TheScooterScoop

By CHAD TUCKER
FOX8 News

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — These aren’t your father’s motor scooters.

For drivers looking for relief from gas prices at $3.50 per gallon, today’s scooters offer high miles per gallon and highway speeds. As a result, scooter sales are at an all-time high — having tripled in the past year.

Most scooters get between 65 and 90 miles per gallon, which trumps even the most fuel-efficient hybrid cars.

“They’re thinking these hybrid cars were great, getting up to 30 miles to the gallon,” said Josh Alleman, who sells scooters for Scooter Vita of the Triad.

Alleman said he was commuting from Mebane to Greensboro every day and spending about $80 per week to put gas in his Honda Civic.

“Now, I’m spending $16 a week in the scooter,” he said.

Scooters can cost from $1,500 and up, depending on the make and model, and if a scooter has a 50cc or larger engine or goes over 30 miles per hour, it needs to have motorcycle license plates.

Alleman said he expects the upward sales trend to continue.

“Holland, Italy, Germany … all these places you see scooters are incredibly popular. Well, our gas prices are nothing compared to what they are over there,” he said.