Nice story. I wanted to report on my experience with a similar technology, electric bikes.

Several years ago I bought an Ebike and it was okay, but heavy (lead) and noisy.

The new bikes I have tried are quiet, lighter (Li) and have much more power and range. They can climb very steep hills and some can go ca. 40 mi (ca. 60 km) on a charge and the great thing is that when they run out of electricity they can still be pedal powered.

In the U.S. electric bikes are only powered up to a speed of 20 miles per hour, otherwise they are classified as motorbikes and need a different licensing.

One company I know of Bionix, sells conversion kits where you take your favorite bike and make it electric assisted. These are really nice kits: quiet, long distance capable, and hill climbing ability.

In spite of the quality of these vehicles I don't see many around yet but have heard that the sales are picking up.

Ugo,

the San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association had one of these at the Marin County Fair a few months back and I will attest to its quality. My father has a Chinese one and in comparison the Italian one is sturdier and better made. There is, as you noted, a big price difference though (or was a big price difference since the Lepton is no longer available). My father is stopped everywhere when he rides his and people ask questions.

Nonetheless, Italian or Chinese, these are wonderfully fun to ride. One caveat: I don't recall the wattage on my father's machine but I'm quite sure it wasn't above 1500W -- and it couldn't handle more than the slightest hills.

It seems that with even just moderate hills in a commute 3000W is likely necessary.

Very cool use of an EV. My motorcycle only has about 3500 miles on it now, but I do use it often.

You can see my daily EV commuter at http://www.evalbum.com/1414

My EV is also solar powered like yours. We hate coal in Utah :)

I have been riding a foldable electric bicycle for a couple of months in the South Bay area of Southern California. Lithium battery. Great on the flats. Gives me (200 lb) plenty of assist on hills, when I peddle without any great effort. I have not checked the range but have been comfortably 15 miles roundtrip with plenty of charge left over. If used for a commute, it would be easy to remove the battery and recharge it in the office.

I have seen two similar bicycles in town. There is now a specialty electric bicycle retail store in the next town, El Segundo. Many people have looked at my bike when parked and/or asked me questions. I think electric bikes could be about to take off. I love mine!

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement battery for a Heinzman Estelle electric bike?

Electric cars are sold commercially, and a car like the Norwegian 2 seater Think City has a range range of 200 km. This is far more than the 40 km reported here. While there is less space for batteries in a scooter, it also has a far smaller engine, so it should be relatively easy to extend the range, for example by replacing the NiZn batteries with something better.

Why not drive a wood powered car !

http://www.vedbil.se/indexe.shtml

Have also seen the same technology on a motorbike.

After workbiking for about 8 years, I now drive a Zap Xebra PK.

The PK is an electric tricycle that can haul loads such as the tools needed by a gardener or handy person or housecleaner.

The stock PK goes about 40 mph tops, and has a range that varies with load, terrain, traffic, and also extreme cold temperatures. The general range is 20-to30+ miles on a charge, but the PK is easy to plug in anywhere to get a boost for the lead-acid batteries. Some folks have gotten 40-to50 miles per day this way.

Also, the PK is a great platform for customizing, or "Hacking."

Many people have added a battery to get an 84 volt system which provides a bit more hauling, climbing, distance or speed capability. A few people have added two batteries to get 96 volt systems.

Also, people can replace standard auto lights with LEDs to use less juice and have more fun. People repaint, add different horns, bells and whistles, and can also remove the pickup bed on the PK to lose weight if just driving for one or two people. The option of extending the cab intrigues me, as does the possibility of designing a lighter cargo bed for the back of my trike-truck.

We are opening the first Electric Car Store in Minneapolis, MN -- after having taken some Zap Xebras through a Minnesota winter. We have good ideas of how to weatherize for the region.

In the future, i think that many small, short range electric vehciles will be made closer to the point of use. They will be designed for the region, or altered from a basic design such as the Zap Xebra to be customized for regions and specific needs.

I also think that lead acid batteries will retain significant popularity among the poor working people, and maybe even among some wealthier folks. Lead acid batteries will be cheaper and are recycle-able. I'm not sure that the lithium batteries allow for any recycling at the end of the battery's usefulness. Does anyone know about this?

Oddly, I get plenty of positive comments, but many people say "if only the battery technology was better, then I'd buy one." Good luck with that. I think that the big corporations are still trying model the EV on an obsolete paradigm for transportation. Forget the long drive across country. We need electric trains for that.

