Pillion seat and a 80mile range!

Coventry-based electric bike firm Maeving are a multiple MCN award winner for their electric bikes, and for good reason. Their funky-looking commuters are smooth, silent, and do away with charging anxiety by having removable batteries.

The £7,995 RM2 (Removable Battery, two-seat) is their latest offering. It joins Maeving’s 50cc-equivalent RM1 (£4,995) and 125cc-like RM1S (£7,495) in their lineup. It’s based heavily on the CBT-friendly RM1S and uses the same twin removable battery system (you can also plug into the mains in situ) and hub-mounted motor that will propel the RM2 to an indicated 70mph.

It moves the British firm’s electric bike story on with pillion provision and slightly more purposeful ergonomics to suit sportier riders. However, it’s still the battery bike that MCN has come to know and love, boasting impressive build quality and attention to detail.

It’s expensive for a 125cc-equivalent, but for a machine that will wow you every time you open the garage door, it’s worth it. It’s also light, easy to ride, quiet, smooth, swift, and plush. Thanks to some impressive Maeving know-how, it’s as much fun to ride out of town as it is in town.

It’s so well sorted, we’d take electric over petrol power for a short daily commute all day long. It’s cheap to run, especially with low-cost overnight charging, and its removable batteries take away the worry of limited charging access at home or finding a charging station. It’s a class act.

The RM2 is now available to buy online, and deliveries start in November 2025. You can try before you buy at their London showroom in Shoreditch, and Maeving offer mobile servicing from your home.

This is Maeving’s first two-seater, which may not be a deal-breaker for riders in the UK right now, but carrying pillions for commutes is far more popular overseas. It also has a sportier riding position, with the rider’s weight placed more over the front than the more rear-biased RM1S.

Thanks to the know-how of a team of former Triumph and Royal Enfield engineers, the RM2 is fun to ride. It isn’t meant to be a backroad scratcher, but it’s light, flickable, and the bigger new brakes (front disc diameter is up from 240mm to 300mm) are strong.

With its chunky Mitas tyres and big wheels, it isn’t meant to roll fluidly into corners (and it doesn’t), but it can still get its lean on and never suffers a lack of grip during our test. The ride is plush and not as harsh as the RM1S we’ve tested previously, and there’s plenty of room to move around, even for tall riders. The soft seat is comfortable but isn’t supportive and gives you a floaty feeling on top of the bike.

Like its stablemates, the new Maeving is a piece of cake to get on with: just twist and go. Performance is pretty much the same as the RM1S, with instant, traffic-light Grand Prix-winning acceleration.

The instant torque generated by an electric motor won’t have any trouble dealing with the extra weight of a pillion, either. Although the RM2 has the legs to keep up with traffic on motorways out of town, its superpower is how it behaves in the city. There’s no clutch, gears, engine heat, or vibration, just smooth, easy progress from A to B.

You don’t have to worry about oil changes, chain adjustment, or petrol stations, either. I’m as much a fan of piston power as the next petrolhead and there’s nothing I like more than banging my Suzuki GSX-R750 off the limiter heading into Eau Rouge at Spa, but I’d much prefer riding serenely across London on a Maeving than a 125cc petrol bike.

Maeving claim up to an 80-mile range (combined) from a full charge of its twin 2.73kWh batteries (each weighing 15kg) and topping them up from 20% to 80% takes around 2.5 hours, or 6 hours from empty.

Like the RM1 and RM1S build quality and attention to detail is top notch, and it’s put together with the know-how of some of the best designers and engineers in the UK bike industry.

Compared to a conventional 125cc petrol commuter, the Maeving isn’t cheap, and it’s more expensive than Honda’s latest CUVe, which also has removable batteries. But the RM2 is more than just a city runaround. It’s a slice of commuting luxury that will make you smile on every journey.

Like the RM1S it’s based on, the RM2 has the same classy Smiths-style analogue clocks, power-saving riding modes, tubular steel frame, and 19-inch spoked wheels, but that’s where the similarities end.

It gets chunkier Mitas tyres for even more of a ‘20s Board-Tracker look. Maeving have also redesigned the fuel tank (now aluminium instead of plastic) to wrap around the frame, but it still has a handy 10 litres of storage space.

It’s heavier than the RM1S, with its extra seat, bracing, and steel tank, but attention to detail is still immaculate, and the whole shebang has a premium feel, which goes a long way to justifying the price.

Our test bike is fitted with optional carbon fibre goodies and adjustable K-Tech rear shocks. Wherever you go on a Maeving, be prepared to be stopped by admiring bystanders wanting to know what it is.