Apollo City vs Apollo City 2022 - Same Name, Different Beast: Which One Actually Deserves Your Commute?

Fast Answer for Busy Riders ⚡ (TL;DR)

The Apollo City 2022 edges out the Apollo City as the better overall package: a bit more polished, slightly more efficient, and with a more resolved design that feels like the "real" start of the platform rather than just a good idea. If you want a refined, low-maintenance commuter with strong comfort and clever regen braking and you don't mind the weight, the City 2022 is the smarter choice.

The "regular" Apollo City still makes sense if you find it meaningfully cheaper, care a lot about higher water protection, or you simply like the later cosmetic and software tweaks more than the underlying engineering differences. Both are competent, neither is life-changing; the 2022 just does the "serious commuter" job with a bit more maturity.

If you're still reading, you're clearly the kind of rider who cares about the details - and that's exactly where these two scooters start to separate. Let's dig in.

Electric scooter line-ups age a bit like smartphones: every year or two you get a "new" model that may or may not actually be new. With Apollo's City family, that confusion is baked right into the names. On one side you've got the Apollo City; on the other, the Apollo City 2022. Same brand, same target rider, very similar silhouette - but the devil is in the ride, not the brochure.

I've put real kilometres on both, the standard City and the 2022 generation, in the kind of grim urban conditions marketing photos never show: wet cobbles, tram tracks, broken tarmac, and the occasional "shortcut" that should really have been classified as off-road. Both scooters promise that magic middle ground between rattly toy and hulking hyper-scooter. Both come close. Neither is perfect.

If you're trying to decide which City belongs under your feet rather than in an Instagram ad, keep reading - the differences matter more than the names suggest.

Who Are These For, and Why Compare Them?

Both scooters live in that upper mid-range commuter bracket: not cheap Amazon specials, not 40-kg monsters that need their own parking bay. Think riders who do several kilometres each day, often year-round, who want proper suspension, real brakes, and enough speed to mix confidently with fast bike traffic without constantly worrying if the front end will shake itself to pieces.

They target the same person: the "I'm done with rental scooters and my Xiaomi is wheezing" crowd. Both promise strong hill-climbing in dual-motor trim, cushy triple suspension, tubeless self-healing tyres, and low-maintenance drum brakes. They're direct competitors in your head because they're literally built around the same idea: premium, integrated commuter that pretends to be an appliance rather than a hobby.

The twist is that the Apollo City feels like the later evolution of the concept, while the Apollo City 2022 is the platform that really nailed the fundamentals first. Think of the 2022 as the base blueprint; the City as a mildly refined remix with slightly different priorities.

Design & Build Quality

Park them side by side and most non-nerds won't tell them apart. Same stealthy grey, same orange accents, same clean, cable-less silhouette that makes most generic scooters look like plumbing experiments. The differences show up when you start poking and prodding.

The Apollo City 2022 feels very deliberately "Version One of a serious platform". The chassis and stem latch, inherited from Apollo's Phantom, are beefy and confidence-inspiring. The fenders are nicely braced, the rubberised deck feels practical rather than flashy, and the kickstand - while not perfect - is decent and sturdier than most in this class. There's that slightly over-engineered vibe: it may not be glamorous, but it feels like it'll survive a few winters of neglect.

The Apollo City follows the same design language, just with some cosmetic polish. The integrated display in the stem looks a bit sleeker, the cockpit's a touch more minimal, and the cable routing is equally spotless. The folding claw feels solid, and play in the stem is basically a non-issue on both. Where the City stumbles is not build quality as such, but small annoyances: a kickstand that's a bit too short for comfort, fenders that are just that tiny bit too optimistic in the rain, and a charging port that's weirdly fiddly to reach on the deck.

In the hands, the 2022 model feels more like a robust tool; the City feels marginally more "designed" but with a few usability missteps. Neither screams luxury; both feel more serious and better screwed-together than most of what you see leaning against café walls.

Ride Comfort & Handling

This is where both scooters quietly justify their existence. Triple spring suspension plus decent-sized tubeless pneumatics is a tried-and-true recipe, and Apollo has tuned it sensibly on both. Coming off a typical stiff commuter, they feel almost decadent. After a few kilometres of cracked pavement and lazy speed bumps, you realise your knees aren't silently writing a resignation letter.

On the Apollo City 2022, the suspension tune leans slightly towards plush. Small cracks and cobbles are rounded off into a muted thud, and the chassis doesn't bounce or pogo unless you hammer a big pothole you really should have avoided anyway. The rounded tyre profile encourages gentle carving, and the scooter feels very neutral in turns - not twitchy, not sleepy.

The Apollo City's ride is extremely similar, but a touch more "damped" at speed. The front end feels fractionally more planted in fast sweepers, and the wide handlebars plus ergonomic curve give you lots of leverage when dodging parked-half-on-the-cycle-lane cars. On long stretches of rough bike lane, the difference is subtle rather than night and day: both are genuinely comfortable for a long city commute; neither is a magic carpet that will save you from every pothole you fail to see.

