Modern Vespa

Hey my review of an electric scoot (of sorts)

I stopped over on the west side of Los Angeles and tried an E-Road.
An e-road is a very short range electric moped designed for in city, flat surface driving (err... in the bike lane or sidewalk).

It felt sturdy enough when I sat on it. The design is like that of a conventional 70s built moped (think a honda cub). All the plastic fairing felt relatively flimsy and cheap. The hefty battery has less than an hour battery life and is housed underneath the seat.

The Drive (money shot).

I jumped on and twisted the handlebar and QUICKLY took off.
I was suprised!
It was spooky. There was no noise whatsoever. Even ghost cars make more noise than this thing. The acceleration was respectable and I was at max speed at 28mph. I keep waiting for the the engine to rev or throttle up or something. but there was nothing, not a peep.

I'm suprised to say that it was awesome!!!

I never realized how much noise there was riding my scooter. Granted the sounds are often exhilarating, warn other motorists, scare off small animals and children. Honestly noise is great but...

a Whisper quiet ride is such a strange but peaceful experience.

Summary.

The bike was a piece o' crap, flimsy, impractical expensive piece of junk but... for 10 minutes of riding quietly through a neighborhood roads alone with my thoughts, a future electric Vespa may be an awesome thing.

Excelsior

Many MV members are completely anti-electric scooters ... but I can't wait until a really viable, good looking and reasonably priced model hits the market. I will most certainly buy one!

"a really viable, good looking and reasonably priced model "
Very critical phrase there TrafficJammer, and I agree with you... I would have no problem buying an electric scoot if it met those criteria..

By Viable I think. Greater than 100 mile range, Less than 6 hour recharge time (from total drain to full), Can move faster than 60mph.

Put it this way ... if there were to one day be something that looked like an LX, handled like an LX, weighed as much as or a little less than an LX, cost about the same as an LX and performed like an LX ... then I'd buy it for sure!

One can never have too many LX's!

I can see an all electric Vespa in our future I think Piaggio is heading in that direction.

The maker is going to need to decide are they going after the short distance, urban scooter shopper/commuter (like a Vespa 50 cc rider) or after the typical American commuter 20-40 miles at 40-70 MPH with an hour or more charge.

Vectrix was basically at the second point then marketed their electric motorcycle as a non-step thru super/maxi scooter to the wrong audience with inferior battery charging logic and technologies... at the wrong time in the American economy.

And just when it was beginning to take off in London UK - the number of public charging points is increasing rapidly. It was an ideal commuter bike for 75% of London bike commuters (taking the range into account) if they opted to use it.

Couldn't agree more ... plus they are just plain ugly! The Vectrix models all look like those transformer robots the younger folks seem to like. Younger people (without pigeon holing anyone) tend to like large, loud engines! I think they made a rather big mistake in determining their target market!

I read several things today about the US Vectrix group. They were saying the the Polish factory was looking for engineers (to hire) and other job openings were posted. As I understand it, the US side is part in the worst financially but that there were other parts that were healthier. I am not sure how the overall Vectrix "company" if going. I have a feeling the US part was a leader. They were saying the US firm was getting new investors so they may not actually be dead here... just not very healthy.

I liked the Zero motocross e bike
But it might be a few years before I can afford one.

these were all over Beijing when I was there this summer. No gas scoots in sight. They go so fast for being so silient. I have to say I almost got nailed a couple times for not looking for something going 25 mph and being dead quiet.


I actually could use one of these if my job duties changed a bit. I live in the city and work a lot in the city, a city where there is no scooter parking. these things could be slapped to a bike rack ...which is huge.

right now I go out in the field a lot (further than appropriate for electric) so awesome gas scooter it is for now.

A local scoot shop sells these as well as conversion kits for older Vespas. The kits turn the vespa into a 50cc equivalent and are limited to 29mph due to the particular incentive laws or some such. The noise thing is concerning... imagine a road full of ghost cars and scoots.

Doesn't Piaggio sell a hybrid mp3 in Europe that can go about 30mph before the engine kicks in?

Almost but not quite correct. Coming soon:
http://www.uk.piaggio.com/en_UK/news/piaggio_mp3_hybrid.aspx

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/06/kld-scooter/

this is a new scooter company coming to the U.S.

But....

the mock-up of the new bike is a rendering. Show me a real bike eh?
Also the website for such a large corporation is a tad unprofessional looking.

I agree.
I won't be trading in my mouthy baby until I see something fantastic.