[gpsnut2003]

has anyone here seen these things yet ?

http://www.vectrix.com.au/

their performance seems to be on par with most other maxi's
(other than range and top speed)

the claimed 0-62 mph run in 6.8 sec (very impressive for an electric vehicle)
top speed of 62 mph
20 kw electric dc brushless motor.
range is aprox 65 miles (depends on riding style)
recharge from a std power point in 2 hrs
125V NI-Mh rechargeable cell.

battery life is estimated to be about 10 years, based on 5000 mi per year.

not bad looking either.
wonder how much they will cost ?

jason.

 

[RonStewart]

I guess it is an urban-only sort of toy. My commute is 90 km round trip and my speed exceeds 100 km/h on occasion. I would be right on the ragged edge of its usefulness, and as the battery degraded, I'd be concerned about getting home. Since it takes two hours to charge, if I had the ability to charge at work, it would become useful to me.

I have a 130 km trip to a picnic on Sunday. This scooter would be useless.

Also, if you live in an area where coal or gas is burnt for electricity, electric vehicles are nearly as polluting as gasoline powered ones.

One good thing is that it seems to have regenerative braking. That means that when you use engine braking, you are recharging the battery.

It is going to come down to price.

 

[gpsnut2003]

i agree that it's an urban / city machine only.

jason

 

[PCM84]

They say now it's going to cost $11,000. Yikes. That about kills it completely in my view.

It really should cost less than a Majesty given the speed limitation.

I'm on their email list, and the bike is being introduced in Italy this week.

 

[gruntled]

Ten year battery life. Yea sure. I have an electric bicycle & batteries are a major expense just for a bicycle.

 

[Imn2scootin']

Just happened to come across this scooter, the VoltaG/T while reading around on electric vehicle info. The site is www.evc-llc.com . Neat scooter for those who want an electric alternative for commuting. Sells for around 8K I believe. The Maj is hard to beat for the price, mpg and range though. Still, this IS Scootin' !!

 

[Christopher]

Ten year battery life. Yea sure. I have an electric bicycle & batteries are a major expense just for a bicycle.

There have been a lot of major improvements in batteries over the years. The biggest problem is getting manufacturers to use those batteries (e.g. the sonicare toothbrush still uses NiCd batteries. NiCd! Why in the world...)

When I did research on the Prius in 2006, I found that the few "bad batteries" that were replaced since the Prius was introduced (in 1997)were usually due to corroded leads, not from bad cells (some service departments were too lazy and greedy to point that out to the owner, and just replaced the entire battery, most often at Toyota's expense).

Imintoscootin',

I just took a look at the website and reviewed the pdf brochure for the Volta G/T.

Looks like you can select the motor (EVC-8: 70mph, -15: 90mph, -21: 110mph top speed; 0-50 in 6.5, 5.1, and 4.5 respectively), and select the battery capacity (5.5, 8, and 11 kWh, max range is supposed to exceed 100 miles at :cough: 30 mph). Also, the computer can store multiple "profiles", allowing you to adjust the "acceleration rate, throttle response, range, top speed and other characteristics." Wheels between 13" (standard) up to 17" can be chosen.

Chances are, my choice (of course: EVC-21, 11 kWh, 17" wheels) would exceed $10k.

Oh, well, guess I'll have to continue to wait.

But looking at it: if electricity is 10 cents a kWh, the charger is 75% effecient, and you get 70 miles out of a charge (using the 11 kWh battery)
11/.75= 14.67, so lets say 15 kWh to charge it, or $1.50.

Well, that's no more than 1/2 the cost of gas (assuming $3.00/gallon and 70 mpg, which I don't think any of us get).

Not to bad, but saving me only $130/year, or $310 if gas goes up to $5/gallon, would take a while to justify the cost.

 

[gruntled]

The lead-acid batteries for my Charger bicycle last about one year & if I look real hard I can find them for a little under $100. There may be more advanced batteries that last longer but ten years & I would hate to think of what they would cost. This scooter would also have to use several more or at least larger batteries. I'm thinking any gasoline savings would be wiped out by the cost of batteries. There is also likely going to be a major problem finding anyone to work on it.

 

[aquarius]

I'm trying to track a demo unit down, so I can have ago, no luck yet. If this is a British Invention I hope it's better than them bloody Sinclair C5's of a few years ago. :lol:

 

[vortexau]

I've been following the progress of the Vectrix for the last 15 months, or so. The manufacturers apparently have both a three-wheel (MP3-licenced) variant and a Fuelcell-Hybrid proposal up their sleeves:

Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter
By Thomas Groussin
(Scroll down to the bottom of that webpage)

Vectrix is also working on finalising a hybrid model, integrating a fuel cell to increase overall range to 250 km (155 miles).

Were you aware that the Vectrix includes a reversing-mode for parking, which is activated by twisting the throttle backwards?

 

[Christopher]

I thought twisting the throttle backwards activated the regenerative braking? Or did they change the design since I read that?

 

[waterinthefuel]

What I want to know is what part of it qualifies it as a maxi? Speed, not a chance. My 125 Vino did 63. Range? My Vino had a range of over 90 miles. Wheel size? There are 200's out there with tires that big.