Where they both suffer is from their own mass. That reassuring, heavy chassis that feels so stable in a corner becomes a bit of a lump if you're trying to flick quickly through tight chicanes or lift the front wheel over tram tracks. You feel the weight in fast direction changes; these are cruisers, not scalpel-sharp slalom toys.

Performance

Both scooters, in their dual-motor guises, sit firmly in the "fast enough to be fun, slow enough not to terrify you into selling it" camp. They pull hard off the line, especially in the Pro / dual-motor trims, and they'll climb normal city hills without that embarrassing mid-slope slowdown that plagues cheaper single-motor commuters.

On the Apollo City 2022 Pro, the initial shove is enthusiastic. From a standstill to typical city-limit speeds happens in a pleasantly short burst, and you can actually feel the second motor waking up when you launch. Past that early punch, acceleration stays linear rather than spiky; the controllers are well-tuned, so you don't get that "light switch" behaviour where half a millimetre of throttle means the difference between crawling and warp speed.

The Apollo City keeps the same character: strong but civil acceleration, enough top-end to cruise in the mid-thirties (km/h) without constantly bouncing off the limiter, and more than enough torque to deal with the kind of hills cities like Lisbon and San Francisco like to throw at you. Where the City slightly improves the experience is in the high-speed composure. Geometry and stem stiffness combine to make speed wobbles basically a non-issue as long as you're not riding like a YouTube thumbnail.

Braking is where both scooters stand out - and feel almost identical. The dedicated regen paddle on the left becomes second nature very quickly. You end up riding them like an electric car: right thumb to go, left thumb to slow, and the drum brakes only join the party when you truly need them. It's smooth, predictable, and it extends both pad life and range. Between the two, there's no big difference in braking feel; the City's marketing screams a bit louder, but the City 2022 already nailed this formula.

Battery & Range

If you believe manufacturer range claims, I've got a bridge to sell you. Both scooters advertise optimistic "laboratory conditions" distances. In the real world, ridden like actual commuters - mixed modes, plenty of throttle, some hills - you're looking at a comfortable round-trip commute plus errands, not a full-day countryside tour.

The Apollo City 2022 in Pro trim carries a healthy battery that, ridden enthusiastically, will cover a sizeable chunk of city in one go before starting to make you think about chargers. With a more relaxed riding style you can get closer to the brochure numbers, but that's true of every scooter ever made. The single-motor 2022 trims things back a bit but still covers ordinary urban days without drama.

The Apollo City can be specced with a slightly larger pack in its top configuration, and in sensible use it does offer a touch more headroom: you're more likely to finish a spirited day of hill-heavy riding with a few extra bars left. The flip side is that you're also hauling the extra kilos of that bigger battery all the time, whether you need the extra autonomy or not.

Range anxiety on either? If your daily pattern is under roughly twenty kilometres total, not really. If you're regularly stacking long rides, the City's bigger battery options tip the scales. Charging times are similar - around a workday's worth to go from flat to full - and both benefit slightly from heavy use of regen in stop-start traffic.

Portability & Practicality

Let's be blunt: neither of these is what you'd call portable in the way a Brompton or tiny carbon scooter is portable. They're both firmly in the "I own a lift, a garage, or good ground-floor storage" category.

The Apollo City 2022 in single-motor form is marginally lighter, but once you're above twenty-something kilos, a couple of kilos either way don't transform the experience. Carrying it up one flight occasionally is fine; doing four flights every day is a gym membership disguised as a lifestyle choice. The folding mechanism is quick and secure, and the folded package slides into a normal car boot, but the non-folding handlebars mean it's still an awkward long object on crowded trains.

The Apollo City is a touch heavier again in its dual-motor, big-battery form. You notice that when you dead-lift it into a car or up stairs; your back certainly does. The folding claw and stem hook system is solid, though, and once folded it's relatively tidy. The main ergonomic annoyance is that the charging port on the deck can be a pain to access if you're plugging in somewhere cramped, and that stubby kickstand makes it sit a bit too upright for comfort on uneven surfaces.

App-wise, both share Apollo's better-than-average software. You can tweak acceleration, regen strength, speed limits, and use a digital lock that applies motor resistance. It's not a replacement for a real lock, but it does add a layer of hassle for opportunistic thieves when you nip into a shop.

Safety

Safety on both scooters is built around three pillars: strong, controllable braking; decent lighting and signalling; and weather protection that doesn't vanish the moment the sky turns grey.

We've already covered braking; it's genuinely class-leading in terms of everyday usability. The combination of regen paddle and sealed drums on both scooters means you get consistent stopping in wet and dry conditions without the faff of adjusting calipers or listening to squealing discs. On a wet downhill bike lane, both Cities feel impressively composed when you haul them down from speed.

Lighting is adequate rather than spectacular on either. Each gives you a high-mounted headlight, rear light, and turn signals. On both scooters, the headlight is fine for being seen, marginal for really seeing the road at higher speeds on unlit paths. You'll probably end up strapping an extra light to the handlebars if you ride a lot at night. The 2022's rear turn signals being low on the deck is not ideal in traffic; on the newer City, the bar-mounted indicators do a slightly better job of shouting your intentions at inattentive drivers.

