What better way to launch a new transportation product than to take it on a long trip with some sweet scenic vistas. In the case of the Zuumer (rhymes with boomer) from ZuumCraft, the journey being undertaken is a week long and covers a distance of 600 miles from San Francisco to San Diego along the beautiful California coast. The three-wheel electric ultralight scooter is powered by a removable lithium ion battery and employees a double-forked steering column with a low center of gravity that not only keeps it stable in the turns but also highly maneuverable. The rear axles seem to have some funky tilting action going on that contributes to its ability to carve your way along like a skateboard. Of course its also perfectly fine for going in a straight line and can do so for around 25 miles on a charge.

While the trip, along with your chance to try it out, ends this Friday, the company has lots of videos of the Zuumer in action. The first batch of 150 units arrives in January and the company is accepting deposits now. Total price tag is in the neighborhood of $2,000 which is a lot less than its Segway competition and won't make you look like a total dork (sorry Segwayers). Hit the jump for a couple videos of some Zuumer carving-it-up action.

[Source: CleanTech / ZuumCraft]

Click above to enlarge

We recently got on the phone with Dan Squiller from PowerGenix, a company which hopes to "revolutionize the battery industry" with its new nickel-zinc batteries. The firm's batteries will soon make an appearance in power tools and in lawn and garden machinery, with ebikes, scooters and consumer AA-sized units shipping shortly thereafter. Of course, the company also sees huge room for expansion in hybrid cars and has plans to sell its technology to a major manufacturing company in the near-term future.

What makes the company think its product is so good? Read on past the break for the story.

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Troy University, in Troy, Alabama, be on the lookout for a marauding gang of large guys rampaging about the campus on small electric scooters. Ok, maybe that could be construed as being somewhat overstated. But, if you replace "marauding gang" with "members of the football team" and "rampaging" with "ecologically transporting themselves" then the report is completely accurate.

The scooter riding began at the end of last semester when football player Nathan Nolin decided to invest in the green transportation device instead of driving his truck (which was costing him $85 a fill-up). It's worked out so well, he hasn't bought gas since. His football compatriots realized a good thing when they saw one and got their own scooters as well swelling the number of this "biker" gang to about 20. Not only have they all enjoyed a summer wizzing around having fun and saving gas, they've also cut down on all the hassles that go along with trying to find parking on campus. With school getting back underway the players have been busy fielding all kinds of questions from "regular" students as to where they got their two-wheelers and so expect their little fad to begin extending among the rest of the student population. Way to go, Trojans!

[Source: Montgomery Advertiser]

Somewhere between a normal pedal-powered bicycle and an electric scooter lies a class of vehicle which keeps the ability to pedal and adds some assisted power via a small battery pack. This new generation of vehicle is just as useful as the good old moped, except that the electric motor is free of pollution, which is something that most certainly cannot be said of the older two-stroke 'peds and even the newest four-strokers.

Ultra Motor has a new machine on the market known as the A2B which fits nicely into this category. Using a small electric motor integrated into the hub, the machine retains the look and feel of a normal bicycle. Constructed of aluminum, the full-suspension electric vehicle features a small lithium ion battery and is capable of traveling up to twenty miles on electricity alone. A second battery can be added, doubling the range. Of course, pedaling increases the miles between charges to as far as your legs can take you.

[Source: Ultra Motor via Hell For Leather]

Click above for two shots of the stunting Vectrix

Being big fans of electric vehicles in general, the Vectrix scooter is high on our lists of cool transportation options. Sure, the two-wheeled form factor won't work for everybody, but for those who can make the switch, the Vectrix scooter probably has the lowest cost of entry of any highway-capable zero emission vehicle available. A certain auto executive by the name of Bob Lutz has found the Vectrix to be a cool little machine for getting around town with it , though we doubt he'll be doing too much stunting with his. We're not going to suggest that the Vectrix, with its top speed up around sixty miles per hour, isn't capable of catching some air. Still, something tells us that the pictures you see here were created with a bit of Photoshop trickery. If we happen to be wrong about the photos, somebody has some guts, as the all electric scooter isn't really all that cheap.


