Modern Buddy

I am starting this topic to see if anyone has heard if there is any scooter/motorcycle electric technologies. I know range is an issue for electric cars, but I am guessing scooter riders may not (on average) regularly go that far from home.

This was motivated by all the gas threads over the last few days.

There are bikes which are powerful and run off electricity. But their range is limited because of their small size and power.

There was a guy who took a kawasaki ninja, gut it, and made it into a automatic electric motorcycle. He had a range of like 300 miles or so and a top speed of 70mph. The motor was able to run so far because it was recharged by a generator, technically it runs off gasoline still, but it gets better mpg than a gas ran engine.

I think what you're looking for is a bicycle.

I read a review of a production electric scooter in Twist and Go magazine recently that wasn't very positive. The manufacturer claimed a range of something like 80 miles between charges, but the reviewer got only 33 before the batteries died. He got caught out in the boonies and was lucky to push his scoot to a fire station that let him plug in for a 4 hour charge - enough to just get him home.

I suspected range would be a problem. I bet its tough because good batteries are heavy, and heavy is not good for torque and quickness in a small package.

An electric motor running off a generator will run for a long time

A generator would need gas though (or something). I guess I was wondering about rechargeable models.

Electric Buddy? http://thescooterscoop.blogspot.com/200 ... buddy.html

Piaggio's got some gas/electric hybrids coming out soon in Europe. They're kinda neater than cars in that they can be switched to full-electric mode to ride through european cities' zero-emissions zones. But the electric range/speed isn't great. No word if/when they'll come here.

Lots of Chinese bikes (and PGOs) coming out with gas/electric hybrids, judging by DealerExpo and industry press. Betting they're not terribly impressive

In all the above, you give up all your storage space, the scooter's way heavier (batteries), and the technology isn't all that solid yet (though the piaggios have been in testing for more than a year)

There are many "electric bikes" and chinese electric scooters out there. Most have no suspension, caliper brakes, top out at 20mph, and have a pretty weak range, plus the batteries weigh a ton, so you can't bring 'em up to your apartment or office. There are a couple promising ones, but most are kinda duds. Many are not technically street-legal.

The Vectrix scooter is out and readily available, It's got an allegedly decent range and top speed, and looks/handles more like a traditional scooter, but some reviews say the specs aren't nearly as good as promised, and the cost is astronomical by scooter standards over 10K, iirc). The battery, by most accounts, would need to be replaced occasionally, and costs more than a couple Buddies (and of course, how do you dispose of it.)

Bb.

As usual Dave has a review haha. Here is one he just did of the Vetrix scooter (all electric)

http://www.justgottascoot.com/vectrix.htm

luckyleighton wrote:I suspected range would be a problem. I bet its tough because good batteries are heavy, and heavy is not good for torque and quickness in a small package.

Actually, there's already a battery out there in common use that is light and compact with a great power-to-weight ratio - Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion or Lithium Manganese. The only drawback to these things is their cost per watt which is very high. We already use them in cell phones, laptops, home appliances, portable power tools, RC models to name just a few. As strange as it may sound, the growth in electric powered RC models (vs nitro fuel) is bringing many more manufacturering players into the market and is helping to increase their power density, improve reliability and drive costs down. We might see some of these advancements migrate into scooters and/or cars.

Though the Vectrix is the only well-known production one in the US, there are supposedly many being rolled out in Asia. I think electric scooters are an inevitability. Matching the current performance of existing scooters just seems more feasible than motorcycles or cars (though that's where all the R&D will be). I don't think they'll replace gas anytime soon, because there's still a ways to go to get price/weight/performance, etc. within the range of current gas scooters. Until then, electric scoots will be an oddity, something novel for green-minded folks with a lot of extra dough to drop on something like this.

Jay Leno would buy one.

I was talking with the owner of one of the scooter shops out here in seattle, and he was talking about in China, there are dual engine scooters... 50cc and electric. Its not hybrid, but the driver can switch between the two. They will ride in to town on the 50cc, then switch to the electric motor when they get into the big towns which have banned the 2 stroke motors.

All this is awesome information. I can see where dual motors would be beneficial if range was an issue. I figured there would be something since scootering is considered by some to be a conservation activity.