Electric Scooter vs petrol

scottyboy1973

Hmmmmmm - given that this is a 'motorbike' forum I'm envisioning some friendly abuse in response to my question!! :-)

We used to have a 50cc moped for nipping around town but it was nicked from outside my house by a couple of scobies. We're now thinking of replacing it and, given that we only ever do journeys of 8-10 miles or less, I'm thinking of going with an electric one.

We have a garage so it can be covered and charged every night

Question is - are they any good? Or should I stick with one powered by fossil fuels?! :-)

Thanks a million - Scott

Thinkingaboutit

Electric scooters like the Vectrix or Peugeot Vivacity E, have a basic problem whereby the battery has to replaced after a few years for quite a bit of money. Not too many charging points as of now. Anyhow the price on a like for like basis with a simpler 50cc petrol scooter still seems too high for electric scooters. Personally, my little Honda Lead has done me well for the past few years. Too dull looking for any criminal, economic enough, reliable and fast enough for city and suburban traffic. I'd say something petrol and secondhand is better.

megafan

Economically petrol has to be the answer plenty of miles per gal & easy to refuel.... batteries will only last a couple of years at best & expensive to replace... & if your concerned about burning fossil fuels it's very likely the electricity used for recharging is generated by coal or oil!!

jayok

I had an electric scooter an EVT-168 once (in 2009) and while I found it good fun, I have to say it was no where near as convienent as a petrol scooter. In all honesty the running costs (in terms of service) were far lower than a petrol one.

I'd recommend stay petrol for the moment.

Del2005

scottyboy1973 wrote: »

Hmmmmmm - given that this is a 'motorbike' forum I'm envisioning some friendly abuse in response to my question!! :-)

We used to have a 50cc moped for nipping around town but it was nicked from outside my house by a couple of scobies. We're now thinking of replacing it and, given that we only ever do journeys of 8-10 miles or less, I'm thinking of going with an electric one.

We have a garage so it can be covered and charged every night

Get yourself a pedal assisted bicycle. They can do about 20km/h but you don't need a licence/insurance or lid to ride it. It also has the advantage that when it runs out of juice you can still cycle the heavy bike home.

scottyboy1973 wrote: »

Or should I stick with one powered by fossil fuels?! :-)

Thanks a million - Scott

Averaged out the vast majority of our electricity comes from fossil fuels, even when we have wind power they can't fully wind down the fossil fuels stations as we need to maintain base load for when the wind isn't blowing.

james03x

I will recommend a petrol scooter. Cause it is easier to refuel than changing batteries. You have to change battery after driving 5 to 6 hours.

Sesshoumaru

As someone with a Nissan Leaf, I've been looking around for an electric scooter/bike that could replace my M900 or MP3 250. At the moment I don't think there is much out there except the Brammo Empulse

http://www.brammo.com/empulse_specifications/

If you do find something, just make sure it uses lithium battery technology. There are different types of lithium chemistry used in batteries, the ones used for automotive purposes have a much longer lifespan than the type used in laptops and phones. For me I'll probably want to keep my M900 and replace the MP3 250 with an electric maxi scooter. However I don't want something slow, so I'll probably wait and see how the new BMW scooter works out once it hits production.

http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/66338-bmw-c-evolution-electric-scooter-hits-paris-runway

BMW plans to launch what it calls "an appropriate premium product on the market in the foreseeable future," and one key item around this is the fact the BMW C evolution is said in terms of acceleration from 0 to 60 km/h to comfortably hold "its own against current maxi scooters with a capacity of 600 cc or more." 

It offers some other interesting features as well, including a twin disc braking system with ABS, multi-functional instrument cluster and a LED daytime running light.

Based on your commuting requirement I also wouldn't worry much about charging spot availability. Your commute is so short it hardly seems to matter!

galwaytt

That new BMW has a range of only 60 miles or so, so is useless. That's before the price.
I have an AA500 myself, so I'm not immune to the idea of it. But tco is way off.

Sesshoumaru

galwaytt wrote: »

That new BMW has a range of only 60 miles or so, so is useless. That's before the price.
I have an AA500 myself, so I'm not immune to the idea of it. But tco is way off.

60 miles or 100 kilometers would cover me handily for my daily commute. I'd prefer more of course though! The OP says he has a requirement of 8 to 10 miles per day

In terms of TCO, BMW being BMW it will be expensive. Their petrol powered 650cc scooters are around 12,000 euro, so even petrol BMW scooter is expensive. The EV scooter uses the chassis from the petrol scooters, so besides range I think it should be just as capable as the 12k petrol one.

Hotblack Desiato

Sesshoumaru wrote: »

In terms of TCO, BMW being BMW it will be expensive. Their petrol powered 650cc scooters are around 12,000 euro

:eek: :eek: :eek: Talk about a Bavarian Money Waster!!

Sesshoumaru

ninja900 wrote: »

:eek: :eek: :eek: Talk about a Bavarian Money Waster!!

They look very nice though, I wouldn't mind one as my everyday comfy commuter