Weather protection is where the naming confusion bites. The Apollo City boasts a very strong water-resistance rating, good enough that riding in heavy rain stops being an adrenaline sport and becomes merely annoying. The City 2022's rating is still well above industry average and perfectly fine for real-world commuting, but if you're the kind of rider who shrugs at biblical downpours, that extra headroom on the City might sway you. Just be aware both suffer from slightly optimistic fender coverage; if you ride in real rain, expect to supplement with mudguards or waterproof trousers.

Community Feedback

Price & Value

Both scooters sit firmly in the "this is a real vehicle, not a toy" price bracket, and both will make your non-scooter friends raise an eyebrow when you tell them what you paid for "a thing with two wheels and a plank". The question is: which one gives you more back over time?

The Apollo City 2022 typically undercuts the newer City a little. For that slightly lower outlay, you get almost the same real-world performance, the same low-maintenance formula, and a design that already feels cohesive and mature. If you're counting euros carefully, the 2022 makes a compelling case as the more sensible buy: you're not giving up much, and you're still getting a properly engineered commuter rather than a fancy rebadge.

The Apollo City charges a bit more for incremental gains: marginally higher weather protection, slightly larger battery options at the top end, newer cosmetics and software tweaks. For some riders - especially those riding in filthy winter weather or regularly stretching the range envelope - those refinements are worth the extra. For many, they're nice-to-haves rather than must-haves.

In pure "what do I get for my money?" terms, the 2022 model quietly comes out looking like the more rational choice, as long as you're not chasing the absolute highest spec sheet bragging rights.

Service & Parts Availability

Here the two scooters are effectively twins. Both are Apollo designs, both share many core components, and both sit in a brand ecosystem that's better than the average anonymous factory special but still not quite at the "premium automotive" level some of the marketing suggests.

In Europe, you'll find parts and support through Apollo's own channels and select distributors. Consumables like tyres, throttle units, and brake components are relatively easy to source, and the brand publishes guides that are actually usable by humans with basic tools. Community how-tos fill in the gaps for the more fiddly jobs.

Customer service feedback is mixed but trending upwards: response times can lag in busy seasons, but Apollo generally does step in for genuine defects. From a repairability standpoint, the City 2022 arguably has a tiny advantage in that it's been in the field longer in that exact form, so more third-party knowledge and spares are floating around. The newer City doesn't lag far behind, but if you're the type who likes to keep a scooter for many years and do your own work, the more established platform is the slightly safer bet.

Pros & Cons Summary

Parameters Comparison

Final Verdict - Which Should You Choose?

If you strip away the marketing and live with both for a while, the Apollo City 2022 quietly emerges as the more convincing all-rounder. It's the cleaner expression of Apollo's commuter idea: very comfortable, nicely integrated, fast enough, and easy to live with. It doesn't try to dazzle you with headline figures; it just gets the daily job done with minimal fuss, which is exactly what most people really need from a scooter.

The Apollo City, in its dual-motor big-battery form, is the slightly more extreme sibling. You get a bit more battery, a notably higher water-resistance rating, and the latest iteration of Apollo's "smart" city scooter aesthetic. If you ride no matter the weather and regularly stretch range to the limit, those tweaks are useful. The problem is that they don't transform the experience; they just gently refine it - and you pay for that privilege.

So: if you're a practical commuter who wants a robust, comfy machine and you're not obsessed with squeezing the last few kilometres or surviving monsoon-grade rain, the Apollo City 2022 is the one I'd recommend. If you find a good deal on the newer Apollo City, or you're particularly paranoid about water and want that extra protection plus a little more battery safety net, it can still be a reasonable choice. But between two fairly similar, slightly heavy, well-intentioned commuters, the 2022 feels like the better use of your money.

Numbers Freaks Corner

These metrics help quantify how efficiently each scooter turns money, weight, and energy into speed and usable range. Lower "price per Wh" and "price per km" tell you which one stretches your euros further; weight-related ratios show how much scooter you're lugging around for the performance you get. Efficiency in Wh/km hints at how far you can go for a given battery size, while power and charging metrics show how hard the scooter can pull and how quickly it gets back on its feet after a full charge.

Author's Category Battle

Overall Winner Declaration

In the Numbers Freaks Corner, the APOLLO City scores 6 points against the APOLLO City 2022's 5. In the Author's Category Battle, the APOLLO City gets 23 ✅ versus 26 ✅ for APOLLO City 2022 (with a few ties sprinkled in).

Totals: APOLLO City scores 29, APOLLO City 2022 scores 31.

Based on the scoring, the APOLLO City 2022 is our overall winner. As a daily partner, the Apollo City 2022 simply feels like the more rounded, less demanding companion. It doesn't scream for attention, it just glides through your commute and quietly stays out of your way, which is exactly what a "serious" scooter should do. The newer Apollo City sprinkles in some nice extras, but unless you live in permanent monsoon or obsess over squeezing a bit more range, those tweaks don't outweigh the 2022's calmer, more mature personality and stronger value. If I had to live with one of them long-term, my money - and my commute - would be on the City 2022.

That's our verdict when we try to stay objective – but hey, riding is mostly about emotions anyway, so pick the one that will make you look forward to your commute every single day.