Modern Vespa

Pretty good run down.

Thx Robot. Looks like a great bike but not suitable to my 2-wheeled activities.

Miguel

Not a bad review considering it was filmed and video-edited on his mobile phone.

I think the main market for this will be city dwellers and daily commuters who only need a relatively short riding distance between charges. I will probably wait for the 2nd or 3rd generation Elettrica before considering buying. By then it is is bound to have a greater range between charges and any new model teething problems will have been designed out.

Good job by Robot, particularly given the technical limitations.

One thing I do like about the Elettrica is the sound...in fact, that the thing makes any sound at all (a safety issue with EVs in general), let alone a sound that's rather cool instead of cheesy.

Other than that, and the fact that I likely wouldn't choose one as my primary ride, I'll withhold judgement until I get to take one for a spin.

Interesting video and review. Thanks for letting us know about it.

Here's the link for anyone that needs it due to embedded video not working: "m.youtube.com/watch?v=W9sqs5USV5I"

Maybe some playing cards and clothes pins to liven it up

Don't forget the bell and aooga horn.

50cc peformance with a 60 mile range for $7,499.00? They will definitely need to market to those with more money than brains.

Not targeted toward the US market. It should sell well in congested Euro-cities.

I'm gonna pitch it to my dealer as a killer loaner bike (doesn't go too fast or far to cause trouble)...and since I'm not far off from rolling Melody in for a few bits o' work here-and-there, I wouldn't mind borrowing one at all.

I completely disagree. It's an urban ride. Flat and local riding for around town. E-Bikes are the fastest growing segment in scooters and Vespa is being smart to provide something sophisticated in a group of bikes that all try too hard to look like they are from the some science fiction future. The Vespa is capitalizing on it's recognizable brand, silhouette, and performance. 50cc and 60 miles should be more than adequate for any urban rider and that price is obviously a lot higher than the competition but it's a LEGITIMATE scooter in every sense.

Remember, most brands today are either startups. A vast number of them have equal or less range and power. The point is, that price while definitely high isn't outside the realm for someone looking at a top end brand.

Comparatively - All prices are estimated

Ujet - $9000
https://ujet.com/product

Genze 2.0 - $4300
https://www.gogoro.com/smartscooter/s-performance/s2/

Gogoro 2 - $3900
https://www.gogoro.com/smartscooter/s-performance/s2/

Nito NES - $5000
https://ca.e-scooter.co/nito-nes/

Xkuty One - $4000
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/xkuty-one-the-ibike-made-for-iphone/x/12708013

UNU - $2000
https://unumotors.com/en/

I agree with everything you say. However, I didn't say it wouldn't sell in the US, I said it's not targeted for the US. Vespa didn't ideate or design the scoot with the US in mind, they did it for their bread and butter - European cities, and other congested areas with $$$.

When this was first released in 2017 eicma, there were supposed to come a "hybrid" -version too that was named elecctrica X. It would have had the range of 200km.

So was this cancelled since I keep seeing this X-model being still mentioned but no-one talks about it and no further info has come to my knowledge.

Yup -- made me think of all the 50cc Vespas riding legally in the Amsterdam/Dutch "bike" lanes.

I miss Tom from the Netherlands - the guy with the 50 who toured around posting great photos. Wonder what the heck became of him.

Presumably the 25kph speed alarm is for this purpose.

If I ever win the lottery I am buying 1, and then seeing about a solar charger... and bragging at work during riding season about spending sunshine instead of my hard earned $$ for fuel to and from work!!!
Yes, Euro city scoot, very low pollution, easy to handle, will probably meet the desires/needs of many. Not at all practical where I live but I'm old and a bit crazy, ya, this old gal could sure Rock that Eco-Ride!

Amateur.

For real bragging at work you want to have a scoot with a removable battery. Charge it in front on your colleagues while asking how much they spend on gas.

Ummm... we are discussing "after a lottery win" here, right? And you would be riding your scoot TO WORK?? I don't think so... you want bragging rights? Pull up at your FORMER job with a semi full of these little electric beauties and give your FORMER co-workers the chance to ride them around during their lunch break.

Then, at the end of their work day, you are waiting outside with a big ol' ribbon on each scooter... "YOU get a scooter, and YOU get a scooter, and YOU get a scooter..."

You just won the lottery - think big.

I LOVE this idea.

I'm self-employed.

I can see a use for this. What I enjoy the most with my GTS is riding through the twisties... certainly not what this electric scoot is made for.

Three and a half years ago, we bought a pair of e-bikes (as in: bicycles) - they have a use. For getting around on our island, they are just fine. For riding on trails when we're someplace that has trails (and trees and hills), they are great - the pedal assist allows this old guy to go up hills that would have me off the bike and walking it, without that assist. The bike also has a throttle, and can go up to 20mph without pedaling (which cuts the 25 mile range much shorter).

Sometimes we have to think beyond how we use a scoot (or how we currently use it), and consider city commuting, getting around in a resort or small town, beach towns, etc.

Cost is a big deal (outside of winning the lottery as in an earlier post), but that will work itself out as technology improves. For disclosure, I live on an island where plenty of people get around by golf cart - they use them like a car, not for playing golf. I just haven't been able to get into the golf cart thing. Yet.

