http://www.rep-am.com/lifestyle/363018.txt
Reasonable range values given.
The 2009 model MSRP is rising to US $9,999.
The Vectrix US Northest Sales Manager is quoted as saying "The demand is higher than the supply."
IMO, the article exaggerates the quietness of the Vectrix.
Are you sure they didn't mean we're "an electric bunch"....? :)
- Raymond
Like range, this will always be overstated. There are times when the Vectrix is, or at least seems totally silent, but I can usually hear something, if nothing more than tire noise or engine whine. However, someone out raking their front yard may never hear me passing by. Noise is all relative. I was passed by a Mini-Cooper yesterday, and I never heard the car at all. My own wind noise was louder than most vehicles around me.
However, sitting at a traffic light, you don't hear NOTHING! So, in a sense, they are sometimes correct. :-)
So...they raise the price and change what?
I hoped a 5000$ version but seems that it will not go to happen.
And Li-ion batteries? For 2010? 2011? Or should i say for never? or maybe when other companies start to make some competition where they have to focus on market-share...maybe not so earlier then we thought...
Very sad to ear the price for 2009...if it have lithium batteries...
Actually, there might be some truth to that sentence: "The demand is higher than the supply.".
I've paid my Vectrix late July, but still don't have it, because, my dealer said to me today, all assembled bikes in Poland were shipped to USA.
That sux. I expected to get it when I got back from vacation yesterday, only to hear that it's gonna get delayed, and summer is heading to it's end :-(
For those millions of potential customers that actually live inside the "box" that the Vectrix was designed for, I hope if they are looking at Lithium power, they do it as a higher priced option, and not across the board.
Lithium will prefer the same treatment as NiMH. It will want to be charged every day, whether it's depleted or not, and it's life span will be the same, so for those of us who do not NEED more range, Lithium would be overkill and a waste of money.
I think the 2009 price is likely where they will settle down, as it is a fair comprimise between what they initially wanted for the bikes and what they should be able to steadily sell them for.
A somewhat comparable Suzuki 400 Burgman sells for 6000. How much more would it be worth to never have to buy gas for it or change the oil in it or replace that expensive one to two year battery?
Personally, I think it would have been a wise move for Vectrix to hold it below the 9 grand mark for at least another year, to help them get a stronghold on the market, but that it could well be that the market will dictate AGAIN what they can get by with. Remember, the first ones here were priced at $11,500!!