(Suzuki skimpin’ on the image size like they are skimpin’ on the power. SOURCE)
There’s not a whole lot of “ground breaking” going on with this two wheeled, electric, granny grocery getter BUT does reinforce the trend towards electric that we are seeing. We’ve got Honda, Yamaha, and a hand full of independents not to mention Auto companies like Smart and Mini jumping in on the action.
With the amount of R&D going into electrics I predict that we’ll reach the dawning of the paradigm shift in the next 7 years. By that, I mean it’s only a short amount of time before we finally have an electric vehicle with the same price and performance as a comparable petrol powered vehicle. It’s not going to cause a lot of jaws to drop, but an electric scooter that costs about as much as a Honda Metropolitan ($2049), tops out at around 38 mph, get’s nearly 80 miles per charge while recharging in less than 10 minutes (capacitors) would signal the demise of oil burners. At least in my humble opinion.
For an example of a bike stretching those limits, check out the BRAMMO Empulse.
Shout out to Aki in Japan for the Scoop on new Suzuki e-Let’s; Suzuki’s new lightweight electric that tops out at less than 19 mph. Not the paradigm shifter you were looking for.
27. September 2010 at 11:07 am
19mph death trap!
27. September 2010 at 4:59 pm
Yeah, and I thought my Spree was a wimp!
28. September 2010 at 9:44 am
What about SYM . They have it oversea WTF . USA is slow in scootering.