Modern Vespa

Instead of developing new gasoline- or diesel-powered engines, the researchers and engineers will work on electric powertrains—an area where Hyundai is already extremely competitive.

EV development is so trivial that the engineer who has spent the last 25 years working on fuel injection systems can switch to battery technology?

If they're decent engineers - no problem!

Very interesting.

Apparently from 2022 on, you cannot ride 70% of new https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/new-california-rules-put-ohv-riding-in-jeopardy (2022+) dirt bikes on public land in California. They can no longer get a red sticker.

Here in Canada, the federal government has stated that all new vehicles from 2030 must be EV's.

In Norway, 65% of all new cars are EV's. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/electric-cars-take-two-thirds-norway-car-market-led-by-tesla-2022-01-03/

Let me ask you all a question, given the choice, would you rather compromise on autonomy in order to be able to bring your battery inside to charge, or would you rather gain autonomy but have to charge the battery while in the bike ?

C'mon Piaggio !

Last edited by shampoo on Tue Jan 04, 2022 5:00 am; edited 1 time in total

Regarding the removable battery vs. autonomy question.
One has to wonder what about the likelihood of a fire caused
by a battery that is damaged from being dropped that subsequently
overheats when being charged, or even while being discharged (riding)?

Not breaking news, but I didn't see it in a search.

https://www.cycledrag.com/kawasaki-to-launch-electric-motorcycle-line

So, I pulled the trigger. We drove to Chicago with the truck last Wednesday and brought this home.

So, here's the story. You know I've been looking at these. Much trial and tribulation later I took advantage of the time off and we brought this one home.

A parallel to note :

Exactly 13 years ago in December we drove to Chicago to look at three Volvo 240s. After seeing the first I decided we didn't need to look at the others and we brought my current Volvo home.

Last Wednesday I had five FIAT 500e-s chosen to look at. This was the first and considering the price and value I did not look at any others. It was the one we brought home.

I had already reserved a U-Haul trailer in Chicago. Before we left I added all of the addresses for the places we would need into Maps on my phone. The trip there was uneventful, we arrived on time and everything went very smoothly.

The trip home wasn't bad, by any means, but because the U-Haul trailer was limited to 55mph we were routed back roads. Which took us through Gary, Indiana. Nothing against the folks in Gary, but good Lord. How anyone could wake up in that city every day and not be depressed all the time I have no idea.

Then the fun began. We arrived home to a water man break on our street. At the end of our cul-de-sac. We could not get to our house with our truck and car trailer in tow. We parked in the adjacent lot and I talked the crew into letting me in. By the time we reached our driveway we were tired, it was dark and we had no water. So we left the car on the trailer until morning.

Morning came also with unexpected inches of snow. Still, car came off the trailer and trailer was returned. I pulled the car into the garage and plugged it in. Red lights flashed and I saw the error "Charger Not Found".

So, in 50 miles my new car becomes a lawn ornament unless I can figure out how to charge it. I took the charger inside to test it. It was fine. My garage is on a 20 amp circuit. I have run an air compressor, Skill saw, electric snow-blower and even cut granite with a 24" tile saw. Never had any issues. But this charger is smart and realized that - despite having grounded outlets - there was only two wire running to everything in the garage. Thank you, 1950s.

We pulled the wall apart where the wiring comes into the garage and it's grounded wire running in from the house. I ran grounded wire to the outlet with no results.

I managed to contact an electrician who was able to come out that afternoon. He quickly ascertained that ground had never been run from the house to the garage. In an hour and a half he went through two junction boxes in the basement and the breaker box, got ground to the garage, replaced a breaker, two switches and the outlet with a GFI and added a new junction box in the garage. All while training an apprentice. He got a $50 tip and I will be hiring him for more projects.

So, all is good. The car is awesome. I am registered with two public charging services, an internet forum and have an appointment with the local dealer on Friday for a 31 point inspection.

The title came in the mail last night, so it's a trip to the SOS and it's all legit.

So begins a new adventure. Props to Jess for being informative and supportive.

On another note, we are slotted to get 8" of snow plus drifting today. I drove the Subaru. For reasons.

The Piaggio One has a removable battery:

https://electric.piaggio.com/en

w00t! Welcome to the Oddball Electric Vehicle Club!

I am still driving my Fiat 500e, having bought a used one after I returned my lease. Cheap, almost no maintenance (except tires) and a hoot to drive. Watch for that torque steer, it'll catch you by surprise.

