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| Home > Misc > Random Thoughts > The Electric Vehicle Has Arrived...And It's a Scooter! |
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Below is the random thought titled "The Electric Vehicle Has Arrived...And It's a Scooter!". Be aware that these thoughts may be based on opinion, and my opinion might not agree with yours. Also, the thought below may be based on mood, time of day, or any number of other factors. Please keep this in mind.
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of electric vehicles (EVs). EV technology is simple, efficient, clean and quiet. Electric motors have vastly superior torque curves to gas engines, and unlike a gas car, not everything that comes out of an EV is horrid and toxic.
Because of this, I've been following EVs and related developments for years. It has always been said that all EVs need is consumer acceptance to get into the mainstream. People need to stop thinking like the auto companies would like them to think, and instead open their minds a little. It takes quite a lot of money to brainwash the public, and the auto manufacturers are unwilling to invest that money into promoting a new technology that will basically turn their business upside down.
It seems, though, that in another way this has already happened.
I'm sure that by now you've seen kids, teens and even many adults zipping around on those little electric scooters. They seem to be wildly popular, and more common every day. I personally use mine all the time for short trips and general fun. In fact, I was at our local fall fair last weekend and counted 8 booths which offered e-scooters as prizes, and another 5 offering them for sale (for reasonable prices, I might add). A number of people were already riding them around the lot.
About this, I am very happy. These scooters are serving a very important purpose. They're showing people that electric vehicles CAN and DO work in their everyday lives. And even better, they're introducing the youth to the idea of EVs early on, before they can be brainwashed by gasoline. Like "full sized" EVs, these e-scooters require virtually no maintenance. Plug it in when you're finished and it's ready to go with a full charge next time you need it. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I'm hoping that these little scooters will set off sparks in impressionable young minds, saying that "Yes! Electric is good!". We could end up with an entire generation that is already completely used to the idea of electric transportation, and are comfortable with both the benefits and limitations.
I can almost picture in my head a pack of children gliding silently down the street, talking and laughing with each other since their voices are not overshadowed by the buzz of 2-stroke engines. They pass by a driveway, and sitting in the driveway is another child with his gas scooter that is obviously not working. He can't join in the fun, because his engine won't start. And how he's covered in grease, oil, gas, which have ruined his clothes and angered his mother. And continuing down the street, the children riding electrics turn into a park. A butterfly drifts by. They get to the swings, dump the scooters in the grass and begin to play as the sun sets...
Excellant.
| I've upgraded a volt electric scooter using an HXT brushless RC motor, and a bus driver recently confirmed that it goes 25 mph on flat land and that's at my "meager" 24 volts. With a higher voltage battery, it could go much faster but honestly, that'd be kind of dangerous. It was designed to be used in conjunction with the bus system so the bus provides the "long distance" range and my scooter provides the point to point purpose. It's really nice not having to walk a mile to the bus stop from my home. :) The current range of my battery is around 16 miles, which is plenty. I find I use only maybe 6 miles in practice when used with the bus system. I'm too chicken to mingle with the cars for long distances. Also, another nice thing is, my electric scooter only weighs 22 pounds! You can actually lift it by the handle bars with your foot on board! The lightest comparably powerful gas scooters are at least 40 pounds and are typically north of 50. Lead-equivalents are usually somewhere north of 60 lbs. (I'm using lithium which is really light compared to the previously standard lead batteries.) | ||
| I would like information on Scooters with a cab or top. jerry | ||
| The idea of an electric is interesting, but the battery limitations are a problem. I have a 2007 Honda Elite 80, and it is trouble-free and gets between 105 and 116 mpg. With a 1.3 gallon tank, I can travel 150 miles between fuelings. The electrics I've researched can only go about 25 miles on a charge. Until the battery technology catches up, it may not be a viable choice for some of us. | ||
| the scooter the first ever scooter on the roads was the electric mobility scooter witch I am the pawed owner of one ok its only made to do 8mph witch is a bit of a shame unless one was to tweak it, Now there are electric bikes out there that only do 15mph but the advantage to only 15mph is exemption from registration, insurance, MOT and wearing a motorcycle crash helmet like so many electric scooters out there to date in the UK its only when you go over 15mph that you have to registrar, insurance, tax & MOT it, An exception to class 3 mobility scooters witch has to registrar with the DVLA & show a tax disc in the UK but ever way I’m all for the power of electric | ||
| Hi ! Just wanted to say that I really love getting around on the electric scooter I purchased last year, No major problems as of yet, but could anyone tell why when I apply my brakes it vibrates (jolting back and forth) and sqeeks the harder I apply my brakes, I would like some advice on how I can fix this on my own, I realize this might have something to do with the brake, the place I bought it from in Courtenay told me there is dirt in the line....(.never heard that before! )Thanx's everyone! | ||
| I ve been driving a kaishan eletric all summer in hilly b.c. and it goes! anywhere! I love it! saved a whole tank of gas aug/sept hardly used car and never noticed gas drop from $1.20/l back to .90/l till end of sept when i finally had to fill car! waaayyy too cooool! | ||
| the gas scooter won't start | ||
| I've been driving an electric assist bicycle/moped this summer, and it certainly does NOT suck. Mine looks like it wanted to be a motorcycle, but they put pedals onto it so that it would meet standards. In fact, it is very much like the scooter/wheel chairs that big box stores loan to the morbidly obese so they can still shop lots. Thus, the technology for these is out there, and the fact that most of the bike ones, like mine, are pretty cheaply made and fall apart rather fast, is likely to change if the demand for them is great enough. Ford came out with a "Th!nk" ebike in 2000, but it seems they overthought it, and it was plagued by recalls (Wikipedia). My ebike goes 25 km/hr, easily fast enough to get me to work and back as quick as taking the car or public transit, but it's fun! Because it's silent, it's like it's friendly, and everywhere I ride it I get asked about it. I'm not sure it's road legal in Toronto, but I've used it all summer and no one has said a single negative word, including the police that rode alongside me and asked how much I paid for it. I recharge it overnight every few days, triple lock it when I park it, and though, as I say, it's kind of falling apart, I love riding it still. The simple turn-the-throttle-and-away-you-go just isn't wearing out for me, I still get happy everytime I use it. | ||
| it's like the coolest thing ever like fast and lik feruos tadally!!!!
