March 16, 2007
Vectrix, the manufacturer of the world's first High Performance Electric Maxi-Scooter, has been touring the USA during the past month in order to provide demonstration rides of their new plug-in battery electric Maxi-Scooter. On Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16, 2007 friendly Vectrix representative Matt Hair made two pre-production Electric Maxi-Scooters available for noon time demo rides in Santa Monica, CA. PV+EV advocate Paul Scott graciously hosted the rides and sent out invitations via several EV (Electric Vehicle) listservs. I was unable to make the Thursday demo which I understand had an enthusiastic crowd of 30 turn out to inspect and ride this fantastic pollution and noise free Electric Maxi-Scooter. I was able to make the Friday demo with about 40 minutes of Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter exposure before Matt had to pack them up and head to Orange County, CA continuing his demonstration trek across the nation.

The Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter has already gone on sale in its target market of Italy as of late 2006. The scooter is powered by a 20kW electric motor from a 3.7kWhr NiMH battery pack. The acceleration is pretty brisk and appropriate for this type of ride. Its top speed is limited to 62mph. I understand this limitation is partly driven by engineering the Maxi-Scooter to fall within a particular licensing and registration category for the Italian market. I believe you could ride this on the freeway although I would limit the riding to freeways that are heavily congested (and moving slowly). For around town riding the vehicle is more than adequate. Its range is approximately 60mi on a charge (dependent on vehicle speed). It costs only about 30 cents to fully charge the vehicle which can be accomplished from either 120VAC or 240VAC outlets utilizing the onboard 1.5kW charger. A 240VAC outlet will allow an 80% charge in 2 hours. The battery has an estimated life of 10 years. If you have PV (Photovoltaic) Solar Panels on your roof you can travel the city with zero overall emissions (having harvested your motive electricity from the sun rather than the electrical utility grid which can be dirtier in some parts of the country due to coal burning).

Paul and I took both of the Vectrix scooters for a longer 15 minute ride. I put on my old motorcycle helmet and riding jacket which happened to match the Vectrix red paint nicely. It was an extremely fun and surreal experience to ride along with Paul each on our own scooters. The scooter isn't exactly silent. I actually enjoy greatly the hi-tech whine of its electric motor which drives the rear wheel through a planetary gear set. There are no gears to change nor a clutch to operate. Turning the scooter on is a silent affair with just a couple digital beeps to alert you the scooter is energized. Vectrix has spent a significant effort engineering safety into the scooter's operation. Before you can accelerate you have to transition the scooter into a "Ready" mode which is indicated on the digital LCD dashboard. The rider does this by holding the rear brake lever (left hand) and tapping the right brake lever after having inserted the ignition key and waited the couple of seconds for the drive system and dashboard to boot-up. Pulling back on the right accelerator handgrip greets results in a hi-tech EV drive sound as you glide away effortlessly. Everything about the drive is very smooth. Grabbing a handful of accelerator is met with positively brisk and addictive acceleration. Tremendous fun!

The most astonishing and innovative part of Vectrix's electric drive is the DAaRT™ (Decelerating, Accelerating and Regenerative Throttle) via a multi-function bidirectional handrip. The handgrip usually rests in a neutral position. To accelerate you twist the handgrip towards yourself like you would on any normal motorcycle. To slow down, instead of using (and wearing out) the Brembo brakes, twist the handgrip away from you beyond the neutral postion which will engage the regenerative braking via the electric motor. The more you twist the handgrip away from yourself, the more aggressive and forceful the regenerative "braking" becomes. The regen is agressive enough that I believe a majority of one's riding can be done without ever using the Brembo brakes. During my demo rides the only time I grabbed the brake handles was to hold still once stopped (last mile per hour). One truly should experience this first hand to appreciate how nicely Vectrix implemented this feature. The regenerative braking allows you to convert your kinetic energy (motion) back into electric energy by operating the drive electric motor as a generator and recharging the battery pack. By using regenerative "braking" during your normal travels you can extend the range of the scooter by up to 8-12%. You might never have to change the brake pads on the scooter because of this feature (less maintenance, less replacement parts, less operating costs). The DAaRT operation is completely natural and I picked it up within the first 30ft of my demo ride. In the video below all the "braking" you witness with the cool rear LED brake light energizing is 100% regeneration (no hand brakes being applied). Vectrix regen is phenomenal and immediately reminded me of AC Propulsion's awesome aggressive and user adjustable regen which is hands down the best implemented and most natural feeling regen of any electric 4 wheeled vehicle. Vectrix earns the honors of having developed the world's best regen system for 2 wheeled vehicles!

