What it’s like in Europe’s popular crypto haven Portugal as the U.S. cracks down
Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images
LISBON, PORTUGAL — Matadors and bitcoin maximalists are regulars at Campo Pequeno, a neo-Moorish bullring in the northernmost reaches of the Portuguese capital city.
The two aren’t all that different. Both are typically defiant and stubborn, engaged in a seemingly hopeless battle that pits man against beast, where the goal isn’t just survival but total domination. Each fights against the status quo — one against the laws of nature, the other against the financial establishment. In the case of the maxis, these rebels don cryptographic code instead of capes, pinning their revolution on the decentralized ledger technology they believe will change the world as we know it.
Every month, bitcoin’s biggest fans in Lisbon — an eclectic bunch of mostly expat digital nomads — descend on this 19th century arena to sip Licor Beirão, talk shop and extol the virtues of a world run on bitcoin. The storied venue is also a fitting metaphor for the bull run that many of these bitcoiners hold out hope for during crypto winter, the name given to the period of prolonged, depressed pricing in digital assets that can last for years.
Software engineer Lorenzo Primiterra has been living mostly in Lisbon for the past two years.
CNBC
Software engineer Lorenzo Primiterra has been going to the gatherings since they began. He’s a Peter Pan-type with black chipped nail polish and small black hoop earrings complimenting the tattoo on his right inner forearm that reads, in all caps, ‘WHAT’S MY AGE AGAIN?”
Primiterra hails from Italy but has spent two of his last seven years on the road in Portugal. Sitting at a picnic table adjacent to the 10,000-person capacity arena, he tells CNBC that the inaugural bitcoin gathering took place in this same venue in spring 2022, the weekend after the collapse of Terra Luna — a popular U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin project that imploded overnight, erasing half a trillion dollars from the sector’s market cap in the process.
“A lot of people got burned in that,” Primiterra said of the stablecoin’s failure. “I guess a lot of people became bitcoiners from that event. They understood the importance of self custody of bitcoin, bitcoin on bitcoin blockchain, not on other chains.”
The cascade of crypto bankruptcies, failed tokens and the revelation that some of the titans of the industry were running allegedly criminal enterprises laid bare to many that bitcoin is king.
But Lisbon as a city remains largely blockchain agnostic.
Every night of the week, there is some sort of industry gathering — recurring events like Web3 Wednesdays and Crypto Fridays at The Block, a popular clubhouse where industry enthusiasts can rent out co-working space. The city also plays host to major industry conferences like Web Summit and NearCon.
“I remember, two years ago, there was supposed to be an ethereum event here, and then solana organized another event and then they said, ‘Well, let’s do a blockchain week,’ and then it became a blockchain month,” said Primiterra.
“I went to the other blockchain events during the bull market, because every blockchain was offering drinks, and I’m like, ‘Why not?'” he said.
Aerial view shot of the April 25th Bridge and the Tagus River at sunset, Almada, Lisboa Region, Portugal
Simonskafar | E+ | Getty Images
Crypto investment firm Greenfield recently named Lisbon the most important crypto hub on the planet, outranking New York, Berlin and Singapore. In the recently released State of European Crypto Report, researchers point to its “profound DeFi scene” and the country’s tax breaks as two big reasons for its top status.
Even as the government looks to roll back aggressive incentives for foreigners, the tax regime is still a lot more favorable than elsewhere on the continent — especially as the collective crypto market cap is nearly 60% off its all-time high. Add perks like the newly launched digital nomad visa and the fact that the city offers lower prices than other Western European hubs, and Lisbon has all the fixings of an ideal expatriate enclave for tech enthusiasts looking to save cash while they talk code.
This is a big part of why Primiterra, who has been in roughly 50 countries in seven years, is staying put in Portugal. He bought an apartment during the pandemic in an up-and-coming neighborhood outside the main city center — and has no plans to uproot anytime soon. Another big draw? A community of like-minded people.