We will not have the resources to bring easy driving to the masses as our war economy further saps financial and material resources from working people. As the police showed at the RNC protests in St. Paul this week, the masses will be kicked down and kept in their place. I think that relatively low-tech, low energy, locally-sourced transportation options will be very pervasive and important for most people.

Pretty soon, just being able to get around town will seem like a cool thing. The scooter and lowly service vehicle might be the new "Chick Magnet" or "Dude Magnet" or whatever.

Working through the economics you are using about 1 kwh per day for the round trip to the office. However I presume you charge at night from the grid and you get a 1:1 credit from your daytime solar home input. At mid-latitudes that 1 kwh may require say 0.3 kw peak solar capacity costing $6 per watt US/Australian prices after rebates or say $2000 share of installed (inverted) capital cost. Add to that tyres and repairs. Depreciation on the battery seems to be about 150 euros a year. Depreciation on the rest of the scooter will depend on the price tag and its working life expectancy.

I presume small grocery shops of a couple of kilos can be fitted on a pannier or backpack but a shopping trolley full (say 50 kg) will need a car or perhaps a weekly cab ride from the supermarket.

Even for the brave souls who are prepared to ride a scooter it's all quite daunting. After petrol is gone many just won't or can't make the required physical and financial leap of faith. When there are no private cars there might be just two classes of people; scooter riders and public transport users.

Only one minor objection to electric scooters. We first encountered them in Chengdu, Sichuan and nearly got run over. They are absolutely silent. We had gotten used to the noise of motor cycles in Taiwan and SE Asia and practiced usual look and listen precautions when crossing streets. Suddenly the listen part was no longer present as a complement to look. Wow what a difference. Maybe they need to provide recorded sound of an infernal combustion engine to warn pedestrians of their presence - lol.

Nice post Ugo, 10000 Km is a very beautiful number.

Ugo, does it have a recharge-on-breaking alternator? If so weight isn't that much of a problem and it should do ok with lead acid batteries.

I think that the main reason for the lack of adherence is that most people do not consider a scooter a proper means of transport, being it electric or otherwise. Especially damp weather scares most away. IMHO electric vehicles for this kind of trips will have to protect the passenger from the elements to be successful. There are other issues with luggage or child transport, but those are easier to solve.

This post highlights another matter that I discussed recently with a person that works at an auto factory: Electric vehicles will dispense most of the people that are today employed in the auto maintenance business. Eventually changing batteries becomes the only maintenance to do, and that the owner can do by it self (with grid connected vehicles not even that). If we move to a mostly electric road transport infrastructure the number of jobs in the industry will reduce dramatically.

I wish you another joyful 10000 Km.

Hi Ugo - Thanks for posting this - v. interesting. My wife is pestering me to get her an electric bike/scooter to cope with the hills in Le Marche!

My apprehension about 'stand alone' electric devices is that it always seems to be the batteries that are the weakest link. Tyres and other spares you could store. But the batteries?

Has this been done to death on the Oil Drum? Apologies if it has, but are there any viable long term solutions (20-30 years upwards) to portable charge storage? Hydrostatic head is all very well but it's difficult to move water towers around.

I've spent the last month or so looking at the problems associated with batteries - there really doesn't seem to be an ideal solution.

If we do get to a situation where no one is capable/able/ to produce/ship either lithium or lead-acid batteries, most off grid solutions would fail rather rapidly wouldn't they?

I've actually telephoned a couple of bespoke lead acid battery manufacturers and talked to them at length about the problems - the first one, I believe is that they start deteriorating gradually from their 'priming' and cannot be supplied in 'kit' form to be assembled at a later date. Effectively you can't store them and have to use them straight away.

The second is the potential for high temperature (1/2 the max life of 20ish years for every 10°C rise above 25°C) and charging 'hiccups' to further rapidly degrade the cells. [One of the guys I spoke to said a chap in South Africa was worried about his being stolen, so put it in the eaves - the roof was painted black and the battery died within a year at 45°C].

I've recently been in correspondence with a chap in Australia who's using PV and Ni-Fe Edison cells without a charge controller, and that configuration is working. You have to use a larger number of PV cells as the charging is less efficient and takes longer, and the charge storage is dreadful (I have the figures if anyone's interested for some new Chinese ones) - but, they do last 80 ish years, can be topped up at home if you have the salts (think you'd have to purchase the LiOH in advance - could get the KOH from woodash at a pinch!)

I just have a bad feeling that should it come to permanent grid/infrastructure failure, if we use lead acids we'll all be sitting in the dark at grid failure + 10 years.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Right now the German photovoltaics journal Photon (www.photon.de) calculated the economics of a conventional vs an electric car - resulting in an overall advantage for the electric car. They'll probably also publish this in their international edition (http://www.photon-magazine.com/).