I should also mention that if you're at a standstill and rotate the DAaRT handgrip away from you the scooter will start reversing (very slowly). The more you twist the faster it will go in reverse (again always very slowly). This is very convenient when backing out of a parking space as the scooter does weigh ~460lbs. Huge touring motorcycles like the Honda Gold Wings always have a reverse gear to help the rider backup. Vectrix's reverse system couldn't be more simple, smooth, or intuitive. It just works!

Click here for Vectrix's explanation of their DAaRT system (also recopied below):

Click here for Vectrix Specifications (also recopied below):

Production Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooters should be available for sale in about 3-4 months at an MSRP of $10,999. The only thing this Maxi-Scooter requires is cheap electricity. Forget having to change motor oil an filters or re-adjust valves. The Vectrix Maxi-Scooter only has 250 parts versus the 2,500 parts in an equivalent gasoline powered scooter. Overall I'm very impressed with the refinement of Vectrix's first Electric Maxi-Scooter. My only wishes would be for it to be capable of higher freeway speeds (~85mph) and possibly graduate to larger wheels like is found on the Yamaha TMAX 500 Maxi-Scooter. Italy is probably the world's largest (Western) market for Maxi-Scooters and whenever I visit I observe the variety of Maxi-Scooters available. In my opinion the ultimate (gas powered) Maxi-Scooter is the Yamaha TMAX 500. Click here to learn more about the Yamaha TMAX 500. It is unfortunate that during the past 7+ years, Yamaha USA has not (yet) made the TMAX 500 available for sale in America.

Two years ago when I first contacted Vectrix I had asked why they weren't pursuing Lithium Ion batteries directly. At the time Vectrix's primary drivers for their battery pack was keeping the cost down and going with proven high cycle life NiMH. I've heard news they are pursuing Li-Ion batteries for future use which should allow for increased range. Two to two and half times the range would be possible if utilizing Li-Ion batteries (like 18650s) with energy densities approaching 200whr/kg.

The Vectrix will find itself perfectly at home in college towns and cities with minimal freeway driving requirements. In Southern California where one hops on all sorts of freeways for most commuting I would like to see a higher top speed with larger wheels (similar to the Yamaha TMAX 500 which is the benchmark standard of the perfect Maxi-Scooter). The Vectrix is quiet so you'll want to embrace the paradigm of riding with the mindset that you are invisible to other drivers (a riding habit I picked up on at an early age). Regardless of these opinions, the Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter is a phenomenal vehicle that is a joy to ride without the noise and exhaust fumes that normally accompany motorcycles.

Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter Cutaway View

Thursday, March 15, 2007 Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter demo rides in beautiful Santa Monica, CA.	PV (Photovoltaic) Solar Powered Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooters and Toyota RAV4-EV!	Alexandra and Matt talking Vectrix!	Alexandra Paul and Vectrix's Matt Hair show their Vectrix "EV Smiles".
Chris Paine back from his exciting Vectrix demo ride.

Pix from Stefano - Friday, March 16, 2007

Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter (Long Version)
Click here for a link to jump to the YouTube page hosting this video clip.

Scooter électrique Vectrix - French report on the Vectrix Electric Maxi-Scooter
Click here for a link to jump to the YouTube page hosting this video clip.