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I keep being tempted by an electric scooter (of the Vespa variety) for commuting . I'm moving a little closer to work which would mean I only need 30 miles per

I keep being tempted by an electric scooter (of the Vespa variety) for commuting . I'm moving a little closer to work which would mean I only need 30 miles per day plus reserves. Unfortunately, the named brand ones are ridiculously expensive (£12k+) and having ridden a couple of Chinese made motorcycles I'm disinclined to go for the cheaper ones (£3-5k). Especially when you consider that even if the fuel cost were completely free on the electric one it would take nearly 5+ years to get the money back given a named brand 125cc petrol scooter can be bought for next to nothing and will struggle to use more than £10 worth of fuel a week. For me it would be an optimum balance of environmental consciousness and convenience though. I guess that is worth something. https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/models/urban_mobility/cevolution.html https://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/en/models/urban_mobility/cevo...

ryanobjc 8y ago
This is not what the author is talking about. In this case the scooter is a small item that weighs 10 lbs, not a mini-motor cycle.
- VBprogrammer 8y ago
  Yes, that is why I clarified of the Vespa variety. I'm aware they aren't the same thing, but it's two wheels and an electric motor. They aren't that different.
  - ryanobjc 8y ago
    surely the 2 orders of magnitude cost difference suggests they are more different than alike?
    - VBprogrammer 8y ago
      A BIC pen can be 5 orders of magnitude less expensive than a nice Caran D'Ache. Anyway, I just though someone might be interested in discussing the merits of electric scooters rather than arguing about how different the two types of scooter are.
haldean 8y ago
The Scoot service in SF uses GenZe scooters and they're fantastic to ride. Granted, I don't own one because I just use Scoot. They're about $4.5k on the website.
- VBprogrammer 8y ago
  Nice. The main part of my journey is on a 40mph road though so it would need a little more get up and go. I also ride a 650cc motorcycle so the temptation to get a faster one is hard to resist!
- jseliger 8y ago
  Yes, I was about to cite GenZe too https://www.genze.com/e-scooters/ https://www.genze.com/e-scooters/ . That BMW scooter looks good, but: > £12,350* Uh, no.
pyoung 8y ago
You should look into an e-bike conversion. I do 14 miles a day, and just added a kit to my bike for about ~$500. For an extra 100-200 you can probably get a kit that covers 30 miles fairly easy. And the power/battery will probably be similar to what you get on those lower end scooters. I know UK has speed limits on e-bikes, so that is a consideration, but if you are in a unrban-ish area like me, your commute is probably more limited by traffic and stop lights than it is by top speed.
- VBprogrammer 8y ago
  Yeah, that is a possibility. I'd have to avoid the most direct route though as that is fairly fast moving (Chertsey to Hammersmith in / around London). From memory I think the limit is only a few hundred watts. There is an ebike shop near me, I might pop in and see if they do test rides.
joshe 8y ago
Would also love to buy a great electric motorcycle/scooter. It's puzzling how much more robust the ebike market is compared to the electric vespa market. It isn't even a price issue, fancy ebikes are about the same cost. (The Genze is $3699). It doesn't seem to be regulation, you don't have to pass a bunch of tests or crash them to ship one like with a car. Maybe the large number of bike part manufacturers and builders give it more sophisticated supply chain? I really don't know.
- VBprogrammer 8y ago
  I'm hoping I'm just a little bit ahead of the curve. Doing a bit of reading it seams Honda and Yamaha have electric motorcycles being released in some form or another this year. Hopefully they find a market for them and the competition will start to push prices down.
- bjourne 8y ago
  An e-bike with pedal assist requires you to pedal so you get at least some exercise out from it. E-mopeds are also much heaver than e-bikes and may not be allowed (depending on jurisdiction) on all bike paths. They are also locked at their 25 km/h top speed, while e-bikes can go faster if you pedal.
  - morganw 8y ago
    > 25 km/h top speed In California, mopeds can go 30 MPH (48.3km/h). I think it's 25 or 30 in most US states. The GenZe has 4 horsepower which is the CA limit (used to be 2) but some states only specify displacement as 49cc or less. http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=406 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.... Mopeds are also allowed in bike lanes in CA, though police & cyclists don't seem to know this. Moped laws around the US: https://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Moped_Laws:_United_States https://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Moped_Laws:_United_States edit: did some more research. US doesn't have the equivalent of a German Mofa (25km/h) only Mokick (45km/h) https://smartexpat.com/germany/how-to-guides/transport/driving/motorbikes-mopeds https://smartexpat.com/germany/how-to-guides/transport/drivi... Though the stand-up scooters in CA do happen to have a 15 MPH limit.

ryanobjc 8y ago

This is not what the author is talking about. In this case the scooter is a small item that weighs 10 lbs, not a mini-motor cycle.