“I like tech in general, so even if I know that a project is terribly coded tech wise — I’m like, ‘OK, tell me how you plan to solve that double-spend problem,'” he said. “I can listen to it, I can counter-argue some of the stuff.”
“I have friends in the ethereum community, and it’s totally fine for me,” added Primiterra, though he noted that one of his big side projects of the moment is looking to launch a co-working space dedicated to bitcoin.
Sunrise over Lisbon, Portugal
Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images
The San Francisco of Europe
A walk through Portugal’s capital feels eerily similar to a stroll in San Francisco. Both boast a cityscape defined by steep streets and sudden vistas; hilly terrain sloping down to beaches dotted by kite surfers and sailboats; red, dual-towered suspension bridges marking the edge of the city bounds; and brightly colored old-fashioned trams snaking through narrow streets.
The two coastal cities are also honey pots for techies.
Jemson Chan is a software tester from Singapore who has been living in Portugal for nine months. Chan is currently working for a company that is not crypto related, but he says his passion firmly lies in bitcoin and decentralized tech.
“I came to Lisbon for the quality of life, the number of tech startups and the very burgeoning tech scene,” said Chan.
Jemson Chan is a software tester from Singapore who has been living in Portugal for nine months.
CNBC
Guy Young, the CEO and founder of crypto startup Ethena Labs, says the ambience drew him to Lisbon, calling it one of those ideal cities that strikes a good balance between picturesque architecture, a rich history, top-notch restaurants, great weather — and a solid community of crypto people.
Young’s anecdotal take on the Iberian Peninsula reflects a common sentiment. In 2022, Portugal ranked sixth on the Global Peace Index, and it tops the list of best countries for expats. The number of foreign residents in Portugal has been on the rise for seven straight years, increasing by more than 40% in the past decade.
It also helps that there are clear ground rules on crypto in Europe, thanks to a law known as Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA. While the guidelines aren’t Portugal-specific, the comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets makes it easier to navigate operating a crypto business or investing in virtual tokens in the eurozone.
Chan, who has a side hustle hosting his own educational podcast on bitcoin called Orange Pill Uncensored, says Portugal is a far more hospitable backdrop than the U.S. with its regulation-by-enforcement tactics deployed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Ever since the FTX collapse and the current ongoing attacks by especially the U.S. government on centralized exchanges, there have been efforts from the grassroots level to create more decentralized platforms that deal with the on- and off-ramps to fiat,” added Chan, pointing to decentralized marketplaces like Pocket Bitcoin, RoboSats, Bisque and Peach that allow users to buy and sell bitcoin.
Primiterra used to spend his days working to measure global internet censorship as part of his work with a sub-project of the dark web browser, Tor. But nowadays, he volunteers his coding skills to Bitcoin Map, an open-source tool that lets you search for merchants that accept bitcoin anywhere in the world.
Lisbon may be crypto-friendly, but businesses don’t appear to be all that interested in accepting bitcoin as a form of currency. Primiterra says the list includes a handful of merchants including a ramen place and a dentist.
Seb True is a full-stack engineer who made the move to Lisbon over the summer.
CNBC
Seb True is a full-stack engineer who made the move to Lisbon over the summer. The British national initially traveled to Portugal on what was meant to be a short trip to make a presentation at the monthly bitcoin gathering. Soon after his arrival, he was hooked and committed to a three-month sublet.
True quit his full-time job so he could focus on traveling the world and teaching people about bitcoin from the perspective of sound money and the philosophy of libertarianism. He has dubbed his educational modules The Bitcoin Student, and he’s looking to expand the brand by capitalizing on his engineering background.
Lisbon has been a relief for True, who previously ran underground workshops in Egypt where bitcoin is illegal.
“Apparently they throw people in jail for talking about it and just working on it or doing anything with it,” he said. “That’s actually the first place I started giving presentations on bitcoin.”
He says he knew the risks but ultimately ignored warnings about his safety, because he felt the population could greatly benefit from learning more about decentralized virtual money that existed outside the reach of governments or central banks.