Thank you very much for bringing this technology to light...

I fondly remember the many mopeds in Papeete, Tahiti, and other places around the world. As for electric bicycles... Shenzhen, China is full of them...

But don't forget........

The Bicycle..........

AND

If you really want to go electric auto....... go ultra light.... ala HyperCar...

INDY

I bought an ecolocycle a year ago. $1400 canadian. Runs on li/ion. The bike itself runs great but the wiring and components are cheaply made and I have had to repair it many times.
http://www.ecolo-cycle.com/Mundial_en_new.htm

Very interesting.
I see this as an example of what experience someone would have with an EV.
In my case I believe in KISS - I live close to work and commute by bike - in rain, snow or sunshine. It's not for many.

Why have others not adopted an electric scooter/motorcycle? Well - it takes work! It means having to do something different. We are creatures of habit and changing course; rethinking something we're doing takes energy - it's not something our brain is wired to do. We are wired to shut out extraneous smells/sounds/thoughts/visual stimulation and never rethink the 'background noise'.

In my case I've spent a bunch of the summer with the hot water heater off and using a black plastic bag for making hot water. It brought a change of lifestyle. I used the water for the clothes washer - but that ment not washing clothes early in the morning but waiting for the bag to be warmed - I had little choice as to when I washed dishes or took a shower - unless I was willing to tolerate cold water. Would any of my neighbours adopt this? Not on your life! This "technology" cost around $14, will last perhaps 8 months and will save us about $3/month. It's very awkward, time consuming, requires planning ahead and the savings can't pay for a coffee.

Oh sure I could spend a few thousand dollars and rig a solar collector, with a storage tank and have a system that worked outside of the winter. About $7k would get me a "proper" system which would give me warm to hot water year round - but all of that work for providing $70 of hot water per year? We have a 19 gallon electric water heater - it's barely enough for filling the tub and that's why we got a heater that big.

I've been ribbed for this and likely will be again. The way forward is powering down - doing without - without fancy, complex, energy intensive schemes, toys and the like.
It's easier to do without a car - and live close to work - than it is to adopt the latest technology - trying to keep on top of a treadmill. But that's what we've been doing for 50+ years and that's what consumption is all about. Just keep buying the latest gadget and the latest and the latest .... soon you will achieve nirvana.

I was surprised to see that dual flush toilets (4L/6L and 3L/6L) are now about $200 and $300 - much more than I paid a few years ago. Back then I bought into the technology grindstone, errr treadmill. Given that we'd already adopted a well known technique (if it's brown flush it down - if it's yellow let it mellow) the cost of a dual flush (3/6L or 4/6L), or even low flush (6L) would never pay back. Plans of gray water recycling - diverting sink/shower water to the toilets would also backfire because these high-tech babies are likely very very sensitive to how clean the water is. I'm now a believer - that in terms of toilets - we should do without them. We should be doing, at the least, urine diversion for crops, and ideally, full humaure composting (read the book - free online - Humanure Handbook http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html It can be done locally - the technology is old and we can use it on our gardens (although my family hasn't gone that far). But our sawdust toilet uses no water at all - just some sawdust with old coffee filter and/or dried grass (peat doesn't work at all).

In short - technology is not the solution. We need a hard turn in how we do things - realizing just what is going to happen to our society.

All of that being said - we're about to have a Federal election - and the Liberal party is on a "green shift" campaign - however, energy price increases seem to have driven out of the mind of most the issues of climate change. So we'll likely get another Regressive Conservative (we used to have a _Progressive_ Conservative party which I supported) government - hopefully a minority so that their disasterous Bush-lite policies don't destroy us too quickly.

We're not going to see any quick changes anywhere - humans rarely work that way; and they're often too caught up in the moment to think about the future, much less rethink past assumptions.

Kudos, Ugo! You're a one man PO/Climate mitigation team who's a beacon to us all, keep up the good work.

What do you do in the rain? In my area, summer afternoon downpours were relatively frequent, but nowadays fairly infrequent. Hence, one vehicle I've been considering is a velomobile with electric boost (one example) that allows one to pedal AND motor in an all-weather enclosure without breaking a sweat.

I'd also like to see a lower profile EV scooter/motorcycle, to reduce drag...

... with an extended fairing and safety cage like a BMW C1 to provide all-weather comfort and safety.

Manipulating the image provides an illustration of the design concept...

