British company e-Motive has launched a range of electric scooters in the UK and, at prices starting from just £1399 ($2300), is hoping to kickstart a zero-emission revolution.
The e1, e3 and e5 debut models are powered by the latest electric motor and battery technology, are road tax exempt, and cost as little as one pence per mile to run.
Speaking about the launch, e-Motive Managing Director, Paul Williams, gushed, “The reliability, rideability and all-round consumer package that comes with these scooters finally makes owning and running a zero-emissions vehicle affordable, supremely practical and desirable.”
Suzuki says that the innovative powertrain would enable the Burgman to reach distances of up to 220 miles at an average speed of 30kph (20mph) – so no wild freeway jaunts just yet then.
However, the company also reckon that performance will be comparable to a standard 125cc scooter (but I’d imagine that riding at higher speeds would most likely significantly reduce range).
Yamaha didn’t pull any punches at last week’s 2009 Tokyo AutoMotoShow, bringing no less than five (5!) innovative new eco-conscious motorcycle concepts to a predominantly car-centric show in a bid to monopolize 2-wheeled press coverage and establish Yamaha as the leader in 2-wheeled hybrid technology.
Did it work? Maybe!
More about the seemingly production-ready HV-X hybrid concept—including video—after the jump…
EV manufacturer Wheego has placed the ad above in this month’s issue of Scoot! Magazine, asking “the scootering community” to weigh-in on the concept of an electric Lambretta GP under the tagline “Brilliance or Sacrilege?”
You’ve seen the title, so you know my vote already – but there’s more to it than that. My top 5 reasons a new electric GP200 from Wheego would be the brilliant-est EV ambassador since Tesla’s Roadster after the jump.
Segway inventor Dean Kamen is developing a hybrid electric scooter that can run on almost anything that burns.
According to the patent, the bike has a small two-piston Stirling engine right under the seat. Though with an engine of that size, it really isn’t going to provide much juice – not much more than 5bhp.
A Stirling engine is based on tech which predates internal combustion engines by almost 100 years. It’s kinda like a steam engine in the sense that it uses external combustion. They use pistons for the crankshaft, but unlike the alternatives they have no valves for no gas ever enters or leaves the cylinders. Read the rest of this entry »
Yamaha
