Silence, the European leader in electric scooters, arrives in Zaragoza

Silence is continuing to expand its network across the country and has opened a new dealership in Zaragoza city centre. All of the models currently sold by Silence can be found at this dealership. The Silence S01, top seller in its segment in Europe, the S01+ and the two versions of the S02 model all stand out in their own right.

AZUREA e-mobility is behind this project, which is being rolled out across all European cities. This Aragon-based group has been working in the renewable energy industry since 2005, with a team of more than 80 people who develop their projects both in Aragon and across Spain.

Local authorities and entrepreneurs attended the opening ceremony, which gathered almost a hundred people, including Jorge Azcón, Mayor of Zaragoza, and Natalia Chueca, Councillor for Public Services and Mobility. Ana Sánchez and Iñaki Valero, as well as Carlos Sotelo, CEO and founder of Silence, attended the ceremony on behalf of Silence Zaragoza.

“Our goal is to make mobility in the city more sustainable”

“One of the great challenges that all cities have to face in the 21st century is mobility. Since we came to the Council, our goal has been to make the city’s mobility more sustainable, more efficient and a partner in the fight against climate change. We want Zaragoza to become carbon neutral by 2030 and mobility plays a key role in this, as emissions account for 20% of the total”, stated the Mayor in his speech, before riding around Zaragoza on one of Silence’s electric scooters.

Natalia Chueca, Councillor for Public Services and Mobility, discussed some of the initiatives on sustainable mobility being rolled out by Zaragoza City Council: “This Council has made the biggest investment in urban mobility in the city in the last ten years: 68 electric buses will save 621,000 tons of CO2 emissions throughout their useful life. In addition, we have also helped accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, multiplying by 20 the number of charging points across the city.

Silence Zaragoza

On the other hand, Ana Sánchez, co-founder of Silence Zaragoza, highlighted the reasons for backing Silence’s landing in the capital of Aragon. “We are facing a transformation of the current energy model, which necessarily requires the electrification of mobility, as it accounts for one third of the energy consumed and is one of the most polluting sectors. We want to align with the energy strategy of Zaragoza, which has been chosen as one of the 100 cities that will lead the goal of becoming climate neutral by 2030. The transition to electric two- and four-wheel mobility is a vital step and a solution to many environmental problems”, she said.

Iñaki Valero, the other co-founder of the project, added: “Sustainability is in the Group’s DNA. We want to achieve the environmental, social and economic sustainability of our company and of our customers, whether they are private individuals, self-employed or businesses”.

The event was also attended by Carlos Sotelo, CEO and founder of Silence. Sotelo, who used to be a cross-country rally car driver, admitted that never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined the current success that the make is achieving: “I participated in Baja Aragon many times as a professional rally driver, so I could not have imagined that I would be participating in an electric vehicle project today and that I would be leading the European market for the fourth year in a row. His track record includes participating in the Dakar eight times, winning several stages and ranking third overall in 2008.

Sotelo also talked about Silence’s new challenges, prompted by the ACCIONA Group becoming the majority shareholder of Silence: “We have started to sell scooters without a battery, allowing us to compete against petrol scooters. In this case, customers simply pay a monthly subscription fee to use the battery. Price is no longer a barrier for switching to electric mobility”.

‘Battery Station’

The novelties do not end here, as Silence has already started to roll out its battery swapping stations, known as “Battery Stations”. This is a system whereby customers do not need to charge the battery and can simply swap the battery at any of the available locations almost instantly, using the app. In fact, the swap module was one of the highlights showcased at the inauguration ceremony of Silence Zaragoza.

Finally, the specifications of the new lightweight four-wheeler – the Silence S04, scheduled to be launched next year – were also presented. As its creator says, “this is not a car, it is a scooter with compact bodywork”. Evidently, it is electric, it can carry two people and has an air-conditioning and heating system. In short, the S04 offers the safety and comfort of a car combined with the manoeuvrability of a scooter.

The presentation was rounded off with a test ride of Silence’s electric scooters around the streets of Zaragoza, after which the guests enjoyed a cocktail. A step forward that marks the start of another new project for Silence, which already has a hundred dealerships across Spain.