Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Vectrix

Sure, Formula 1 is trying to introduce fuel-savings technologies in the coming years, starting with the KERS system that is currently being tested. Will we ever see the day when electric F1 cars are whizzing past gawking spectators across the world with the top drivers at the helm? Could be, but it’s not in the directly foreseeable future. Current F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella is now a certified “Ambassador of the Electric.” We have visions of the Force, India driver getting down on one knee and being awarded his new title, like a Knight. Probably didn’t go down like that, but it’s the picture in our heads anyway. The Force India team apparently has two Vectrix electric scooters that it uses when the insane speed of its F1 cars isn’t required. Now, Fisichella has one of his own, as the company has given him one as part of his new role.

It seems that racing drivers have taken a liking to the electric Vectrix scooter. According to the manufacturer, Eddie Jordan, Damon Hill and Adrian Sutil all ride their own, though we’re not sure that these racers have actually been Knighted proclaimed “Official Electric Ambassadors.”

[Source: Vectrix]

Continue reading F1 driver Giancarlo Fisichella now an “Electric Ambassador”

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, European Union, USA, Vectrix

It seems the sales of the Vectrix electric maxi-scooter have finally caught on fire. At the beginning of the year we were somewhat saddened to report that they had only sold a disappointing 123 of their innovative machines. Since then, the price has been chopped from just under $12,000 to a much more reasonable $8,795 for the 2007 model, and $9,395 for the slightly improved 2008 version. The skyrocketing price of gas may be playing a role as well, as people have been buying up scooters with a vengeance this year. The simplicity and ease of use that a Vectrix offers seems to be attractive to many newcomers to the scooter market. Of course, the company has also pursued a relentless marketing campaign to coincide with a strong effort to grow its distribution chain.

The result? Over 1,000 bikes sold and an exponential increase in dealerships. Since late spring they have gone from five retailers to 50 in the United States and are now listing another 75 dealers in other countries. They have a strong presence in Europe and can be found as far away as South Africa. They are even available in Andorra, where wookies come from wherever that is. With over 1,000 bikes shipped to date, the company expects the strong demand to continue and as the company grows they hope to offer more models. Though the company teased us with a superbike concept at the Milan motor show, they hope to launch a more modest $5,000 bike in 2009 featuring a “next-gen” NiMH battery that should boost the range by ten miles for a total of 70. We think moves like that could ensure “scootin’ sales” for years to come.

[Source: Boston.com / Business First

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Original post by Domenick Yoney

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, Vectrix

Click on the image above for more shots of Lutz and the Vectrix

Bob Lutz, GM’s formost Volt-pusher, loves himself some electric vehicles. As the owner of four (that’s right… dude’s got four!) Segways and a Vectrix Scooter, he’s surely gotten used to the charging ritual. Still, accidents happen, and Mr. Lutz apparently found himself stranded after a faulty charge gauge left him thinking he had nearly twenty miles left before his batteries were dead. A few miles later, though, the Vectrix rolled to a stop and would move no further.

“When you are out in the middle of nowhere with an electric vehicle, and you have no back-up powerplant, you are truly, truly screwed. You can’t go to the nearest wall outlet and bring back five gallons of electricity,” Lutz says. Of course, with the Chevy Volt, the driver would need to both run his batteries dry and continue to run his gas tank dry before being stranded, though that distance may come a bit quicker than was initially planned.

[Source: Auto Observer]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Vectrix

Travel options in Paris just got a happy new addition. A scooter taxi service (yes really!) that goes by the name of City Bird has just added a pair of Vectrix electric maxi-scooters to its fleet. Now, instead of riding to your favorite cafe or tourist attraction on the back of a Suzuki Burgman or Honda Goldwing, you can now travel carbon and noise pollution free on a stylishly painted (n’est-ce pas?) Vectrix.

