Italy plans to pay riders to replace their old scooters with new ones
Filed under: Legislation and Policy, On Two Wheels, European Union
Italy is a bastion for cool old scooter finds, as classic manufacturers such as Piaggio, Vespa and Lambretta were born and bred there. These classic scooters include striking and beautiful design aesthetics as well as solid construction methods. Also in their favor are decades of sentimental value, which is hard to put a price on. Unfortunately, most of these scooters also have a dark side, and it has to do with emissions. While they are quite thrifty when it comes to fuel consumption, the vast majority of the older scooters on Italian roadways are powered by 2-stroke engines, which emit much more harmful pollutants than newer 4-stroke models. Also, when many of those scooters were manufactured, emissions laws did not yet exist, meaning there is nothing in between the combustion chamber and exhaust pipe than a straight tube ... catalytic what? To help alleviate some of these pollution generators, the Italian government has decided to offer a 300 Euro bonus to trade in your old scooter for a new model. The hope is that pollution levels will decrease as the older fleet of scooters currently on the road is replaced with a new, cleaner one. Scooter fans the world over collectively shed a tear.
[Source: Forbes via 2 Stroke Buzz]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-05-2008 @ 9:26PM
jon said...
yes! italians, please sell all your lambrettas. sell them to me.
Reply
3-05-2008 @ 10:10PM
tark said...
They don't have an aftermarket that installs newer motors? What a shame
Reply
3-05-2008 @ 10:32PM
dario said...
Jeremy
I have been trying to email you. Drop me a line when you get a chance.
Regards
Dario
Quantya USA
Reply
3-06-2008 @ 1:27AM
Karl-Uwe Strunzen said...
I just read about the SMERA on ABG
http://lumeneo.fr/welcome.html
and I can't help but think that Piaggio are not being daring enough. They should be ideally positioned to come out with something like this...
Not too long ago China adopted the latest euro standard for motorcycles, and Piaggio being the only producer basically on that market with that standard, this represented quite a boon to them....
Vespas are now available in hybrid (under the HyS name) electric-combustion models as well.....
but to me it seems they aren't going far enough
a much smaller motorcycle manufacturer in Italy makes some pretty interesting all-electric scooters
with regenerative braking at a decent price
http://www.oxygenworld.it/en/1/welcome-to-oxygenworld
while Piaggio don't......
They should be ideal for coming out with something like the Carver or Smera...They must be tired of making EVs for utility purposes only by now surely?.. This would be the right time to come out with an EV for the masses!!!!!
Reply
3-06-2008 @ 9:25AM
jon said...
@tark - there are aftermarket engines with better emissions that fit most vespas (60s-present). sadly, the only 4-stroke option was from bajaj, which i think is no longer made. lml makes a catalyzed 2-stroke (which is here in the US on the genuine-branded stella). nothing exists for older vespas, lambrettas, or anything more exotic.
Reply
3-06-2008 @ 2:14PM
Rick said...
This is the same policy that took many cool vehicles off of the roads back in the 90's. Italians were literally dragging any vehicle they could find to the recycling center to get their upgrade voucher. Many historically significant cars were destroyed. Many classic Alfas, Fiats, Lancias and others are now gone forever. The price of spare parts, such as body panels, practically shot up overnight.
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