(Editor's note: Huh?) |
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| i'm 14 from Canada and i have a job, recently with all my money i've bought a welder grinder etc. i was just wondering where i could buy an electric motor? | ||
| I have invention of electrical system install in electric-car its load 1 ton and we try to make the load greater.the invention supplies the electric-car with its need of electricity permanently day and night during parking and driving .by using this system ,could produced friendly environment electrical-cars [with the same specifications of the using cars now]free from exhaust gas and not need oil or fuel there is no need to stop car for battery recharging[recharge battery automatical].this system can be used in the production of electric generators with different power .we ready to agreement with you ,and to execute invention at your laboratories or in my laboratories. because I have not enough money.The invention depend on electro-magnetic capacity addition moment of inertia [two parts{ mechanical part} ,{electrical part}]
the invention consist of new electric - charger[my design ] and two groups of batteries.
batteries.group / A / batteries. group / B /
how it work ( general view ) ?
when / A /battery group supply the electric engine of car by the electric .
in the same time the / B / in charging . when / A / be empty , the / B / will be supplying the electric engine of car by the electric , and / A / in charging.
the employ material[iron,copper,plastic].
designer
ENG.Amir kara fallah-syria
(Editor's note: Yeah, right...On this site, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!) |
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| yeah i agree electric is way better than a 2 stroke or 4 stroke scooter,normally me and my friend ride around the park togther,the acceleration and torque is amazing!he just turns on his scooter and rides off where as i have to get a sore arm pull starting my minibike,im definately going for electric on my next minibike | ||
| I think ur electric skooter is great.i want to build 1 but i also procrastinate. I think the only flaw on this is that if the batteries stop holding their charge u throw them out and thats almost as bad as gasoline.
(Editor's note: Actually, batteries are extremely recyclable. Anyone throwing out batteries is irresponsible. All battery stores take dead batteries for recycling.) |
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| I think these electric scooters are really awesome.. Here in Europe you don't see them on the road though. Too bad.. It is a really good solution for trafic in cities and offcourse for children. I want to build one myself... One time. I aslready have got a lot of parts. The biggest problem is time.. A lot of people think electric vehicles aren't very good, and they could be convinced of the excellent features of electric drive by these scooters.. | ||
| your scooters suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
(Editor's note: Excellant comment. Lets examine it. First, notice the lack of any punctuation past the typical 11 year old AOL user's exclamation points. The two 1's at the end add to the effect. Second, you will see the lack of the capital "Y" on "your". At least "scooters" and "suck" are spelled correctly. Third, and probably the most funny/ironic thing about this comment is that the user came from a Google search for "how to repair E scooters". So it seems that he has a broken scooter, leading me to believe that it's actually his scooter that sucks, not mine as his comment so eloquenty tried to communicate.) |
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| Electric scooters do look fun, I haven't yet got around to building mine, being an A+ procrastinator and all, but I might just skip that step and electrify a car instead, then mock the oil companies with my efficent, clean, and powerfull EV, becasue thats what their for afer all right? *grin* It does appear that this is one of the small baby steps that need to be taken to ween the public off gasoline and turn them on (pun not intended) to electricty. | ||
| My brother has a friend who has one of these, and while it seems a good idea, they don't appear to be very well built, the tube which forms the frame of the front bit, joining onto the motor housing and supporting the front wheel and steering started cracking, when it was welded back together, it cracked further up, just past the weld, it has now got added supports welded on, only time will tell if it will last
(Editor's note: Like anything else, there are many cheap, poor quality scooters out there. Remember that you get what you pay for. Though those cheap scooters are a great platform to build on, if you are willing to fix the initial problems.) |
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