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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]

CNET TV has a video report from the Geneva Motor Show on the CNG Porsche boxer clone we told you about recently. Below the fold is a promotional video specifically for the compressed natural gas roadster. You won't find any updates to the news we know about this vehicle - except, perhaps, that it made it safely to the show, but now you can watch the car in motion and feel a little bit like you've ridden in it yourself. Also, if you can read German, you'll notice that the "producers" of the video are No Particulates Less CO₂. Nice, huh?

[Source: CNET TV, YouTube]