Piaggio E Vans

Piaggio, the scooter maker best known for making Vespa, will be the first to sell electric vehicles in Isreal, in just one month. According to Ha'aretz, the electric vehicles will be Piaggio's Porter brand, small multipurpose vans (MPV) which come in five types, including models with payload tippers. The vans have 12 or 14 horsepower engines, a top speed of 36 MPH and 155-mile range on a full charge, which takes about two hours from a normal home outlet. The van will cost 120,000 Israeli Shekels ($33,018 US dollars).Why is Paggio doing this now? Israel recently instated a "green tax" on cars hoping to develop their electric car market. A Paggio company spokesman says they have won approval "in principle" for the tax breaks on the purchase price of cars. Project Better Place and Renault were the first companies to come out in support of Israel's push for electric cars but it's open to any green car maker. I fully expect many more automakers to sign up just like they did with Thailand's government program.

Leonardo DiCaprio's newest ride? Vectrix, a very cool electric scooter

Leonardo DiCaprio bought a Vectrix plug-in electric scooter. Ecorazzi loves them up some Leo, writing about when he graced the cover of Vanity Fair's green issue and later produced the very green documentary the 11th Hour (see trailer below the fold). Leo on a Vectrix is really not that surprising if you remember that Ecorazzi caught Leo on a scooter before.Along with being very green, the design of the Vectrix is almost bike like. From certain angles, you could mistake it for a bullet bike. Hey Leo, when it's released, we recommend also picking up an Enertia, the electric bike that AutoblogGreen took Enertia for a test drive and we really liked it. You should also check out the Tesla Roadster. They are starting to hit the roads and Matt Damon is getting one.

Columbia Electric Car Circa 1903

The Electric Runabout, made by Columbia, was the first electric car ridden in by a U.S. President. That historical event happened over 105 years ago, in case you were wondering. The 1903 Columbia Electric Runabout had a 40-mile range and, like most electric cars of the era, was very popular with female drivers. While that 40-mile range sound wicked good compared to today's electric cars (and concept cars), the Runabout was really more like a Walkabout since its top speed was a solid 14 miles per hour - downhill. The car was powered by a 40-volt, 30 amp motor from General Electric and cost $850 back at the beginning of the last century. While Columbia went out of business in 1911, you can see the Runabout this coming week as part of the historical display corner of the Chicago Auto Show (this is the 100th show, after all) hidden way in the back of the show floor. %

Yamaha's $2000 Electric Bike

If you like the Enertia but not the price tag, consider Yamaha's Electric Commuter EC-02. It's just $2,000. It looks a lot like the Enertia electric bike, just smaller and much slower. The Enertia's top speed is 50 MPH while the EC-02 can only go 18 MPH. Enertia says their "bikes are not associated with Yamaha. The Enertia design is a clean sheet (not a conversion or extension of a previous design) and was built from conception to be the first street legal production electric motorcycle." EC-02 is 30 percent recyclable and it can fold away easily. There is a special Ipod edition of the EC-02. That version lets you drop your Ipod in a special dock. You can also swap out the battery in the EC-02. It's pretty tiny and slow but I guess it shows the Enertia is worth the cost. If you ever said, make a cheaper Enertia, well, here is something like what you would get. Go below the fold to see the EC-02 in the wild.[

Brammo Enertia Superb E Motorcycle

wonder when I will have driven or ridden in an electric vehicle enough times that the (comparative) silence of the ride doesn't immediately make me go, "hey, it's quiet out." It's not like I expect my bicycle to sound like I've got an engine strapped to the frame, so it's not that I always equate an engine sound with moving, I just equate that sound with moving fast. When ICEs become less and less common in the coming decades, this is going to be one of those cultural shifts that it will be fun to watch happen. The sound won't truly leave popular culture any time soon - I mean, just look at the sound of a needle coming off of a vinyl record, and how many people even have a record player any more? - but it's coming. I can tell you right now that it didn't happen to me at EVS23: I was totally amazed by my nearly silent zips around the hotel parking lot.

There's obviously only so much you can do in a parking lot, especially when you're worried about wiping out in a unique and expensive vehicle (there are only four of these bikes currently in existence, and the two that Brammo brought to EVS23 have design and technical differences. Check out these pics - 1, 2 - for examples. One obvious difference is that the chain is on opposite sides). Still, I found the longest stretch of straitaway and pushed it up to 25 mph before running out of room. Not that fast, and only about half of the bike's top speed, but enough to tell that when you need to punch it, the Enertia will not disappoint you. There's no question that the Enertia feels good on the road.

Schwinn's New E Bike

Now, for the greenest drivetrain of all, a human-electric hybrid. Not the first, mind you, but one of three new ones from Schwinn. The Campus, World GSE and Continental models are all electric-assisted bicycles, ranging between a modest (hah!) $1,499-$1,999. They come with 21- and 24-speed transmissions for your legs, and a 24V 400W electric hub motor in the front wheel, controlled by a throttle on the handlebar, which itself can propel the bike up to 18 mph. Range from the easily removable lithium-ion battery on the rear rack is rated at about 60 miles per charge, depending on wind, terrain and load, and takes 4 hours to recharge - something one could easily do at the office, if needed.

It's said that the electric motor feels as though someone is giving you a push - disorienting at first, but once one is used to it, feels less like exercise and more like sight-seeing. The 'hybrid drivetrain' - minus you - weighs only 10 pounds, and the bike itself is engineered to be extremely light-weight. Definitely more of a cruiser and less of a performance tourer, the Campus model (as tested by the Chicago Sun-Times) could easily eliminate the need to burn anything but calories on a large percentage of your errands or work commutes in cooperative weather. Given that range, and you doing half the work pedaling, I'd estimate you would get at least 140 miles per latte.

Now the Ferrari SEGWAY

Ferrari's personal transport device is fire-engine-red, has a genuine leather handlebar, is adorned with the Cavillino Rampante shield.