[Source: The Biker Gene]

Yeah, we know you're cool (you're reading AutoblogGreen after all). But are you cool enough to hang with the likes of a certain Ed Begley Jr.? If you can get yourself to Chatsworth, California, Ed, hold the Mister, will available to sign copies of his new book, Living Like Ed, as well as answer any questions you might have about living green and the environment or about being a television superstar.

You might be asking yourself, "Why is someone of Ed's stature going to expose himself to the dangers of contact with mere mortals?" We're glad you asked. To help you prepare for California's "Bike to Work Week" (May 12-14 16), Currie Technologies is having a huge factory outlet sale the entire weekend of May 2-4 and the actor will be there on the Friday to help them kick things off. Ed says, "Next to walking, cycling has always been my preferred transportation choice....I began working with Currie Technologies and iZip™ because I really think their hybrid technology gets it right." If you go, you'll be able to pick up one of their cool iZip™ hybrid bikes for your commute or an electric scooter at prices up to 70 percent off. That's a deal worth showing up for even without the celebrity.

[Source: Ecorazzi]

Click on the image to enlarge

Back at the 2007 EICMA show in Milan, Taiwanese scooter company Motive Power Industry Co. Ltd. (PGO) was showing off a new electric scooter. The design of the machine apes a model that they already sell, but the innards are actually pretty intriguing. The scooter uses both lithium ion and lead acid batteries. The lead acids provide the necessary power to move the machine while the lithium ions act as additional storage. When a large lithium ion battery pack is assembled, small cells are placed in both parallel and serial configurations in order to hold enough juice for extended running while also being powerful enough to provide quick bursts of acceleration. In this case, the lead acids could provide the necessary output while the lithium ions could just keep the system "topped-off."

Take a close look at the picture above. Note that the front wheel is powered by an electric motor. We can't confirm this for sure, but this appears to be a two-wheel drive electric scooter, which would be really awesome! There is a small chance that a version of this scooter could make it to U.S. shores, as Genuine Scooters in Chicago currently imports certain models from PGO, including the one that this scooter is based on. In the states, it's called the Buddy.

[Source: Taiwan Economic News via 2 Stroke Buzz]

Click on the image for more high-res shots

Powered by lithium ion batteries and motivated by dual rear in-hub electric motors, the University of Padova has created the e-Snake electric tilting three-wheeler. The vehicle was entered into the Formula Electric and Hybrid Italy 2007 student competition, where it won awards for acceleration and speed, reaching 31 miles per hour. The e-Snake is capable of traveling 62 miles per charge (that's 100 kilometers for you metric types). Despite looking rather small, the machine reportedly weighs a not-insignificant 357 pounds, about as much as a beginner-friendly motorcycle.

Watch some of the videos here see the e-Snake in action, emitting green grass as it slithers down the road. This vehicle is pretty cool, and if you are in the market for an electric leaning three-wheeler, keep waiting just a little while longer as Vectrix is expected to introduce theirs shortly.


[Source: The Scooter Scoop]

According to a news item posted on the Vectrix website, California will be offering a $1,500 rebate for purchasers of the electric Vectrix scooter. Early adopters will not be punished either, as the rebate is retroactive to purchases of these $11,000 EVs made as far back as May 2007.

In other news, and as a follow-up to our recent article regarding police in the U.K. riding on Vectrix scooters to patrol parking lots, we decided to let you know that the city of Sacramento, CA, has also chosen to use the all electric maxi-scooter for certain enforcement duties. We imagine that the choice was made easier by the fact that the scooters were practically given to them, cosing only $1 each for four months, but whatever. The City of Sacramento is the first to take advantage of the offer from Vectrix but, at that price, they may not be the last.

[Source: Vectrix]

Despite the fact that Vectrix has posted extremely disapointing sales numbers so far, there are certain uses for the electric scooter which just make too much sense to ignore. Ask the NYPD, for one. Or take, for instance, as a parking lot enforcement vehicle. The police in Strathclyde, U.K, have found that the Vectrix suits them perfectly as a runabout to enforce parking measures and control traffic at the Glasgow Airport. They like the fact that the machine can be recharged in an hour using a 13 amp plug, along with being able to reach 62 miles per hour, more than fast enough for this scenario. "We have two other motor scooters just now which are both petrol driven but they are coming to end of their life. We felt that to go for the green option would be the proper thing to do," says Inspector Colin Pearson, chief of Glasgow Airport Police Unit. Right on.