See a number of similar, viable approaches, including a 2 passenger Zark 1500 (pictured below). Or "how to take your child to soccer practice in something other than a minivan"...

Technology like this is certainly appropriate for urban situations in comparatively mild climates, and it's not rocket science. It's here now. Fortunately, this is where most people live. The safety issue is problematic, but speeds are slow enough that helmets and protective clothing can provide a large degree of protection, as long as one is not hit by a large vehicle. What's needed is separate road infrastructure for slow speed two-wheeled vehicles where they can travel safely.

However, where I live, in northern Minnesota, 40 km. range would not get me to my closest town and back. And winters, which last six months and have temperatures dropping under minus 40 degrees every year, make batteries even less effective than during the warm season. So technology like this is not very useful for me. My bicycle is a better option, since my "battery" (my body) has much longer range, and, at the age of 59, I can still average 25 kph in a three hour ride. But, again, our roads are continuously snow covered from the end of October until after Easter, making biking impossible or unpleasant at best.

Oh dear... Here we go again.

Can someone please explain to me where the investment is coming from to completely rebuild the automotive supply chain and its support infrastructure in order to accommodate electric vehicles?

We need to knock this nonsense on the head before the politicians get interested!

I have had my electric scooter for three months now and i could not be happier with it. There is no maintenance, no oil change, of course no fuel to be filled. All i need to do is plug it in when i get home and keep the tires optimally inflated. THAT'S IT!

Rediculous.

Rediculous!

6000 miles? That's $300 in gasoline in the US for a typical 70 mpg scooter that costs less than a grand to buy.

Any poor schmuck could log onto ebay, buy a scooter, drive it across town and back 600 times, all for less than a tenth of what Ugo most likely spent on this setup. I mean... come on. Where is the reality here?

Hey let's all go out and spend 5-10 grand on an electric scooter. And then spend 5-10 grand on solar panels, just so that we can say we saved ourselves 10 bucks a month in fuel! If Ugo had just driven a little $800 USD gas powered scooter, he'd have saved himself many thousands of dollars. AND he would have saved many thousands (millions?) of BTUs of fossil fuels that went into the production of both the scooter and the solar panels. (Do you know what is involved in making trichlorosilane gas for polysilicon solar PV??) The truth is you're not saving anything by driving an electric scooter. Not by a longshot. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not 5 years from now.

Ugo,

thanks for your report. You ask why so little people have followed. I can give you some reasons.

While scooters have always been very widespread in the mediteranean countries they have not been so in northern Europe. Yes, youngsters drive many of them here in Germany, but this cannot be compared to the southern countries. (In Athens/Greece they are the No. 1 cause of deaths among youngsters as I read some time.) But you will very rarely see older people on a scooter here. And if so, this is associated with low income, for those who cannot afford a decent car.

Youngsters in these days wouldn't buy an e-scooter for both reasons of higher costs (the E-max, produced here in Bavaria, is about 3,000 Euros, compared to some 800 or so for a gasoline scooter) and the lack of roaring (yes - many youngster need to express their personality that way, unfortunately.) Silent scooters are not cool.

I have been thinking of buying one of these e-scooters myself, but there are good reasons not to do so. I ride some 6,000 km a year on a bicycle (my way to work is 5km /3miles one direction). A scooter would be unfavorable when it comes to low temperatures in winter (you get cold), and lastly I would have to use the same streets as the cars. With my bike I can use quiet side roads or bike pathes all along the way that are not allowed to motorized traffic.

The electrified Fiat 500 is not going to be produced by the Fiat company as far as I remember, but the OsCar, which I'd like to add to your list, is at least intended to be produced on an industrial scale (well, some time ..)

cheers from Bavaria!

I had an amusing experience on my bicycle the other day chasing after a guy on an electric bicycle. I say "amusing" because I didn't realize he had an electric bicycle. From behind, all I could see was he was going really fast, and pedaling in the wrong gear, which made it very strange. We were going about 25 mi/hr, and I decided to pass him to see what the heck was going on. That's when I saw the Li battery and the big fat front hub which housed the motor. I was like, "aw shucks, that's why he's going so fast."

I use a bike cost about 2000 euros, maximum power about 400 watts, maximum range in a day, 300km( so far!). Annual mileage 16,000 km. Fuel consumption eg yesterday over 130km & 2300 metres of ascent, average speed 21.5kph:- 1 litre of water, 1 carton of Ribena, 1 Toffecrisp, I Geobar, 2 Turkish Delights & 6 Dextrose tablets. Rider 70 yrs old, weight 76 kg. Bike weight 8kg. Seriously though what is this obsession with motorised bikes, they are heavy, have limited range & when the batteries run flat you are stranded.

