London, England — Piaggio, the makers of the classic Vespa, showed off their new hybrid scooter to the newsmedia in the week of July 12, 2009. The three-wheeler is powered by both petrol and electric motors.
The bike is expected to be on sale in the UK by September.
To switch between using petrol, or using electric power, the ride of the MP3 Hybrid bike merely needs to push a button. Its top speed is 20 lilometers an hour. The gasoline motor is a 124cc, the electric motor, 2.6kW.
Yamaha, Honda and Segway are hurrying to produce their own hybridges.
The battery takes five hours to recharge, but can be plugged into an ordinary 220 volt household plug with a small connector.
Piaggio claims the scooter will manage 60km a litre, compared with an average of 26km a litre for the average mid size petrol scooter. Its CO2 emissions are 40 grams per kilometre compared with 90grams per km for a similar petrol brand.
The price is high – expected to be between 8,000 and 9,000 pounds.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:36 am
Hi, interesting topic – I have just bought an electric bike that I use to get to work everyday. I Just plug in at work to recharge it and then cycle home.
Absolutely love the bike, it was cheap and simple to use. I got it from http://www.elecbikeco.com they seemed good but I am sure there are many other companies out there too.
Good luck
Ahmet