court appearance next month.
Blades married fitness instructor Lisa Zbozen in November 2022 in Barbados, but in May she said she was “broken” after grabbing a bag of things and leaving home.
West Mercia Police said he was charged on Thursday after they were called to an address on 3 May, the day after Ms Zbozen’s Instagram post, and began an investigation.
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It says he left school with no qualifications before studying criminology and then finding his “true vocation in restoration and supporting vulnerable people”.
Blades announced a break from social media at the end of April – and said he would be getting therapy – after posting that his uncle had been murdered.
However, he returned in June for an Instagram post to honour his grandmother and aunt as part of the Windrush generation.