“It’s a country that has experienced over 50% inflation just this year, people are suffering, they don’t understand why and they don’t know who to blame,” continued True.
“Their view was, ‘Oh, bitcoin, someone controls that, too, surely, so it’s not going to be any better,'” he said, adding that it didn’t take long to “orange pill” them, a phrase used by bitcoiners to describe the process of indoctrinating someone in the ways of bitcoin.
True has now shifted his focus to Portugal, describing Lisbon, in particular, as the ideal base to grow his enterprise.
“The people here that I’m meeting are doing things, actually creating content, they’re active about making a difference, and they are interested in collaborating,” True told CNBC.
“I’ve already had people contacting me asking to make content for me or for my project, not for any money, not for any fame … but just because they’re passionate, because they believe in the mission,” continued True. “They believe in the idea, and that’s really what’s made me think, ‘Wow, I should really stay here. This is where the community clearly is.'”
Lisbon’s skyline, showing the city’s Ponte 25 de Abril spanning the river Tagus.
Stephen Knowles Photography | Moment | Getty Images
Tax breaks on bitcoin
Before making the move from Asia to Europe, Chan pored over tax law in the European Union, narrowing down the ideal jurisdiction to either Switzerland or Portugal.
“If you know anything about Switzerland, it’s a millionaires’ and billionaires’ paradise,” said Chan. “Looking at me, I don’t think I’ve achieved that level of success yet, so I chose the poor man’s Switzerland.”
The tax perks in Portugal are certainly a big draw.
The resident-non-habitual (NHR) status is a fiscal regime that in some cases grants expats living in Portugal total exemption from paying taxes on their income for a period of up to 10 years.
In addition, unlike the U.S., which treats virtual currency as property, taxing it in a manner similar to stocks or real property, Portugal views cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. That distinction is a game-changer with respect to taxes.
Up until the end of 2022, capital gains resulting from crypto transactions, such as cashing out and crypto-to-crypto trades, were not subject to personal income taxes. The government has since added more caveats to its crypto tax breaks, including a requirement that an investor hold a digital asset for more than a year before selling in order to avoid paying taxes on the sale.
This means that gains from buying or selling cryptocurrency, as with other fiat currencies, are not taxed if the trader holds on to their coins for at least 12 months. Meanwhile, profits made on crypto held for less than a year is taxed at a rate of 28%.
“This makes Portugal a really attractive place for crypto users to live,” explained Shehan Chandrasekera, a CPA and head of tax strategy at crypto tax software company CoinTracker.io.
The only exception to the country’s generous crypto scheme relates to companies registered in Portugal that deal in crypto. These businesses face some taxes under certain circumstances, like if they earn cryptocurrency by providing services in Portugal.
Cyclists photographed in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2018.
Kamisoka | Istock Unreleased | Getty Images
Expats tell CNBC the process of establishing residency is relatively smooth. It doesn’t require owning any property, and unlike other crypto tax havens, such as Puerto Rico, foreigners aren’t required to spend a certain number of days in the country.
Citizens of the European Union have the right to permanent residence in Portugal, and for non-EU citizens, it offers expats a few paths to residency, including the golden visa and the D7 Visa (also known as the retirement visa or passive income visa), both of which tend to attract wealthy foreigners.
The Portuguese golden visa is given to those who buy property, or invest a certain amount of money in the country.
There are also steps that involve getting a tax identification number, opening a bank account and formally applying for residency. Companies such as Plan B Passport streamline the application process for expats.
Plan B CEO Katie Ananina tells CNBC the company has helped hundreds of people from countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada obtain a second passport in one of seven countries, including Portugal. Plan B works in tandem with each government’s residence- or citizenship-by-investment programs.
One drawback to Lisbon’s burgeoning popularity: As more crypto fans flood the city, some of the longtime natives are complaining about rising prices, similar to other tech hubs around the world.
