Vespa's new all-electric scooter has a hefty price tag of over $7,000

Two years after it was first announced, the first all-electric Vespa scooter is about to start selling in Europe. Parent company Piaggio said the starting price will be 6,390 euros, or a bit over $7,300

Scooter available only in Europe for now.

Preorders of the Vespa electric can be made now in Europe before the scooter's ship date later this year. Customers in the U.S. and China will not be able to buy the vehicle until next year.

The new electric scooter will cost nearly twice as much as the cheapest gas-powered scooter.

Details about the new electric scooter

The Elettrica, as the new Vespa scooter is called, has a range of about 62 miles per charge, and it takes about four hours to charge it from a standard wall plug. The battery pack should be good for about 10 years of driving. It offers peak power of 4kW, which is about the same as a 50cc gas-powered scooter. However, it has only about one third the range of its gas-powered cousin. There is a color display between the handlebars.

The Elettrica X

There is also to be an Elettrica X, a hybrid version of the scooter pushed at the Milan Motorcycle show last year. The X is to be very much like the electric version but will have a small gas generator that can extend the range up to about 124 miles. The Milan Motorcycle show will be in about a month so perhaps there will be more information then.

Since Vespa announcement many competitors have electric scooters already

When the Elettrica announcement took place two years ago now, it seemed like a rare addition to the market. But now Vespa is facing competition from a number of electric scooters that are already for sale. Chinese startup Niu has a full lineup of electric scooters within China. Taiwan's maker of two-wheelers, Kymco has also come up with a scooter that uses swappable batteries.

Yamaha and Honda have partnered on the development of an electric scooter as well. Gogoro has also spread its scooters, which can be both bought and shared, to a number of countries both in Asia and Europe.

Vespa

The Vespa line developed from a single model motor scooter manufactured way back in 1946 by Piaggio and Co. However, now there is a full line of scooters and Vespa is just one of seven companies owned by Piaggio.

Vespa scooters have long been known for their painted, pressed steel unibody. There is a complete cowling for the engine, a flat floorboard providing foot protection, and a prominent front faring providing wind protection all unified into a structural unit.

The main factory is in Pisa Italy. The Vespa is sold in many countries including the U.S. It is popular in the U.K., is also sold in Asian countries and has sometimes been made in other countries under licence.

Previously published in Digital Journal

New French electric scooter has Android features

French company Archos has turned from making tablets and drones to produce the first Android-powered scooter named Citee Connect. The dashboard of the scooter has a multimedia display that has all the functions of a phone.

Citee Connect's Screen

The scooters' screen is in a housing that protects it both against shocks and bad weather. It is covered in Gorilla glass.

The 5-inch display is located between the handlebars and is powered by a quad-core processor of 1GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash memory. It runs Android Oreo and has 3 G support. It has Wi-Fi. An app can be downloaded that allows the scooter user to remotely control a lock built into the chassis. Other scooter models also have this feature as well.

The display also shows speed, distance traveled, and battery status. A mapping app has navigation directions, and there’s multimedia playback too.

Build of the Citee Connect and price

The scooter is made of aluminum. It has large puncture-proof 8.5 inch wheels, a 250W motor plus a 36W battery. It weighs only about 26 pounds. It can support up to 220 pounds. The company claims the scooter reaches speeds of just 22-25 km/hr per hour with a range of about 25 kilometers in urban areas noting: " The variable range is due to its energy-recovery system: braking automatically recharges the battery, extending its life by up to 15 percent."

Archos says that the scooter will go on sale this summer with a price tag of 499.99 euros or about $617 US.

Archos produces three scooter models

The cheapest model will be the Citee , a simple folding electric scooter.

The Citee Power has a larger battery and a more powerful motor.

The Citee Connect is also folding and motorized. It can go up to about 16 miles on a charge. The regenerative braking system is claimed to increase battery life by about 15 percent. You can either plug the scooter in directly to recharge it or the company will also offer a docking station.

To fully recharge the scooter is expected to take 2 to 3 hours. Top speed is just 16 miles per hour. It can be bought with two speeds and also with disc brakes.

All three models are to be featured at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona Spain from February 26th to March 1st.

Previously published in Digital Journal