If this whole two-wheel taxi thing seems a little strange to you and your French literacy is adequate (or you have Google translate) you can check out the company blog and learn everything there is to know about the concept. From what we understand, the prices are decent and you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in traffic jams like you might in a four-wheeled taxi. You can order up your ride via the Internet or telephone. If you happen to have an excellent knowledge of Paris and its environs and are a licensed and experienced driver looking for a unique employment opportunity you might want to get in contact with them for that too. Thanks to Mike W. for the tip!

[Source: City Bird via Bikes in the Fastlane]

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Original post by Domenick Yoney

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA

The New York Police Department will road test four Vectrix electric scooters next month reports Newsday. Vectrix scooters have a range of 60 miles, a top speed of 60 MPH and, as Vectrix president Andrew MacGowen tells Newsday, his scooters are the first all-electric vehicles to be certified to travel on any highway, street or road.

The NYPD currently has a handful of hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles but they are planning more ways to go green. Vectrix’s silent running, plug-in scooters has advantages other than zero emissions though: “You could easily sneak up on somebody if they don’t expect it” says Detective Derek Siconola, the happy guy on the Vectrix in the picture.

Related:

• Alt Car Expo 2007: Vectrix Scooter smiles for the ABG camera (VIDEO)
• Vectrix Electric Superbike Concept bows at Milan
• Electric Vectrix maxi-scooter review
• First U.S. resident to receive Vectrix scooter today
• Vectrix electric bikes coming in early 2007

[Source: Newsday]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton

Filed under: Diesel, Etc., EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Green Daily

Sure, there’ve been times when diesel gets attacked here on AutoblogGreen, but in general, we’re pretty keen on the high-mileage power of the gasoline alternative (see this review of the BMW 535d, for example) while we wait for something better and cleaner. For Nathan Burchfiel over at the “free enterprise” Business & Media Institute, diesel is just an opening to attack Hollywood for its “hypocrisy.”

I’m not that familiar with BMI, but whenever I hear someone talking about “free enterprise,” I feel the need to get my sodium levels checked. I need to take whatever they say with such a large dose of salt it’s not even funny. Why do people insist, in 2007, that “free enterprise” is possible, much less desired? I’ll just make the most basic point that no one at BMI could get to work without government-funded roads, roads without which all their economic models would fall into the public sewer system. Anyway, here’s how the shallow see Vectrix’s attempt at creating greener transportation with an booth at the Hollywood Goes Green conference:

…Vectrix Corporation (SEA:VCX) was displaying its electric scooter. […] The scooter costs nearly $12,000. Salesperson Tansy Brook said the comparable gasoline scooter would be about $4,000 cheaper, but said that maintenance costs would make up the difference over the life of the scooter. […] The Vectrix scooter, Brook said, will travel about 40-60 miles on one charge. A full charge takes about 3 hours on a standard electrical outlet. But you might be surprised at how the “green” scooter on display got to the hotel. In typical Hollywood “do as I say, not as I do” style, it arrived in a diesel truck adorned with ads for the “zero-emissions” scooter.

Just one question, BMI: how should Vectrix have transported the scooter to the show?

Related:

• Vectrix home delivery will bring the all-electric scooter to where you live (in CA)
• Alt Car Expo 2007: Vectrix Scooter smiles for the ABG camera (VIDEO)

[Source: Business and Media Institute, h/t to Domenick]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Hybrid, On Two Wheels, EVS23

Electric car advocate and vlogger Doug Korthof has posted several videos from EVS23, including the video above, which is a look at Ener1’s lithium-ion Prius. Doug asked Ener1 fairly technical questions, so if you are interested in things like the top of the discharge curve, the above video is just for you.

Below the fold is Doug’s look at Vectrix’s new three wheeler and a walk and chat around the A123 and Killacycle booth. That video has interesting tidbits about the Killacycle crash. Apparently, if the bike had not slowed down, it would have torn the other vehicle in half … that would have been cool.

Doug is still adding videos and AutoblogGreen was there as well, so stay tuned for more coverage from EVS23 very soon.