Actually, I think transport is the only justification for photovoltaic solar panels. The up front capital cost is simply too high for domestic power. It's only when the power from the panels is displacing the cost of fuel used in transport that they make any kind of economic sense.

The payback period drops from 20 years to 4 or so, assuming they are also powering the domestic electricity.

I can't comment on the economics, but I can applaud the intent. It is good to read of a determined approach to a problem that is not going away any time soon. Someone above alluded to the problem of moving the weekly 50kg of shopping on a bike - I'd have to question the need for that much stuff! Here (in the UK) you can usually get bulky stuff delivered (okay - I speak form a city viewpoint)- I get milk and such delivered this way - the rest I carry from the shop, or cycle with it in a back pack. My wife recently purchased a stunning 'new' piece of technology to help with the local shopping - a single axle 'trolley'- which will quite happily take on average 10- 20kg with no problems. Think of all those executive suitcases being dragged around airports and you get the picture. Photovoltaics are a non-starter this year after a grim and grey summer!

I want to play too...

Here is a two person short range vehicle. Top speed about 28mph
range about 30 miles. Battery replacement cost $125 after 1500-2000
miles. Cost: under $1000. It can also tow a trailer of course. No
licensing or insurance required. Miles to date: about 1,600

Dang! I can see I'll need to redo this photo featuring daughter instead of old guy dad :*)

Rather astounding growth in e-bike use in China. The chart at top of article says it all.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008/05/uc-davis-study.html

I have a scooter very like Ugo's. Main difference, LiPo batteries. I rode 15.000 km on Pb-gel batteries before the LiPo opportunity was technically feasible, and 1500 on LiPo. Extended mileage (almost 70 km), 15kg instead of 60, recharging time of 2 hours, and much better perfomance on steep streets (20 km/h with a 15% slope). Alas, 4 times the price, and hopefully also 6 times the duration (to be verified...). Some pictures of the new batteries are on my blog (in Italian, sorry). In Florence there is a good network of free recharging points, so I don't pay even the modest amount of electricity needed (less than 35 Wh/km).

The reliability is quite good. Never had problems in 6 years, apart for a hull damage in a fall, and normal maintenance: tires, some cc of gear oil for the gearbox, and a lamp. While my son (yes youngsters need the noise of a ICE motor) has changed two scooters in the meantime, and must periodically pay a visit to the repair shop.

I agree that a bike is better. And I use mine a lot, too. But having an alternative is handy.

I don't like electric bike, they are limited by law (here) to 22 km/h, so I go faster with a normal one. But I understand some people are not so athletic.

My electric bike (Tidalforce M-750) gets over 1,000 miles per
gallon in energy equivalent (actual measured value). Although
its speed is limited to 20 MPH (32 Km / hour), it gets me to
work as fast as a car since I can ride it door-to-door and park
it in my office.

It is possible to get a good-quality e-bike with Lithium
batteries for around $3,000. About $1,000 USD of solar panels
are enough to power it. The savings on gasoline and parking
pay for it in a few years.

I've been commuting (7 miles each way with steep hills) by e-bike
for several years, alternating with a regular road bike, and I
find it to be quite practical.

This short video appeared yesterday (Tuesday September 9)  on the BBC web site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7607406.stm

A Swiss schoolteacher has embarked on world tour in a taxi cab powered with the help of the sun to spread the word about green power.

Louis Palmer has driven 45,000 kilometres in the solar powered vehicle which has a maximum speed of 88 kilometres per hour.

Very interesting, a small 3 wheeler, with the PV solar panels towed behind on a very light weight trailer.

This sounds like a great little scooter, but ...

Why can't people get as excited about using their own energy and ride a bicycle? People seem to have the idea that a bicycle can take you to the corner shops for some milk and back but for anything longer than that we need electric or fossil-fuel based transport. You say that the scooter has a nominal range of 40Km - that means that if I used it for one of our cycling group's day trips, I'd be stranded as we often cover about 50Km! If I need extra power for the way home then a chocolate bar, a bag of chips or a cake usually does the trick...

It seems that the bicycle, the most wonderfully efficient (and perhaps enjoyable?) human transport solution ever invented is just too 'low tech' for people and we seem to permanently looking for a hi-tech solution. Also, as well as transport you'll stay fitter, get improved musculature and get an excuse to wear skin-tight lycra - what more reasons could you want!

Have a look at the URL to see how efficient a bicycle is, even compared to a fish!: http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/opinion/29934