“There’s been quite a sort of influx of foreigners that have come in recently,” says Ethena’s Young. “And there’s been a bit of pushback around property prices, what’s going on with sort of the prices in some of the restaurants and stuff like that. But as a foreigner who’s come here, I have no complaints.”
‘It’s just paradise’
Wout Deley — who has been researching cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology since 2013 — was working as an international sales manager for a galvanization company in Ghent, Belgium, when he decided to sell his house, invest in tokens and hit the road.
After a few months traveling through Europe during the early days of the Covid pandemic, he ultimately settled in Portugal.
Deley invested two-thirds of the house-sale proceeds in cryptocurrency and then lived off the final third.
“At any given time, I have maybe — at a maximum — 10,000 euros ($11,450) in my bank account,” said Deley. “All the rest is always in crypto.”
For Deley, establishing residency in Portugal was a no-brainer.
“Cryptocurrencies in Belgium are massively taxed, and I was looking at seven figures of profit,” said Deley, who said that he would have faced a tax obligation of close to 40% had he remained in Belgium.
“You want to double your profit? Just move to Portugal,” he said.
Praça do Comércio is a popular tourist destination in Lisbon’s city center.
Imazins | Image Bank Film | Getty Images
Deley lives in Lagos in the southwest tip of Portugal. He says that he found a villa available as a long-term rental which was “very cheap” and that was enough to establish residency.
The living is easy in Portugal, according to Deley, who says the southern coastline of the Algarve offers the perks of Los Angeles — a warm climate and great surf — but without the traffic jams. And there is a solid social scene.
“It’s full of expats. It’s just paradise,” continued Deley. He says that he knows of at least three bitcoin billionaires who live nearby — plus another 12 people at least, mostly from the U.K., who are moving to Portugal in the next few months for the crypto tax benefits.
Deley doesn’t speak Portuguese, but he says that’s not a problem because everyone speaks English. He is also surrounded by a lot of like-minded crypto investors. “Everyone has cryptocurrency here. Everyone knows bitcoin. Everyone has it,” he said.
Deley says the crypto investor migration is good for Portugal, too.
“They have a huge brain drain. Younger people are leaving. So they’re trying to be more open to people with capital, digital nomads,” said Deley.
Meanwhile, Didi Taihuttu of the ‘Bitcoin Family’ wants to disrupt the typical expat experience in Portugal by building a crypto village.
The family is currently shopping for real estate. They’ve narrowed their options down to three different plots of land, one as big as 250,000 acres, in the Algarve.
The plan is to run the community in a decentralized fashion, in which the land is divvied up by the square meter and sold as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in order to signify ownership.
Taihuttu also wants to mine for bitcoin with solar and wind power and then use the heat produced by the rigs to warm houses in the winter, in a sort of closed-loop system.
The working plan, for now, is to use a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, to govern the community. DAOs run on blockchain technology.
“We want to build a decentralized lifestyle, which is the future,” he said.
In the meantime, the Taihuttus found an abandoned inn and are retrofitting it to be the first web3 hotel in the Algarve that is financed and owned by the community.
Chevy is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a patriotic lineup of special edition Stars & Steel models, including the electric Silverado EV pickup.
Meet the Chevy Silverado EV Stars & Steel edition
The new Stars & Steel collection is “a curated lineup of uniquely designed vehicles that embody purpose-driven patriotism and American craftsmanship,” Chevy said
Chevy is releasing five special-edition vehicles for 2026, including the Silverado EV, Corvette, Silverado LD, Silverado HD, and Colorado, in celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Each vehicle is assembled in the US and will feature exclusive interior and exterior design elements, including American-flag-inspired graphics on the hood, as well as other premium options that “underscore patriotism,” according to Chevy.
The Silverado EV Stars & Steel Special Edition will be available on the RST Crew Cab trim. Buyers can choose from Summit White or Black exterior colors, while a Sky Cool Gray interior with bucket seats offers “a bold electric interpretation” of the Stars & Steel theme.
