craggy_steve Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Would you consider buying one of these if I (e-Go) brought them to IoM ? Econogo Yogo Scooter I'm thinking about it, but there's no point if people wouldn't want them! Ta, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Would you consider buying one of these if I (e-Go) brought them to IoM ? Econogo Yogo Scooter I'm thinking about it, but there's no point if people wouldn't want them! Ta, Steve Still a bit pricey for me, but getting close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebees Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 They look great but theres no room for the kids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbms Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Answered no because I have no license to ride a motorbike/scooter etc and don not intend to get one at my age, but the basic idea is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 Answered no because I have no license to ride a motorbike/scooter etc and don not intend to get one at my age, but the basic idea is good. You can ride em on a provisional, you just wap L plates on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarbunny Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 I could be tempted, just a few questions really What is the insurance like and what sort of license would you need to use one on the islands roads(Slim answered this already) What sort of life do the batteries give, how many cycles rather than miles, and what is the cost of disposing of and replacing them? What warranty is offered? and how much is serving/parts and who would do it? Would you offer discounts for multiple purchases? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craggy_steve Posted April 8, 2010 Author Share Posted April 8, 2010 I could be tempted, just a few questions really What is the insurance like and what sort of license would you need to use one on the islands roads(Slim answered this already) What sort of life do the batteries give, how many cycles rather than miles, and what is the cost of disposing of and replacing them? What warranty is offered? and how much is serving/parts and who would do it? Would you offer discounts for multiple purchases? Insurance, haven't a clue. Probably similar to an ordinary scooter. Battery Cycles - don't know, not specified yet. I would guess c. 1,000, which is typical for Lithium-Ion, although the ones in my car have a life of 3,000 cycles. I understand the warranty is one year. I would engage a local dealer / technician to do any necessary work. There are a few people on the island who know how to work on 'leccy bikes Servicing should be minimal - brakes & lubrication. Again, no costs yet. I don't know what sort of discount I'd be getting myself, so no idea if I could pass any of it on. Sorry to be so vague, but I'm just gauging reaction. A few people have asked me about selling 'leccy scooters / bikes in the past, but I haven't really liked the look of most until this one, either very expensive or nasty Chinese thingys, so I've had a chat with these guys and they sound keen. If enough people seem keen to buy them then I'll pursue it further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 You'll never poll anything with an electric scooter...so I'll be sticking with me Sinclair C5. My youngest son said he might be interested in one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wideload Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 You can ride em on a provisional, you just wap L plates on. Not till you've passed the Compulsory Basic Training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manshimajin Posted April 8, 2010 Share Posted April 8, 2010 In Tokyo 13 years ago I had a Yamaha electric bicycle - brilliant. Most of the time it was an ordinary pedal bike. When you came to a slope you just switched on the 'power assist'. You still had to pedal but the battery motor provided extra power. It meant that you had a really good range on a battery and you still had the exercise of normal pedalling. Do modern electric bikes have a similar system or do they work without pedalling - which IMO is not much fun? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craggy_steve Posted April 9, 2010 Author Share Posted April 9, 2010 In Tokyo 13 years ago I had a Yamaha electric bicycle - brilliant. Most of the time it was an ordinary pedal bike. When you came to a slope you just switched on the 'power assist'. You still had to pedal but the battery motor provided extra power. It meant that you had a really good range on a battery and you still had the exercise of normal pedalling. Do modern electric bikes have a similar system or do they work without pedalling - which IMO is not much fun? Yep most electric pushbikes still work that way. Company up in Ramsey sells some I think. The best ones are not cheap. £2K+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 Do modern electric bikes have a similar system or do they work without pedalling - which IMO is not much fun? That's more electric bikes than electric scooters. They're pretty popular now, the motors and batteries have gotten so small that you often can't tell an electric assist bike from a normal one. There's some nice new 'maintenance free' bikes about too, eg: I far prefer this kind of thing to electric scooters, cheaper and you don't need a license or insurance. If they were a touch cheaper, like under £500, I think they'd make superb car replacement transport for older kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambon Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 I far prefer this kind of thing to electric scooters, Just out of curiosity, What do you think about Honda's take on hybrids? In case you are not aware of it, rather than follow Toyota's lead with electric power only at low speeds, Honda have opted to use an electric motor as supplemental power. In other words, the petrol motor is running all the time. The electric motor kicks in when additional power is needed, for example starting off/ accelerating/overtaking. Hondas hybrid cars do not as yet have the fuel economy of the Toyotas, but they do not require anything like the amount of batterys or charging. This makes them a whole lot cheaper to produce, and therefore buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted April 9, 2010 Share Posted April 9, 2010 Just out of curiosity, What do you think about Honda's take on hybrids? In case you are not aware of it, rather than follow Toyota's lead with electric power only at low speeds, Honda have opted to use an electric motor as supplemental power. In other words, the petrol motor is running all the time. The electric motor kicks in when additional power is needed, for example starting off/ accelerating/overtaking. Hondas hybrid cars do not as yet have the fuel economy of the Toyotas, but they do not require anything like the amount of batterys or charging. This makes them a whole lot cheaper to produce, and therefore buy. Funny you should ask, I was actually out in a Prius today for the first time. Was impressed with it, but think it's perhaps still a bit of a fussy bridging technology that's not really ready for the mainstream. Honda's take on it I think fits that bridging function better, as it's more petrol car with a bit of electric than a 50/50 like the prius. The Prius seems to me to be too big and petrol car like to make proper use of the batteries, and the resulting size of the battery makes it eye wateringly expensive. Hondas 'bit of electric' therefore helps economy without breaking the bank on the emerging battery market, but still drives the technology. I like it, but I still think we need a proper revolution in personal transport rather than trying to recreate our petrol cars powered with renewables. Modern car design is a result of oil abundance and price, that's becoming a thing of the past, so I think the design has to change more radically than these hybrids today. I like some other little advances that could make a big difference, like non-hybrids that turn off the engine when they're stationary for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craggy_steve Posted April 9, 2010 Author Share Posted April 9, 2010 I'm not a great fan of the current hybrids. All they really do is move pollution out of congested city centres into the suburbs (battery at low speed, recharged by burning petrol at higher speed etc.). The plug-in hybrids that are coming will be a much better bet - all electric with petrol generators to extend range. I think they are the near future for "family" cars. Ultimately achieved fuel economy of the current hybrids seems no better than conventional cars. Bluemotion & similar systems that turn off instead of idling are nice, but again only addressing urban congestion pollution, so not really making a big change. On of my staff had a Prius as his company car, so we got to see long term results on it for his regular commute from York to Halifax. It's a fine car, but no way is it an eco-revolution. Current Lithium-ion battery technology has a finite energy density, call it 1 for the sake of argument. Under development are LISICON and Lithium-Air battery technologies - expect to see them in production in a 5+ year timeframe. These, respectively, have c. 3 & 5 times the energy densities of Li-ion batteries, so a car which today would have a range of 75 miles on Lithium-Ion could theoretically aspire to a range of 375 miles on Lithium-Air, making the all-electric all-purpose long-range electric family car a realistic proposition. What we see at the moment are just stepping stones on the technology evolution curve to where we want to be, the only real question is when to get on board, as with the evolution of personal computers, the early models have to be seen as investments that will be superceded in a relatively short timescale. Of course for a shopping / school-run runabout on an island only 33 miles long range is not a huge problem, which is why the little electric car I supply has a place. Battery capacity may grow, but the island ain't going to get any bigger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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