Whazat mean?
Miguel

See, that's something I hadn't taken into account. I was comparing it to the Volvo 240 I drive weight vs hp. The 500e has similar power - 111 vs the Volvo's 116 - and it's actually a little heavier. The thing I failed to take into account was that the Volvo's hp is generated at 5400rpm. In 13 years I think I have only ever hit 4000rpm twice, and it was scary. The 500e is a little freaking rocket ship. It's all torque, all the time. Not that I'm racing anyone … but I think I could.

We've had 8-12" of snow the last couple of days, so I've been driving the Subaru (can't say enough good about that old girl) but I have that appointment for the FIAT tomorrow so I'll have to drive it.

It's been better in the slippery stuff than I would have expected, but better safe than sorry.

One funny note. I took the FIAT through the local car wash the other day. I was afraid of ground clearance issues. I could never drive the Porsche through for that reason. But the 500 was fine. Except when I drove through the first set of brushes. They were spinning furiously on either side of the car … and completely missing it.

When you stomp on the accelerator, the car pulls to the side slightly. I believe it's a result of most of the power going through one front wheel under heavy load, which results in some odd things happening in the steering geometry. Or, maybe they just designed it like that to keep you on your toes.

The Beach Boys sang about it in "Little Deuce Coupe".

I get pushed out of shape
And it's hard to steer
When I get rubber
In all four gears

Well ... a little different. But kinda like that.

I used to get this a lot on my 1974 SAAB. You get used to it.

(Maybe that's where I learned to countersteer?)

I'm...kinda hoping someone comes up with a hybrid retrofit of some fashion that will work on the existing gasoline/petrol ICE scooters/motorcycles. Something similar to the diesel-to-biofuel conversions.

Not as an instead-of, mind you, but as an in-addition-to option.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Here are kudos to those who still work with their hands. I know they get plenty of respect on this site, but often are not properly respected in the general world. Where would we be without folks who can both make and repair "things"?

Chris from CLE

Not what you'd call an average person's DIY job...

~80 kmph (50 mph) with a rear-heavy bicycle is then yet another thing...

Nice to see that the Spanish company is still up and running after the launch of their e-motorcycle the last summer.

Can't go badly wrong with Bosch electric components - let's see how the rest of the bike will cope.

https://www.pursangmotorcycles.com/e-track-v3/

What's new old in electric powered vehicles...

1967 Popular Mechanics magazine

I found this while taking a deep dive into some online motoring ephemera. It's a fascinating reminder of how long electric vehicles have been around, waiting in the wings. Despite the dismissive tone of the headline the article is mostly level-headed.

This is just the first couple of pages. You can see the whole thing, and zoom into the text, here:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=79MDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA118#v=onepage&q&f=false

And if that isn't enticing enough, other features in the magazine include: Cook While You Drive, and Build Your Own Minibike

There is a fascinating museum near me in Hood River, Oregon devoted to antique airplanes and automobiles. They have a rebuilt and operational 1914 electric car in their collection. As you observe, electric cars are not a new idea.

https://waaamuseum.org/collections/automobiles/296-1914-detroit-electric-model-63

Watching the episode of Jay Leno's Garage where he reviews his Baker Electric the point is made that at the time there were 15,000 of them in New York City with charging stations all over. They ranged about 100 miles per charge on 6v batteries.

Fifteen thousand.

This ain't half bad !

Yeah nah

I rode up to Troy, NY with Le Wife and stayed overnight with her cousin and her husband. The following morning, wife continued on to Rochester where she'll be working on a photo-art project for about two weeks, and her cousin drove me to the Amtrak station in Albany for the trip back to Gotham, then switch to NJ Transit for the rest of the trip home. Their garage is full-on electric: he has a Tesla Model 3 Performance, which gave me quite the chiropractic session the last time I rode shotgun in it; hers is a Mini SE, which is quite a hoot to ride shotgun in. In spite of the relatively short range - a tad over 100 miles, average - the car suits her needs quite well, although she did say if they come out with one offering a significant range-boost, she'll trade in for that.


So electric, still Mini.

Robot almost sold me on it, but the fact is a 37mph scooter is simply inadequate for me. If it was 50 mile range at 50-55 I'd be really excited about it. But I can't really see myself on a 37mph scooter any more (as someone who did start on a Typhoon and ET2). Although my use would be basically all city, many roads the traffic is 40+ regardless of the posted limit. Very uncomfortable on a "40, tops" vehicle

I agree. The only electric scooter that starts to catch my attention is the Niu MQi EVO which is imported to the US by Genuine Scooters. It has 3 riding modes with a maximum speed of 60 mph (about like a 150cc scooter) and a range of about 50 miles. I'd like to see a bit more range but that is getting much closer to how I ride a scooter.

https://www.niu.com/us/product/mqi-gt-evo