Every 2026 Chevy Silverado special edition model includes American Flag-inspired stripes in Satin Silver or Satin Black and “250” flag graphics.
Chevy also added 24″ high-gloss black wheels, black nameplates, and a new Brembo heavy-duty brake system with red-piston front calipers, and larger 15.7″ brake discs.
For every Stars & Steel vehicle sold, Chevy will donate $250 to nonprofits that support veterans. Be on the lookout as the collection will make its first public appearance this weekend during the Army-Navy game on Saturday, December 13, 2025.
A tribute to the roads that built us. Introducing the Stars & Steel Collection. pic.twitter.com/rKrz1NckpE
— Chevrolet (@chevrolet) December 10, 2025
Chevy said production of the new lineup is expected to begin in early spring 2026, and prices will be announced at a later date.
The 2026 Chevy Silverado EV offers an impressive driving range of up to 494 miles and can tow up to 12,500 lbs. It’s available in three trims: Custom, LT, and Trail Boss, starting at $55,895.
If you’re interested in test-driving the electric pickup, we can help you get started. You can use our link to find available 2026 Chevy Silverado EVs in your area.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) this morning to dismiss Waymo’s progress in autonomous driving, claiming that the Alphabet-owned company “never really had a chance against Tesla” and that this will be “obvious in hindsight.”
The comment came as a direct response to a discussion about Waymo’s newly released safety data—a level of transparency that Tesla has yet to match.
The exchange started when Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean pointed out the massive disparity in validated autonomous mileage between the two companies. Dean noted that Tesla doesn’t have “anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has,” citing Waymo’s fresh milestone of 100 million rider-only miles.
Musk, who has promised a fleet of “1 million robotaxis” by the end of 2020 (a deadline that passed five years ago), responded with his usual bravado:
“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”
In fact, Tesla has zero Robotaxi miles with rider-only as its service still has in-car safety supervisors. Despite the safety drivers preventing an untold number of accidents, Tesla has a much higher accident rate with its supervised robotaxis than Waymo or average human drivers.
Even with this worrying situation, Musk said yesterday that Tesla plans to remove the safety drivers in the Austin Robotaxi within 3 weeks.
Musk’s comment is particularly ill-timed given the context. Waymo just released a massive tranche of safety data covering its operations across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin.
The data show that Waymo’s Driver avoids crashes at a rate significantly better than human drivers, with a 91% reduction in serious injury-causing crashes compared to human benchmarks.
Meanwhile, Tesla has yet to deploy a single vehicle without supervision for a commercial ride or even share anywhere near the amount of data Waymo shares..
While Tesla regularly releases a “safety report”, it was widely criticized by safety experts for being an “apples-to-oranges” comparison. Tesla’s report relied on airbag deployments as a proxy for crashes and lacked the granular injury data that Waymo provided. Furthermore, Tesla’s data covers a system that is supervised by a human 100% of the time, making it impossible to isolate the safety performance of the software itself.
Tesla frames the data as proving “FSD is better than human drivers”, but in truth, if you take the data, it faces value; it only compares “FSD with human supervision to human drivers.”
Electrek’s Take
I find it increasingly difficult to reconcile Elon’s statements with reality. Waymo is currently operating fully driverless commercial services in multiple major cities. Tesla is still testing a Level 2 driver-assist system that requires constant human attention.
Apple and oranges.
We are looking at two companies. One has nearly 100 million miles of documented, driverless driving with specific, published safety data showing it is safer than humans. The other has zero driverless miles, vague safety reports that rely on proxies like airbag deployments, and a CEO who has been promising “next year” for a decade.
For Elon to look at Waymo, which is currently operating the exact service Tesla has been trying to build for years, and say they “never had a chance” is baffling.
To put it in terms that a racing enthusiast like Elon might understand: He thinks Tesla is leading the race because he can see Waymo in his rear-view mirror. What he doesn’t realize is that he isn’t ahead; he’s actually being lapped.
