For those of us who need to commute into central London every day, consider this little number.Plugs into a standard 13 Amp wall socket.
Full charge is about 3 hours. (Don’t over charge!)
Riding steadily at 30-35mph without racing from the lights (yes it out runs a Burgman 400!), you can get about 35 / 40 miles on one charge.
Insurance class 125cc
Ladies and Gents, I give you the Vectrix 100% Electric scooter.
Will bring it along on Wednesday’s Borough market meet (8th July)
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…Woof!
At only £6995 they are only a little over £2500 more expensive than a Burgman 400 - a bargain!
they need to put a frickin bell on them things cos nearly got run over by one:hehe:
I would rather boil my own head than ride that… 
Very well put PG.
Woof
Err…http://londonbikers.com/articles/6325/petrol-not-included-a-vectrix-electric-scooter
Keep your eyes out for something on the Zero S.
Zero emissions? How do they make electricity these days?
Wind, water, wave, solar, geothermal …
:laugh: maybe in about 100 years time when technology can finally do this in sufficient quantities. At the moment, and for many years to come, the majority of our electricity is generated by nuclear energy, coal and gas.
As far as electric vehicles are concerned, I am interested to know what arrangements are in place to dispose of the highly toxic batteries when they reach the end of their life, which I guess would be after every couple of years or so, and how expensive the replacements would be.
@ Questor (good name BTW!) -
I’d love to have a look at the Vectrix if you brought it to Borough Market! Like most people, I’ll have a few questions about it (one of which might be " can I have a go? " 
)
As you point out, EVs only have Zero emissions at point of use for the time being, but compared to those produced by what are quickly becoming ‘old fashioned’ engines, emissions are significantly reduced.
Who knows what petrol prices and availability will be in a hundred years time :w00t:
There are currently available electric bikes that have 100% recyclable batteries, and as battery technology improves rapidly, the cost of replacements will only decrease.
how much electricity you use to fully recharge the battery ? normally you lose a lot in this process
That is a good question Yon.I can only tell you the time of charging as I have no way of monitoring solely that one outlet (at this time).
From completely drained (walking the bike the last hundred yards to my front door) a three hour session gives me 100% charge. Which the on board computer will estimate 60 mile use.
Of course, how you use the bike greatly effects the overall available distance.
As a test, I performed a charge one Sunday evening.
Every day that week I rode 8 miles into work, 8 miles back at 20mph. Not quite the speed everyone would desire but this is a benchmarking test for distance at a set continuous speed.
I managed to get home on Thursday but the red battery light on the display came on when I was half way in the journey. So I decided to give it a thorough charge.
That’s approximately 64 miles on a 3 hour charge.
From the sales and technical bits and pieces, they estimate a 3 hour charge to cost 50p (some say 20p but let’s be a little over generous here)
So, that’s almost a week of travelling for 50p.
At this rate, the cost of running the bike will negate the purchase price in no time.
All it takes is a little fore thought. No room for neglecting to charge over night. A gentle ride with slow regenerative breaking to roll through lights as they change and you will find the bike will get you around without any trouble whatsoever.
Apologies to those I may have missed last Wednesday, had to play the Knight in shining armour.
Will see if I can meet up again this Wednesday.
Q.
Questor,
Have you done a test yet at higher average speeds, say 30, 40,50 and 60mph ?
I was in Bologna a couple of years ago and was amazed at how quiet a small electric powered scooter was - this was in a pedestrianised area and I did not hear it coming, just glanced round and there it was. Also in a few years ago Paris I saw an electric Post Office delivery van about the size of a Fiat Panda and that zipped away really quickish.
My commute is 100 miles a day and so the Vectrix range has stopped me getting one otherwise I would have done - I liked the video I saw where the guy really pulled away sharpish, out blew a sports bike.
I see at this years TT an electric bike put in a good performance, Team Agni did a lap time of 25mins 53.5secs, an average speed of 87.434mph and 106.5mph.through the Sulby speed trap !
I applaud you for trying a Vectrix, I am all for new ideas I bought an MP3 400 on which I have done 8500 miles last year at 65mpg.
Alas, as always it appears the trend towards eco awareness or lower pollution has taken a blow. Vectrix Corp has laid off all but essential staff and may be filing for bankruptcy in the next 30 days.
Which is such a shame when I have come to love this bike for it’s continuous torque acceleration, nimble throw-around riding style and 30 miles of top end performance 55-62mph.
If you have the cash, if it suits your purpose and you plan on having it as a day to day commuter, secondary to your cruiser / sports, then I whole heartedly recommend you grab one while you can.
Prices should be falling from £7k down to £5K and the governement will be introducing the £1500 rebate for electric vehicles next year. Hold onto those receipts!
they are going bust…
