Suzuki Savage LS650 (now known as the boulevard C40 or something) has ~30hp on a single 650cc cylinder has almost the same 0-60 time (and a 15 second 1/4 mile time) so if this scooter is close to the same weight (360lbs dry weight) then it seems like a completely reasonable acceleration time. Especially since it has significantly more torque than the Suzuki Savage. 68 miles is great for the type of vehicle, but I wonder what the target price will be?

Impressive (all around) electric vehicle. Kids could leave the Hummer, Camaro, Charger, Mustang, etc home and use this electric scooter to go to school-university and drive around. Ladies could go shopping and take a child or two to school with the three-wheel version.

Assembly in Poland, with Chinese made parts, is a smart way to keep the price within reach.

The Big Three could learn something here.

Don't confuse horsepower and torque. Electric motors don't behave as ICE engines, and stronger torque is available at low rpm.

This motorcycle is great, especially because the best electric scooters available were/are too weak. EVTs are reliable, for example, but lack power and range.

What the market needs is more scooters using advanced batteries like NiMH or Li-Ion.
It's a pity that the price of this machine is simply unreasonable. I have seen several quotes going near $9000.

An scooter between the e-max/evt and the vectrix is needed!

LMAO ... every time I buy a vehicle ... a better one enters the market. Mine has a 2kW motor and gets arround town just fine. (I'm going to upgrade it for hills) This one should fly.

it should do well in some niche markets in europe b/c of tax incentives, zero pollution areas in italy, no london congestion charges, free parking and charging in paris, etc.

i doubt it'll serve too many people in the states very well, though. too expensive, too short range, and too much a scooter.

Richard -

this is intended for European city driving, where streets are much narrower and parking much harder to find. There will be certain markets in the US (e.g. Boston, SF) where this applies as well. Consumers in densely populataed areas in Asia might be interested as well.

Mahonj -

in the target markets, you'll actually be lucky to average 25mph on your morning commute. There are also legal speed limits regarding the type of driver' license, registration and insurance required for a powered vehicle.

I've been wanting one of these, but it sounds like they will be priced well out of my range.

If you don't have your own garage, basic hand tools, and a bike lift the cost of maintenance for a motorcycle is exorbitant (I'd imagine it would be similar for scooters as the only sellers and maintainers of scooters I have seen around here are also motorcycle dealerships). $50 for an oil change on a motorcycle...and that is for only 2 quarts of oil with an oil plug that is much easier to get to then the one on a car. Motorcycles usually are expected to be maintained after fewer miles than a car (and if it is your commuter vehicle that means it will need maintenance more often then your car).

Neil -

you need the higher power rating during acceleration and especially, during recuperative braking. Electric motors aren't equally efficient at all points in their torque-speed map but given that this is a brushless model, the difference is fairly small. This is in marked contrast to an ICE, which suffers from substantial internal friction losses in part load.

Adding a second electric traction motor would add cost and weight but yield little by way of vehicle energy economy. Switching to Li-ion would make more sense but apparently, the initial cost is already very high anyhow.

Btw, Micah: the standard ways to get around the financing problem are dealer loans and leasing. There is no reason why these could not be applied to scooters. As G points out, you have to compare alternatives on the basis of total cost of ownership.

Waiting for Godot done in Italian with pictures of an electric scooter. Someone needs to read the Vectrix people "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story.

Economically, it's a very long payback period -- 151,000 miles without considering the cost of battery replacement (which I assume is net negligible, since other service and repair costs are likely lower for the electric).

The biggest advantage is obviously the zero emissions at the tailpipe, since the major drawback for motorcycles and scooters is that they are relatively dirty compared to other motor vehicles, mile for mile. One could also power using carbon-neutral electricity.

At 6,000 miles/yr, the electric's going to cost about $1.13 more per day. For me, that's worth the money.

$50 for a motorcycle oil change?!? Yeah, if you take it to a stealership...and if you take a motorcycle to a stealership for an oil change you probably can't even change a burned out light bulb yourself.