America's Next Vehicle: A Scooter?

America's Next Vehicle: A Scooter?

The Piaggio MP3 has two wheels in front that tilt when cornering, giving the scooter more stability and maneuverability.
by Jacob Gordon of TreeHugger.com for MSN Autos
Long before becoming icons in Europe, some of the earliest scooters were created in America. A few nimble American companies are now writing the next chapter: the electrification of the motorcycle and the scooter.
Scooters aren't a new presence in the U.S., but it's hard to ignore that these peppy, practical two-wheelers have been staging a comeback over the past few years. Ridership is up, as Americans bought close to 57,000 scooters in 2005. During 2006 and the first half of this year, sales have declined slightly, but a 2006 poll found that 30% of Americans would be "extremely or somewhat likely" to consider driving a scooter for everyday transportation needs.

Ridership for both scooters and motorcycles is particularly on the rise among women. From the get-go, the scooter—with its skirt-friendly, feet-together seating position—was designed to be comfortable for women, and many a film has portrayed a chic young woman on her Lambretta or Vespa. The average age of scooter riders has gone up in recent years as well, suggesting that the step-though machines are becoming more of a fixture in American life; not just the province of mop-top models and scooter clubs.

Ask any scooter rider why she loves her Vespa, Buddy or vintage Lambretta, and she'll first tell you how much fun it is to drive. People truly relish the ride, not to mention the pleasure of splitting lanes during rush hour, or parking in spaces not even a motorcycle could slip into. Fuel efficiency will most likely come up next on the list. Scooter drivers happily brag about paying $5 or less to fill up the tank and getting 100 mpg or more.

The Vectrix is the first all-electric scooter to comfortably handle highway speeds.

Getting 70 miles to a charge and topping out at 62 mph, the Vectrix packs in the equivalent power of a 400cc engine.

Of course, travelers who have breathed the smog in Beijing or Buenos Aires know how bad scooters can be for urban air quality. But the latest two-wheelers that meet Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards in the U.S. are a different breed.

The single-cylinder, two- and four-stroke engines found in most new scooters use features like direct injection and continuously variable transmissions to make them not only sip gas, but burn it more cleanly. Piaggio took its scooters off the American market to retool their motors into compliance with emissions laws, and came back clean in 2000. They've since built a small empire that includes more than 60 boutique dealerships offering its Vespa and Piaggio scooter lineups.

The Enertia from Brammo Motorsports has a unique lithium phosphate battery pack gives the bike a 45-mile range.

The Enertia goes from zero to its top speed of 50 mph in 6.8 seconds. Coming in 2008, the standard model of the Enertia electric motorcycle will cost just under $12,000.

All Electric
No company other than Piaggio is publicly taking its scooters down the hybrid avenue, but fully electric machines may be preparing to leapfrog the transitional hybrid phase. Mirroring the budding electric car market, a handful of small startups are developing advanced electric bikes with the range, speed, power, and price to start competing with their internal-combustion counterparts.

For speeds up to 30 mph, there is a respectable selection of electric scooters to investigate. The Zapino from ZAP! carries a 3000-watt brushless DC motor in its wheel hub. With the lithium-ion battery upgrade, the Zapino can travel 65 miles on a full charge. The Evader EV 1000, and two scooter models from Electric Vehicle Systems (EVS's 4000-E and retro 168) offer similar performance. For the rider needing more speed and longer range, the option pool shrinks to just a few. But it won't likely be that way for long.

Read More >>>>>