VBprogrammer 8y ago
Yes, that is why I clarified of the Vespa variety. I'm aware they aren't the same thing, but it's two wheels and an electric motor. They aren't that different.
- ryanobjc 8y ago
  surely the 2 orders of magnitude cost difference suggests they are more different than alike?
  - VBprogrammer 8y ago
    A BIC pen can be 5 orders of magnitude less expensive than a nice Caran D'Ache. Anyway, I just though someone might be interested in discussing the merits of electric scooters rather than arguing about how different the two types of scooter are.

haldean 8y ago

The Scoot service in SF uses GenZe scooters and they're fantastic to ride. Granted, I don't own one because I just use Scoot. They're about $4.5k on the website.

VBprogrammer 8y ago
Nice. The main part of my journey is on a 40mph road though so it would need a little more get up and go. I also ride a 650cc motorcycle so the temptation to get a faster one is hard to resist!
jseliger 8y ago
Yes, I was about to cite GenZe too https://www.genze.com/e-scooters/ https://www.genze.com/e-scooters/ . That BMW scooter looks good, but: > £12,350* Uh, no.

pyoung 8y ago

You should look into an e-bike conversion. I do 14 miles a day, and just added a kit to my bike for about ~$500. For an extra 100-200 you can probably get a kit that covers 30 miles fairly easy. And the power/battery will probably be similar to what you get on those lower end scooters. I know UK has speed limits on e-bikes, so that is a consideration, but if you are in a unrban-ish area like me, your commute is probably more limited by traffic and stop lights than it is by top speed.

VBprogrammer 8y ago
Yeah, that is a possibility. I'd have to avoid the most direct route though as that is fairly fast moving (Chertsey to Hammersmith in / around London). From memory I think the limit is only a few hundred watts. There is an ebike shop near me, I might pop in and see if they do test rides.

joshe 8y ago

Would also love to buy a great electric motorcycle/scooter. It's puzzling how much more robust the ebike market is compared to the electric vespa market. It isn't even a price issue, fancy ebikes are about the same cost. (The Genze is $3699). It doesn't seem to be regulation, you don't have to pass a bunch of tests or crash them to ship one like with a car. Maybe the large number of bike part manufacturers and builders give it more sophisticated supply chain? I really don't know.

VBprogrammer 8y ago
I'm hoping I'm just a little bit ahead of the curve. Doing a bit of reading it seams Honda and Yamaha have electric motorcycles being released in some form or another this year. Hopefully they find a market for them and the competition will start to push prices down.
bjourne 8y ago
An e-bike with pedal assist requires you to pedal so you get at least some exercise out from it. E-mopeds are also much heaver than e-bikes and may not be allowed (depending on jurisdiction) on all bike paths. They are also locked at their 25 km/h top speed, while e-bikes can go faster if you pedal.
- morganw 8y ago
  > 25 km/h top speed In California, mopeds can go 30 MPH (48.3km/h). I think it's 25 or 30 in most US states. The GenZe has 4 horsepower which is the CA limit (used to be 2) but some states only specify displacement as 49cc or less. http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=406 http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.... Mopeds are also allowed in bike lanes in CA, though police & cyclists don't seem to know this. Moped laws around the US: https://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Moped_Laws:_United_States https://www.mopedarmy.com/wiki/Moped_Laws:_United_States edit: did some more research. US doesn't have the equivalent of a German Mofa (25km/h) only Mokick (45km/h) https://smartexpat.com/germany/how-to-guides/transport/driving/motorbikes-mopeds https://smartexpat.com/germany/how-to-guides/transport/drivi... Though the stand-up scooters in CA do happen to have a 15 MPH limit.