I call it a scooter, but not a maxi.

 

[vortexau]

I thought twisting the throttle backwards activated the regenerative braking? Or did they change the design since I read that?

Just scroll down to "Easy to Use" . . then "Easy to Park -" :
Media Release
Vectrix- Plug and play Maxi

Easy to Use

Stop and Go with One Hand - Simply twist the throttle for instant acceleration, and when it's time to slow down or stop, twist the throttle forward to activate regenerative braking, which slows the Vectrix maxi-scooter smoothly and safely.
Easy to Park - The multi-function throttle also controls a slow-speed reverse function - making it easy to maneuver in and out of tight parking spaces.

As I understand it -- reversing the throttle when under way activates regenerative braking, and doing the same action when stationary switches the polarity to reverse!

 

[vortexau]

What I want to know is what part of it qualifies it as a maxi? Speed, not a chance. My 125 Vino did 63. Range? My Vino had a range of over 90 miles. Wheel size? There are 200's out there with tires that big.

I call it a scooter, but not a maxi.

Their answer:
(Again same link- Media Release
Vectrix- Plug and play Maxi

The Vectrix scooter was designed to outperform an equivalent gas scooter (e.g. 250 cc - 400 cc) in almost every way:

Faster acceleration - Almost 30% faster to 50km/hr than a 250cc gas scooter . . . (Rapid Acceleration - 0-50 mph (96 km/h) in 6.8 seconds.)

Then, there are the dimentions which are more maxi than non-maxi:

Weight 436lb (198 kg)
Wheelbase 60" (1525 mm)
Seat Height 31.5" (800 mm)
Wheels Front - 14"
Rear - 13"

Does your Vino weigh 436lb and have a 60" wheelbase?

 

[waterinthefuel]

So "maxi" means fast acceleration?

Hmm, I didn't know that. And here I was thinking it meant 250cc and bigger. Silly me. :wink:

 

[davegering]

IMHO, these things will start to look attractive, not when we get hit with gas price increases, but when we start getting shortages. We had a shortage here in Phoenix a couple of years ago due to a broken pipeline. It was so hard to find gas the radio stations would broadcast the location of any station that was selling. The lines ran around the block, the amounts were rationed, and nobody asked the price.

In a country that burns billions of barrels in unnecessary SUV's and pickups, those days WILL come eventually. When it does, plugging your scoot into the outlet will seem like a good alternative to sitting in a line for half an hour to get 3 gallons of gas.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Eventually. Everything will happen eventually.

Nobody alive today will see this world when it has "run out" of oil. What will happen is that it will become harder to get and thus become more expensive, but it will always be there.

Yea, it might eventually be 20 bucks a gallon, but it will be available as long as anybody reading this will live. Since the cost would drive most people out of SUV's and into alternative forms of transportation, when prices goes up, demand will actually come down. "Eventually." Thus extending yet again the time that we will have usuable gas.

Don't forget about ethanol. While it's not great, it's renewable. A quick conversion on our scoots would make them ethanol ready, and thus never needing to be plugged into anything.

 

[vortexau]

So "maxi" means fast acceleration?

Hmm, I didn't know that. And here I was thinking it meant 250cc and bigger. Silly me. :wink:

So, what measure would you use if the cubic capacity (i.e. cubic centimetre) value is meaningless? When the Suzuki RE5 appeared some labeled it a 500 although its size + mass put it more in the GT 750 class.

Steamcycle custom built by Arthur "Bud" Hubbard of Monroe, CT during the early 1970's.
Would you class this machine as under 250cc, or as a half-litre class bike?

Is the Imperial speeder bike from Return of the Jedi a mini or maxi?

 

[vortexau]

Please don't bring up ethanol -- suggest any alternate fuel bar ethanol!

More Ethanol Critics Emerge

On the potential for ethanol to reduce dependence on fossil fuels:

Not in our lifetimes. In 2004, the U.S. consumed 100 "quads" (quadrillion BTUs) of energy. Of that, 86 quads were from fossil fuels. And of that, 40 quads were petroleum . . . . . Remembering that we use 86 quads of fossil fuels, ethanol would displace a mere 0.7 percent of that.

A recent study published by the University of California Berkeley . . concludes that only 5 to 26 percent of the energy in today's corn-based ethanol is "new." The other 74-to-95 percent represents the recycling of fossil-fuel energy to produce ethanol. . . . . compared with the total of 86 quads of fossil-fuel energy used in America, ethanol would replace less than two-tenths of one percent.

On ethanol subsidies:

Ethanol needs a mandate to find its way into our gas tanks for one simple reason. Made from corn as it is now, it costs more than gasoline.

Its true cost today is hidden by a broad blanket of agricultural subsidies, but we know the federal government puts up 51 cents per gallon. That alone will cost taxpayers more than $4.1 billion in 2012. And some states kick in an extra 10 cents, or 20, or more with credits, tax reductions, and other incentives.

 

[Ishabaka]

If anyone thinks electric two wheeled vehicles cannot be fast check this out:
http://www.killacycle.com/
World record holder for electric motorcycle - 7.824 seconds at 168mph in the quarter mile! The crazy thing sounds like an Oster blender when they wind the motor up.