NBR: Dream Electric Scooter…?

[ericalm]

If you have any interest in someday having an electric scooter, what sort of specs, price and other features would it have to have in order for it to be both appealing and affordable for you?

For instance:
I'd like to see a 40 mi. range at an average of 40mph. (This actually exceeds what most urban commuters would probably need, but I think that makes it more sellable and appealing to others.) Top speed of at least 60 or so. Good acceleration.

Prefer Lithium batteries with a full charge time of 3 hours or so. Capacity for additional batteries is a plus, as is ease of replacement.

I wouldn't want it to look like a gas scooter. It should be small, light and nimble. I want the "Prius" of scooters: something obviously different and not trying to be the "tofu dog" of scooters. I think KLD's designs are on the right track though they ignore the need for storage and desire for accessories. I'm also considering these vaporware until I see pics of them in production or on the street. The Honda eCub concept is probably a more realistic style.

It's going to need a very loud horn.

If it hit those marks, I'd want to see it at around $2800.

Anyone else?

[babblefish]

I'd like to see more range than 40 miles. I can easily exceed that on a round-trip ride just putting around San Francisco (a very small city). Something around 80 miles would be more useful to me.
In my opinion, the biggest hurtle (for public acceptance) for any type of electric vehicle is not it's range or speed, but how to keep the batteries charged. People without garages would be out of luck unless they want to run a really long extension cord out to their vehicle.

FWIW: In the RC hobby, we have available LiPo (Lithium Poly) batteries that can be fully recharged in as little as 15 minutes without damage or excessive heat buildup providing the charger can handle the high charging currents.

[BuddyLicious]

Although an electric scooter than can travel 40 - 50 miles would suffice for the majority of riders daily runs,the big deal breaker would be when the same riders would want to go farther.I mean one would basically have to have 2 scooters so when a rider wanted to go farther than the electrics range they could.Until the technology is available for ranges into the hundreds of miles,I dont see any run on electric 2-wheelers.Just saying.

[ericalm]

Can those LiPo batteries scale up to power something like a scooter? With a 250 pound rider?

Range is kind of an odd issue. I can rack 100 miles in a day, easy. One reason I'd keep my other scoots. But the longest commute I've had was about 18 miles. Avg. commute in the US is about 16 miles. So I suppose 40-50 miles is probably a little thin.

I think this kind of vehicle would be primarily a commuter or light recreational ride for most people. Unless I'm going on a ride, my car gets almost all of its miles on the weekend, when I'm running around with my wife on various errands. My scooter racks up miles during the week and most trips are under 30 miles round trip.

For recharging, I wonder how hard it would be to have swappable battery packs that can be charged indoors?

We have a lot of electric vehicle charging stations around LA in public lots and parking garages. We don't have vehicles that plug into them. I would guess a scooter would use a regular wall outlet.

It's interesting to me that something like the UtraMotor A2B is selling well, at least around here. 20 mile range (40 with extra battery) with max. 20-mph electric bicycle that goes for something like $2600 MSRP. The appeal is different than for a scooter, but I think it shows that some people are willing to pay far a "green" vehicle with fairly modest specs if the vehicle has some other appeal.

[jasondavis48108]

My scooter shop sells the A2B and I'd buy it in a heartbeat for winter commuting if it weren't for a few problems

1) the wheels are too small for me to purchase studded bicycle wheels to mount on it for winter.

2) the primary battery is built into the frame and so hard for me to remove so as to charge in my office at work

3) replacement batteries cost over $700 (including the extra battery to give you that 40 mi range) and most batteries like this only last about three years before the range really drops on them.

I'm looking at getting an electric bicycle for winter commuting but I won't be able to do so this winter, maybe in the spring.

Electric scooters just arn't practicle, the batteries are way too expensive and the range forces you to own a second scooter. Also, don't forget that as the batteries are depleted the top speed drops which I would imagine could result in some dangerous situations.