When a car is a full lap ahead of you, it appears behind you on the track. But that doesn’t mean you are winning.
I understand that he believes that Tesla’s cheaper system will enable it to scale faster once it solves unsupervised self-driving, but there’s simply no evidence of that.
If Tesla removes the safety drivers from its fleet in three weeks, as Musk claims, which is a big if, it will officially be about 5 years behind Waymo and will still need to prove safety without a supervisor and then scale.
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I’ve ridden a lot of electric scooters over the years. Most blur together – two wheels, a deck, a motor, and a series of compromises. But every now and then, one stands out. And after a couple of weeks riding the Bo M2 electric scooter, I can confidently say: this one’s different.
The Bo M2 is not your average e-scooter. It’s a purpose-built, premium commuter with some seriously refined features – and a price tag to match. At $2,490, it’s firmly in high-end territory. But for riders who want a serious transportation tool, not a toy, there’s a lot to like here.
Bo M2 scooter review
To see what I mean, check out my ride review video below. Then keep reading for even more details on this innovative electric scooter!
What makes the Bo M2 stand out?
Let’s start with the construction. The M2 is built around a single-piece aluminum unibody frame, which the company calls the Monocurve chassis, and it’s beautiful. No welds, no hinges, no rattling folding mechanisms. Just one sweeping curve of aluminum that feels solid as a rock and helps explain the scooter’s clean, futuristic aesthetic.
This thing looks more like a design concept from a European mobility expo than something you’d expect to lock up outside a coffee shop. But it’s not just for looks (even if it does look beautiful). The rigid frame gives the whole scooter a planted, roadworthy feel. It doesn’t flex, wobble, or creak, even when you’re riding aggressively or hitting uneven pavement.
Even the most rigid of folding scooters will always have a bit of play in the folding area, but the Bo M2 just feels like a solid frame throughout – more like a motorcycle frame than a standing scooter frame.
And speaking of stability, let’s talk about the real magic trick here: the steering system.
The best handling I’ve ever felt on a scooter
The Bo M2 uses a proprietary feature the company calls Safesteer, which is essentially a built-in steering damper. Think of it as power steering for a scooter – but in reverse. Instead of making the steering looser or twitchier, it actually adds some light resistance and dampens those small, unwanted wobbles you often get when riding one-handed or over rough terrain. The result is that the bars don’t wiggle and they also naturally have a slight return pull towards the neutral position.
The effect is genuinely impressive. You can feel it from the first few feet of riding. At slow speeds, the front end feels calm and composed, not fidgety or loose. At high speeds, it tracks in a straight line with an almost eerie smoothness. I can even ride the scooter no-handed like a bicycle or motorcycle, though it just feels wrong to do so because I’ve spent my entire life knowing that you can’t ride a scooter no-handed… at least until now.
It’s one of those features you don’t realize you need until you experience it – and now I wish every scooter had it.
For newer riders or anyone who’s ever felt nervous about steering on a scooter, Safesteer is a game changer. And for experienced riders, it just makes the whole ride feel more premium.
Performance and range
The Bo M2 uses a 400W-rated motor with an actual peak output of 1,270W, and it delivers a top speed of 22 mph (35 km/h). That’s fast enough for most urban commuting in the bike lane and likely more than enough to keep pace with bike traffic.
It’s not going to pace a Class 3 e-bike in the US, but it’s still pretty fast for riding along on 10×2.5″ tires.
Acceleration is strong but not jerky, especially in Sport mode, which gives you full power. There’s also an Eco mode if you want to conserve battery or ride more gently. I mostly stuck with Sport mode, since it’s fun without feeling twitchy.
Range is rated at up to 26.2 miles (42 km), or one marathon, and while that’s best-case scenario, I could get over 20 miles (32 km) per charge riding at mixed speeds in the city. I’d call that sufficient for most daily commuters, and the 672 Wh battery charges in about 4.5 hours with the included fast charger.
