While most aspects of the bike are pretty much the same as a petrol powered scooter there are some subtle differences. One is the driveline; there is no CVT, therefore when then the bike isn't being given power (basically in neutral) there is absolutely no drag, no belts, no gears or cogs. You have to change your riding style to make the most of this; otherwise you end up wasting power and use the brakes too much. As you crest a hill, you can release the throttle and is rolls along like a pedal powered bike, slowly getting faster… yes faster as it is effectively freewheeling and being powered by gravity… hows that for carbon neutral? Gravity powered scooter haha. Its very weird to be rolling down the street on a scooter that feels like it isn’t even running.

The other subtle difference is the balance of the electric scooter. Its much heavier in the rear than the front, due to the batteries, on the model tested there was a rear disk brake fitted but not a front one.

Overall the EVT would be a useful transport device for anyone, especially a lighter person who’s daily commute was relatively short… and preferably quite flat. If you live in an apartment in the city and work nearby this would be perfect. In fact in quite a few Asian cities the electric machines find favour because they can be ridden… or at least parked inside and there are no emissions of any sort. There are only two really annoying aspects to the machine, one is the lack of storage but this is at least partially solved by the top box. The other is the very irritating BEEP BEEP BEEP The entire time.

This infernal beeping is warning you that you are overloading the electric motors, it happens frequently when at “full noise” or on hills and is a warning to reduce power, if you don’t pay attention to this warning you can overheat and damage the electric motor. Essentially you can’t give full throttle on hills etc… there is sound reasoning for this and wringing the throttle doesn’t actually make the bike go faster in these circumstances but it is a strange process and feels wrong after riding regular machines where more wrist = more speed. There is also that little advantage whereby it is virtually free to run… oh and if you are the sneaky type you can have a lot of fun with the silent running… just watch out for pedestrians they don’t hear you coming and tend to step out into the street as you are about to hit them.

Price	NZ $3,495 USA $2,899, UK £1,850
0-50km/h	16.4 Seconds
0-100km/h	---
Top Speed	50kph (30MPH)
Lap Time	---
Fuel Economy	40km per charge
Speedo Accuracy	50kph displayed = 48kph actual
Pros:	Cost;Under 1c per km to run, Quiet, Green
Cons:	Slow, Quiet, Limited Storage
Handling
Performance
Range
Value for money
Ease of use
Styling
Build quality
Overall Score	67%

Comments (1)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

...
written by viking , November 23, 2009

Hi, good write up, but you have a few bad facts "Engine Type 48 volt brushless electric hub motor" Sorry, it is a brush motor, and you need to clean the carbon out about every 2500km's.
"The other is the very irritating BEEP BEEP BEEP The entire time" This can be by past by using the power buttom on hills and overtaking, and range on 1 fully charge battery on flat ground without the power buttom is over 50km's with 100kg rider.
The only thing I have done to my 3.5year old one is replace the front forks with with a disk brake. I have 2 new sets of LiFePO4, 48v x 20 amp batteries waiting to replace the lead ones when they die.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +4