Another electric contender

[roadster]

Rather than hijack Waldorf's excellent thread here is a link to a possible contender for a really practical electric scooter. Maybe its time to look ahead and have a new category for them on the forum.

Wow electric scooter ( from Italy)

On the website it claims what I regard as most of the essential features. Reasonable speed, reasonable range, regenerative brakes, light weight, reasonable storage etc. What is missing at the moment is actual production machines that can be seen and tested. It is also pretty ugly but that's about the last thing that bothers me.

Currently I reckon its only the BMW C that has the best of these essentials but it also has excessive weight and outrageous price. If it weighed 200 Kg not 275 I would give it serious consideration. BMW launched this scooter several years ago and probably had no option but to use heavyweight car technology. Hopefully a new model is due soon but lightweight is not something characteristic of any recent BMW two wheelers.

Here is some more recent information about availability:-
https://ldnconnected.co.uk/wow-e-scoote ... to-charge/

[StephenC]

This one looks equivalent to 100-125cc instead of just a moped - good. Obviously I'd like weather protection, storage, etc but they're heading in the right direction.

[Jimo]

Certainly way, way down the list as far as good looks are concerned!
Jim

[Deleted User 1756]

If you look at its range it has the equivalent of half a gallon of fuel in it,so how could it possibly be a contender.I think it will be many years before any electric vehicle can compete with what most people use them for.200 miles and 10 mins charge time for a bike and 400 miles and 10 mins charge time for a car would be the bench mark too aim for.And lets not forget about the cost,a bike should be under 4 grand and a car under 15k.If we can make vehicles with engines and all that goes with them at current prices then electric vehicles should be cheaper.I know you will say things like (Tec costs money) no it does not,only lack of volume costs.And thats a bit like who will crack first the Tec bosses or Joe public,well time will show us that the Tec bosses will be given free reign with the support of governments to charge what they like,all under the guise of saving the planet.I wish people with money to burn would see that most of the population do not have the sort of money to spend on electric vehicles at the moment.I mean £26.995 for a renault zoe,and even off setting the fuel savings I have worked out it would take over 10 years to make it back and by that time you would be on a new set of batteries.I would love to go all electric but I would also like not to be treated like a cash cow.Sorry for the rant but PLEASE WAKE UP we are all being taken for a ride.

[StephenC]

I disagree. I only need a scoot that maxes out at 80mph, manages 70 miles without charging, has ABS etc and can carry a reasonable amount of stuff.

Notably these ones, while lacking in quite a few areas for me (yes, looks included!!!), have removable battery packs that in theory can be swapped out on your journey for fully charged ones in the same time you'd fill up with petrol. Personally I make it a policy to stop every couple of hours for a break on a long journey so that's no hardship.

The running costs of these electric things is much smaller than a traditional machine not just on fuel but on servicing too. In the past manufacturers and dealers have tried to keep their bank balances healthy through tying you into spending on servicing and parts, while the government needs revenue from somewhere, so I am not surprised that the purchase prices are higher than petrol machines. But if the overall costs don't work for you, that's fine and I am sure there will be petrol scoots around for your riding years for a good while yet (at least second hand anyway).

Personally I don't subscribe to many of the conspiracy theories about government and big business but then as someone who could probably quite easily be described as part of the "deep state", you might expect me to say that....

[Deleted User 1756]

Let us not loose sight of reality,a bike made out of theory cannot be ridden, when it is available at a good price then I will buy it.And I had a bet with my wife that a reply to my post would come from someone with connections to .guv,but then there is no conspiracy theory (or is there) LOL hope to see you on the road soon,oh wait a min we live 250mile apart,better take the sym then LOL.

[roadster]

I've got no problem with the criticisms voiced above but its actually me that is changing. I no longer use my scooter for long journeys, it is a utility vehicle now which takes me where I need to go, and its easy to find parking places near my in-town or local destinations. It is also easy to navigate through increasingly tortuous and restricted city streets ( although I did make the mistake of following a bus along a restricted road and that cost me £30 recently! ) Of course I would like to still have an 80 mph top speed for dual carriageways and motorways but at least these vehicles do have excellent acceleration within their performance envelope. Frankly if my out of town destinations are more than about 30 miles away I would probably take the hybrid car which is comfortable and capable of 50 mpg compared to the 60+ mpg I get from my present AK550.

There are definitely better technical options than the batteries and electric motors currently available but unfortunately both government and industry lack incentive and ambition when it comes to changing the status quo. I wonder if I could generate my own hydrogen supply using solar panels and build my own scooter with an internal combustion engine - that's possibly slightly over ambitious!

[MrGrumpy]

Its the magic words 'Up to....' when range is mentioned that worries me! I want to know how long will a throttle happy maniac like me get, rather than how long you might get going along at walking pace....

[Rocketman122]

"wow" is correct but not in a positive way. Design team was furloughed because of pandemic? Who's the person at the mangers meeting looked at that and said yes looks good.

I've used an electric scooter. I don't know about this but the power delivery is horrific. It's not immediate like gas powered. Or sensetive. There is a delay and it had a jump to it and other times it just wouldn't move and other times it wouldn't slow down fast enough.
There was no engine braking so brakes needed replacing every 5 weeks and made grooves in the brakes very quickly and had a burnt smell to them. But they were chinese. This might be better

I'm certain there are folks who would enjoy this bike(or another escoot) and it would fit their needs perfectly.

[roadster]

Here is another promising one from SEAT no less. Now the huge VAG organisation is getting in on the act. It sounds promising but how will it be marketed in the UK ( if at all)?
https://www.seat.co.uk/about-seat/news- ... icles.html

In my experience SEAT dealerships in the UK have a take it or leave it attitude, presumably because they only get limited stock allocations. So I don't see them taking on two wheelers. Lets hope I'm wrong.

Postscript:
As you may know this scooter is actually one of these:-
Silence S01

They seem to be in production but with no dealers in the UK. If this changes I could be the dealers first S01 customer.