Related:

• EVS23: Enerdel’s “end-to-end” lithium solution for hybrids
• Ener1 first to integrate lithium-ion battery into HEV

[Source: YouTube]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Lascelles Linton

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

Our site has not been short on news about the Vectrix electric scooter… but here’s another report on it anyway. The fact that Cycle World found it fit to test ride and offer an opinion is a good thing, considering the fact that Cycle World is a major publication and their opinion is likely to carry a good deal of weight to many cyclists. So… what did they think?

Chris Worden of Cycle World found that the bike was comfortable and that it rode well. Being that the only comments that the rider made regarding the operation of the scooter was that it worked well, we’d say that the review was rather positive.

[Source: Cycle World]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

Cycle World already wrote a little online piece about the Vectrix scooter, which we showed you here. I checked their site today and was rewarded with another short article about the machine, this time from David Edwards on their staff blog page. According to the article, Edwards will be writing something up for an upcoming print edition of the magazine, which is great. Unfortunately, he regurgitated most of the same points that are mentioned over and over whenever electric vehicles are written about, namely the fact that carbon emissions are still produced when the machine is built and that the batteries still need to be charged using a powerplant. These issues have been covered a few times already, as you’re probably aware. Those points should continue to be made, of course, but it would be nice to see an article which mentions those issues and their solutions… but, oh well.

[Source: Cycle World]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Vectrix

On January 15, Vectrix released a regulatory announcement titled “Preliminary Results.” Thanks to some ABG reader comments that pointed out some just how bad the news is in this report, I thought it’d be a good idea to mention this on the front page. The short version: In 2007, Vectrix built 2,002 vehicles (the $12,000 scooter seen above) but sold just 123 of them and now has had a lot of debt.

Here are some key quotes from the statement:

During the 2007 financial year, we built 1,775 vehicles and sold in to dealers 462 of which 68 sold out to consumers. Through calendar 2007, we have built 2,002 vehicles and sold in 550 to dealers of which 123 sold out to consumers. The key financial impact of this is that for financial 2007 production and sales were not aligned and, as a result, both accounts receivable and inventory are much higher than expected. As we began financial 2008, we adjusted production due to slower than expected sales and we are increasing the number of dealers in our distribution network to accelerate vehicle sell through. […]

While the Company has launched an innovative vehicle and created significant product awareness with consumers, dealers and government officials in the EU, North America and Australia, we have been slow to convert enthusiasm into consumer sales and as a consequence our sales results are running significantly below management’s pre-IPO expectations. As a result of lower than expected sales and higher that [sic] expected inventories and a U.S. GAAP requirement that we forecast in a manner consistent with historical sales and trends, we incurred a US$9.1 million charge in cost of goods sold related to batteries and finished goods.

You can read the entire thing at the London Stock Exchange website. The question for us is, how long should we wait before we put Vectrix in the has-been pile? 2007 saw the launch of the MAXI Scooter, and Vectrix does have dealerships in seven countries now - will 2008 be the year these expensive but cool electric scooters catch on? And what’s happening with the 1,879 unsold scooters?

Related:

• NYPD to test Vectrix electric scooters next month
• Free enterprise wingers attack Vectrix for using a diesel truck
• Cycle World rides the Vectrix

[Source: London Stock Exchange.com]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Pacific Region, Vectrix

It isn’t all depressing news for Vectrix these days. I mean, colorful sailboats make everyone happy, right? If the electric scooter company can’t sell (many) of the expensive rides, then perhaps they can give them away. This is what happened in Melbourne, Australia on Monday when, according to Sail World, twenty sail teams competed in the “Vectrix King of the Docklands Regatta.” The prize? Why, none other than a MAXI Scooter. Sail World doesn’t say who won the race and Google didn’t help either, but I like the consistency of a zero-emission race for a zero-emission scooter.

