 As a native New Yorker, I've tried pretty much every method imaginable for navigating the streets of the Big Apple. So when my next door neighbor rolled up in an Urbi electric scooter, I was intrigued. I had tried out an early prototype back at CES in 2014. That vehicle was fun, but too slow and slight to be taken seriously on rugged streets. I decided to take the finished product for a spin, trying to navigate through a day of errands and my commute to work. I started out in Brooklyn where I live. The Urbi is front wheel drive, so the steering can be a bit jumpy, especially if you put your feet on the front pegs, but I never fell off while learning to ride. My wife had forgotten her lunch, so I went to pick her up something to eat. The Urbi was ideal for switching back and forth from the sidewalk to the street and the optional basket made carrying her sandwich a breeze. It even held my iced coffee. It was definitely my ultimate hipster dad moment. The Urbi has a top speed of 15 miles per hour, which feels great when you're accelerating, not quite as speedy when you're getting passed by a bicycle on the straightaway. Still, I left my camera crew in the dust by slipping past traffic a lot of the time. The Urbi even handled well on cobblestone streets, although that was a pretty bumpy ride. We then made our way into Manhattan. I took the Brooklyn Bridge, which is always crowded with tourists snapping selfies in the bike lane. It can be a nightmare of starts and stops, but with the Urbi, I could start and stop with minimal effort and even weave between pedestrians. Its agility and flexibility really impressed me on this leg of the trip. As I made my way to Midtown, I spent some time weaving in and out of traffic on the Urbi. You sit far too low to be seen from a large bus or truck, even most SUVs wouldn't spot you in their mirror, but I actually felt safe, if not safer than I do when working my way through similar traffic on a bicycle, because the Urbi is much nimbler and faster to accelerate. The Urbi relies on a 36 volt lithium ion battery for power. It takes about 4 hours to get to a full charge, but you can get a whopping 20 miles on that single charge, giving you more than enough juice for a 45 minute commute to work and back. So this is our last shot of the day, and it's a fake one, because I beat the video team back to the office by a mile. I was really impressed with the maneuverability on the Urbi and especially the battery. We rode it for like 5 hours before it died, this is a new one I'm riding now. If you have $1,700 to spare and you have an urban commute that doesn't work for a bike or a car, this is a really interesting option.
 As a native New Yorker, I've tried pretty much every method imaginable for navigating
 the streets of the Big Apple.
 So when my next door neighbor rolled up in an Urbi electric scooter, I was intrigued.
 I had tried out an early prototype back at CES in 2014.
 That vehicle was fun, but too slow and slight to be taken seriously on rugged streets.
 I decided to take the finished product for a spin, trying to navigate through a day of
 errands and my commute to work.
 I started out in Brooklyn where I live.
 The Urbi is front wheel drive, so the steering can be a bit jumpy, especially if you put
 your feet on the front pegs, but I never fell off while learning to ride.
 My wife had forgotten her lunch, so I went to pick her up something to eat.
 The Urbi was ideal for switching back and forth from the sidewalk to the street and
 the optional basket made carrying her sandwich a breeze.
 It even held my iced coffee.
 It was definitely my ultimate hipster dad moment.
 The Urbi has a top speed of 15 miles per hour, which feels great when you're accelerating,
 not quite as speedy when you're getting passed by a bicycle on the straightaway.
 Still, I left my camera crew in the dust by slipping past traffic a lot of the time.
 The Urbi even handled well on cobblestone streets, although that was a pretty bumpy
 ride.
 We then made our way into Manhattan.
 I took the Brooklyn Bridge, which is always crowded with tourists snapping selfies in
 the bike lane.
 It can be a nightmare of starts and stops, but with the Urbi, I could start and stop
 with minimal effort and even weave between pedestrians.
 Its agility and flexibility really impressed me on this leg of the trip.
 As I made my way to Midtown, I spent some time weaving in and out of traffic on the
 Urbi.
 You sit far too low to be seen from a large bus or truck, even most SUVs wouldn't spot
 you in their mirror, but I actually felt safe, if not safer than I do when working my way
 through similar traffic on a bicycle, because the Urbi is much nimbler and faster to accelerate.
 The Urbi relies on a 36 volt lithium ion battery for power.
 It takes about 4 hours to get to a full charge, but you can get a whopping 20 miles on that
 single charge, giving you more than enough juice for a 45 minute commute to work and
 back.
 So this is our last shot of the day, and it's a fake one, because I beat the video team
 back to the office by a mile.
 I was really impressed with the maneuverability on the Urbi and especially the battery.
 We rode it for like 5 hours before it died, this is a new one I'm riding now.
 If you have $1,700 to spare and you have an urban commute that doesn't work for a bike
 or a car, this is a really interesting option.