Braking and control
Bo takes a slightly different approach to braking than most scooters. Up front, you get a sealed mechanical drum brake. Out back, there’s a regenerative electronic brakes with e-ABS that activates when you pull the left lever. The regenerative braking can pull as much as 1,000W of power, helping to (briefly) recharge the battery during each stop.
Braking is smooth and progressive, and the regen system is particularly satisfying. It slows the scooter down quickly and recaptures a bit of energy while doing it. Plus, there’s less maintenance to worry about with sealed drums and electronic brakes.
And of course, having the Safesteer system means you can brake hard without worrying about wobble or oversteer. Everything feels composed, like it was designed by automotive engineers… since it was.
Ride quality, comfort, and details
The ride comfort on the Bo M2 is among the best I’ve experienced on a scooter without full suspension. Part of that is due to the Airdeck system, which is a layer of EVA foam that adds vibration damping to the standing deck. Combined with the 10-inch tubeless pneumatic tires and ergonomic silicone grips, it smooths out a surprising amount of road chatter.
It’s not a plush, bouncy ride as you’d get with spring suspension, but it feels deliberate and connected to the road, like riding a high-quality urban bicycle. This will absolutely not make up for big pot holes, but it will feel better on normal rough roads then a typical rigid scooter. You’re giving up the advantages of long travel suspension for the benefit of rigidity, and the Airdeck system helps make swallowing that compromise a bit easier.
There are also a lot of thoughtful features that make the M2 feel like a real vehicle. The 800-lumen headlight is excellent, and the 270° daytime running light ring makes the scooter more visible from all angles. The rear light includes a brake alert, and everything is IP66-rated, so riding in the rain is no problem. Or at least it’s not a problem for the scooter. I’d still recommend you not ride in the rain unless you have to since its harder to be seen by cars and you do have to worry about loosing traction on slick surfaces like wet leaves, smooth pavement, etc.
The scooter comes with a MOUS Intralock phone mount (which I didn’t use because I’m married to the Peak Design phone lock system, but they do include an adapter if you want to stick it to the back of your own phone case). There’s also lockable anchor points for a U-lock and a built-in motor immobilizer that you can activate via the Bo smartphone app, giving you a bit more peace of mind in terms of theft prevention.
Is it worth the price?
At $2,490, the Bo M2 is definitely not cheap. You can get solid e-scooters for less than half that price. And so I will immediately tell you that this is not the scooter for everyone, or even most people. This is not a bang-for-your-buck scooter. This is something fancy for those who want to pay more for fancier features like steering dampers and a design that speaks to things no other scooter ever has.
This is a commuter-grade vehicle for someone who wants to ditch the car or bus and ride something premium, daily. And it genuinely delivers on that promise.
If you’re looking to spend less, Bo also offers the Bo M1, which shares much of the same design DNA but has lower power and a slightly reduced spec sheet. It starts at $1,990, saving around $500 compared to this higher spec version. But after riding the M2, I’d say the upgrade is worth it if you want the best experience.
And if you’re considering a Bo scooter at all, let’s just say that money probably isn’t your first concern. A scooter that was brought to you by former engineers at outfits like Jaguar and Land Rover was never going to be designed to compete on price, but rather on premium features and design.
Final thoughts
The Bo M2 is one of the most refined electric scooters I’ve ever tested. It’s beautifully built, thoughtfully engineered, and loaded with features that actually make a difference in day-to-day riding.
The steering damper alone puts it in a league of its own for ride stability, and the unibody aluminum frame gives it a level of build quality that most folding scooters can’t touch.
No, it’s not for everyone. If you just need a cheap ride for a few blocks, this is 100% overkill. But if you’re serious about getting something premium, you definitely want the standing ride of an e-scooter, and you want a daily commuter that feels more like a transportation appliance than a toy, the Bo M2 is worth every penny.
And with a scooter that rides this smoothly, you might actually look forward to your commute.
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