I had a folding (heavy) electric scooter years ago, made by Mase (an Italian company that makes generators and electrical stuff for the yacht market)... it wasn't street legal, but that doesn't matter here, where our owners association owns and maintains the roads. That poor little thing would take me about 12mph with an 8 mile (+/-) range. One of those Vespa Elletrica scoots would be ideal, and I could even take it over the bridge and into town... if I win the lottery.

Hey Gang, I live on 1 of the main streets in this little town..anyone can find and bug me...but I also work in a pork processing plant, flushing pig poo out of the last section of that pig...so it's the Best place in the world to hide for a few months. . . . .while I decide where the scoots and I need to move-some place with a longer riding season, and with a garage for my rides, as right now my living room is the parking place for the rally raffle win...
So, um, YES, I would keep working for a while...it's coming winter here...I can make $16.40/hr with my not too hard job with mostly really great people to work with and around and look on line at places I might like to move to...with St. Louis needing to be within riding distance...which means 125-150 miles.
And I've put a lot of sweat, blood, $ and damn hard work on this house, built in 1900 and rather neglected. Almost 14 years, the longest I have lived in any 1 place in my entire 62 years of living...and ya, the same people who were 'annoyed' that I ditched work to play at a scooter rally and came home winning a vintage Vespa are some of the same people who get annoyed about my $5/month gain costs during riding season..so. . LOL

Even in congested European cities I can't imagine many who commute via scooters would want to pay almost double. Even at $8.00/gallon for gas it wiould take quite a while to recoup that kind of initial investment. Until the price comes down, and performance improves, it's going to be a strictly niche vehicle for those with significant disposable income.

Content deleted by tenders. A forum where management/moderators repeatedly quash and delete well-intentioned, constructive concerns about governance issues raised by multiple users does not deserve my participation.

I can't figure out if I like it not. The speed and range are not a problem for roads I use. But it really needs a removable battery for those without garages so not sure how city friendly it is.

I thought the issue is that in some cities there are restrictions on *any* gas powered vehicles. For example, you can only enter even or odd dates. Or you pay a large fee to enter downtown zones. An electric vehicle would be exempt, allowing access that would otherwise be infeasible.

the big advantage of electrics is the very low maintenance requirements.....almost none required. That is where the savings really come into play.

Vespa just put up the EU-spec parts diagrams, and we had a good look thru them. It is running a direct drive motor to a reduction unit (very similar to the gas versions). No engine oil changes (maybe a final gear oil change), no belts/rollers, no valve checks, no bad gas, no carb cleaning. Safe bet that with the regen feature, the brake pads will last a VERY long time.

Brakes and tires on our Zero electrics MCs are lasting way longer than normal.

With such rapid acceleration available on electrics I'm befuddled (nothing new) as to why tires and brakes would last longer.

'Splain me?

I'd imagine it has to do with how that power is doled out: EVs have a more linear response than most anything with an ICE-based powertrain, minus the jumps that aren't avoidable even with your better automatics/CVTs. Yes, you've seen Jay Leno smoke the skins on a Tesla S, but driving the thing normally means less sudden torsion on tires under acceleration.

But I could be off in my speculation.

Actually your supposition makes perfect sense to me.

AF1?

That bike is way too slow and costs way too much. I can imagine it would be even slower going uphill. The style is nice as appears to be the fit and finish but there is no way I would pay that much. Moreover, most of us condo dwellers have no place to plug it in. A hybrid would be interesting. I would not be an early adopter. But an interesting sign of what is to come. I would prefer that Vespa focus on giving buyers a full suite of colours and customizations to choose from. No texts while riding!

I rode a Segway on a tour in Washington D.C. It was so much fun. We don't seem to have the infrastructure to support some of these types of transportation advances. I had an electric scooter (Vespa type) for a while. By law here they can only go up to 32 km/h or they must be licensed as a motorcycle. It was too slow and did not have enough torque for the smallest hill. I have great hope for electric scooters but will wait for future iterations.

To a London UK commuter who lives 15 miles out from the centre it might be ideal. 30 mph is more than enough on nearly all roads (many of which now have 20 mph limits) and the range is fine. When you consider the cost of public transport into the centre might be £3000 a year, or if using a car £35+ per day including congestion charge and parking fees - this would be a bargain. And get you to work in half the time (or less). Live in a flat? There would be little if no objections to charge points being added outside - they are being actively introduced right now all over the place. Payback in two years seems good to me.

An added plus point is that no self-respecting tow-rag who steals normally GTS300s would be seen dead on one of these - and a good Police cyclist could catch them up.

Being so quiet they are probably the ultimate tool for cell phone snatchers.

like the other commenter said, we think the extended tire life is from how smooth and linear the electric motor is compared to a single or even 2 cylinder small engine. A CVT in our scoots probably dampens some of that "bang" in the 4cycle engine.

However in a regular transmission/chain bike, the shock and vibration of each bang of the cylinder makes it way to the tire.

maybe they just spec super hard tires for best range, but the Zeros are using normal motorcycle Pirellis.