[Source: Sail World, h/t to Domenick]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, On Two Wheels, UK, Vectrix

Despite the fact that Vectrix has posted extremely disapointing sales numbers so far, there are certain uses for the electric scooter which just make too much sense to ignore. Ask the NYPD, for one. Or take, for instance, as a parking lot enforcement vehicle. The police in Strathclyde, U.K, have found that the Vectrix suits them perfectly as a runabout to enforce parking measures and control traffic at the Glasgow Airport. They like the fact that the machine can be recharged in an hour using a 13 amp plug, along with being able to reach 62 miles per hour, more than fast enough for this scenario. “We have two other motor scooters just now which are both petrol driven but they are coming to end of their life. We felt that to go for the green option would be the proper thing to do,” says Inspector Colin Pearson, chief of Glasgow Airport Police Unit. Right on.

[Source: The Press Association via 2 Stroke Buzz]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA, Vectrix

According to a news item posted on the Vectrix website, California will be offering a $1,500 rebate for purchasers of the electric Vectrix scooter. Early adopters will not be punished either, as the rebate is retroactive to purchases of these $11,000 EVs made as far back as May 2007.

In other news, and as a follow-up to our recent article regarding police in the U.K. riding on Vectrix scooters to patrol parking lots, we decided to let you know that the city of Sacramento, CA, has also chosen to use the all electric maxi-scooter for certain enforcement duties. We imagine that the choice was made easier by the fact that the scooters were practically given to them, cosing only $1 each for four months, but whatever. The City of Sacramento is the first to take advantage of the offer from Vectrix but, at that price, they may not be the last.

[Source: Vectrix]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, Vectrix

Senator Kerry usually likes to drive his Harley-Davidson Wide Glide when he feels the need for the wind in his bouffant and bugs in his teeth. (Someone get that Senator a helmet!) Monday though, found him on the back of a Vectrix scooter while visiting their Bedford, Connecticut operations where, according to a report on SouthCoastToday, he spoke of going “beyond fossil fuels” and “really exciting great possibilities” and “a Vectrix for every blogger”. (Ok, I made that last one up.) He reportedly did proclaim the bike a “vehicle of the future.” Whether or not there was an electric scooter in his future went unstated.

What I’m sure really got his audience excited was his discussion of potential future federal tax incentives for zero-emissions vehicles. Vectrix wants an amendment on legislation ensuring that such an incentive extends to include two and three wheel vehicles. They are serious enough about it to include a new political outreach section to their website. And serious they should be since they need to get these bikes out of the factory and onto the streets!

[Source: SouthCoastToday]

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Original post by Domenick Yoney

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Tesla Motors, On Two Wheels, Vectrix

Anyone who knows even a little about Jay Leno knows that not only is he a car nut, but he’s also environmentally aware. His large vehicle collection includes a 1909 Baker Electric and many of us know he has a biofueled super car project under way. It’s not a surprise then, that on his video-centric website, Jay Leno’s Garage, the Tesla Roadster is now being featured. Leno also, not so long ago, did a segment with the Vectrix two-wheel and three-wheeled maxi-scooters.

Leno starts the presentation by chatting with Tesla Big Cheese Elon Musk and goes over lots of basic information about the electric Roadster such as the origin of the chassis, the battery pack, the transmission situation and so on. The best part is when he hits the road. Because the car is so quiet, Jay can easily be heard by the camera in the chase car as he tells and shows us how much fun the thing is to drive. He quickly leaves the camera behind. Again and again.

In the Vectrix clip, Leno talks with chief marketing officer, Jeff Morrill while Dana (family name unknown), head of service, hangs out in the background ready to pounce into action should he be needed. He isn’t. They cover everything from range and speed, to the starting procedure and then finally go for a drive on a couple of two-wheelers and the soon-to-be-released three wheeler. Jay admits, “I didn’t want to like it but I do.” He seems to have a good time but does voice a desire for a bit more speed and range. He doesn’t try out the three-wheeler as he thinks it’s a little dorky but allows it is fascinating engineering. I think he was just being nice.

[Source: Jay’ Leno’s Garage]

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Original post by Domenick Yoney