[Source: The Press Association via 2 Stroke Buzz]

Cycle World already wrote a little online piece about the Vectrix scooter, which we showed you here. I checked their site today and was rewarded with another short article about the machine, this time from David Edwards on their staff blog page. According to the article, Edwards will be writing something up for an upcoming print edition of the magazine, which is great. Unfortunately, he regurgitated most of the same points that are mentioned over and over whenever electric vehicles are written about, namely the fact that carbon emissions are still produced when the machine is built and that the batteries still need to be charged using a powerplant. These issues have been covered a few times already, as you're probably aware. Those points should continue to be made, of course, but it would be nice to see an article which mentions those issues and their solutions... but, oh well.

[Source: Cycle World]

Considering that the topic of electric two-wheeled transportation often comes up in conversation on our site, we thought you might like to know about this recall of Razor E300 electric scooters. It seems that there may be faulty welds on the handlebars causing them to snap off. That, as they say, would be bad. Apparently there have been instances of this happening in the wild, and injuries sound like a distinct possibility.

Maybe one of those handlebar-less Segway's aren't such a bad idea after all? Or if that is just too pricey, how about one of these electric skateboards? On second thought... maybe those aren't a whole lot safer after all!

[Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via Engadget]

There could be some competition for the Vectrix electric maxi-scooter coming from imaginatively-named Electric Vehicle Company. Their scooter, known as the Volta GT, is expected to make its debut at the Alternative Car Expo on October 19th. The scooter will have a switch that will allow riders to select either a performance mode (allowing speeds of up to 70 mph) or a economy mode (allowing travel up to 70 miles). No details are given regarding battery type or price, but I have sent a request for more information.

From the pictures, we can see what looks like a typical maxi-scooter sporting features like disk brakes, a center-stand and a rear-rack for storage. According to this article, the scooter is expected to be available in the first quarter of '08. We'll see what (or, if) we hear back from the company to better understand how this scooter compares with the Vectrix.

[Source: EVC, LLC and BCBR, thanks Domenick!]

We are getting mixed messages regarding Segways today. Yesterday, Engadget reported on the largest club dedicated to the not-quite-a-scooter, stand-up, two-wheeled, self-balancing machine. However, Segway themselves are reporting that sales are up. None of those things might matter to the man behind this blog, who truly seems to love his Segway. It seems that he has found ample use for the device, using it to commute, pick up groceries and more... to the tune of 300 miles. With that milestone passed, the author decided to share his thoughts on the device. It is the first item he discusses, "Efficiency and Cost", that caught my eye. For those of you who currently walk, ride a bike or take the bus, his commentary might prove useful to you.

I won't steal all of his thunder, but the part that I thought was most interesting was his calculation that his Segway is "literally paying for itself". Of course, it might not for everybody, but it might for some. However, let me remind all of our readers that they could quite likely do the same job with a much less expensive electric bike. You could even pull a trailer with the bike, and never run out of juice when you consider the fact that pedaling is still an option.

[Source: Before I Sleep]

One post with two Vectrix updates! You are lucky readers today, aren't you! We have been doing our best to keep you up to date with Vectrix news, and today we share with you a few details regarding their impending fuel cell scooter. As far as the motor and battery go, all seems to be roughly the same. That means that the scooter has fine acceleration all the way up to its 62 mile per hour top speed. But the range has been extended by the on-board fuel cell to 155 miles. I would imagine that if the battery pack were the same, you might never need the extra capacity of the fuel cell, as you can charge the machine using a standard home outlet.

I would personally say that if hydrogen fuel cells have any hope of hitting the consumer's garages any time soon that it would be as a range-extender. Plug-in electric vehicles are most certainly the most viable option at this time. As consumers are still tied to the idea of refilling their tanks for a seemingly endless range, hydrogen fuel cells might help motivate them to go electric.

Also, The Scooter Scoop has a post up which details Vectrix's roll-out plans including where you can check one out for yourself. If you have any interest in this machine, it's worth a click.

[Source: Jalopnik and The Scooter Scoop]