Electric Scooter Offers Way To Beat The Gas Pump Blues

First In Series

by Alan Pollock 

            At the Cape Cod Chronicle, we’ve been working over the past few years to make our business more environmentally friendly, installing energy-saving lighting fixtures, efficient windows and digital thermostats in our office.  We’ve done away with our photographic darkroom and all the chemicals it relied upon, and we religiously recycle all of the newspapers left over each week.  They’re small steps, but important ones.

            But to be honest, it was the price of gasoline—not our concern for the earth—that got us thinking about ways to further reduce our carbon footprint.  Our editorial and sales staff spend lots of time on the road, and their jobs don’t always lend themselves well to walking, biking or public transportation. 

            Our own advertising manager, Debra DeCosta, had a unique suggestion: a Vectrix electric scooter.  Debra’s husband, former Harwich selectman Dana DeCosta, is the senior product manager for Vectrix.  The company agreed to loan the newspaper a Vectrix scooter to use for the summer if we’d chronicle our experience, and the only member of the staff to volunteer for the experiment was yours truly.  This is the first in a series of three articles. 

It’s electric! 

The author is Born to be Mild.  TIM WOOD PHOTO WATCH VIDEO OF THE VECTRIX IN ACTION

           Vectrix scooters are entirely electric, powered by a high-tech bank of nickel metal hydride batteries that provide power to the brushless DC electric motor on the rear wheel hub.  When the batteries get low, the rider simply pops open the compartment under the seat, unreels a short electrical cord, and plugs it into a standard 110-volt AC outlet.

            A person riding a Vectrix scooter is a novelty.  Motorcycle enthusiasts—and there are more out there than you might imagine—are the most curious.  They’re drawn to the scooter because of its unique design and because of the noise it makes, or lack thereof, when it zips by.  And people always ask the same questions.

            How fast can it go?  The scooter’s top speed is 62 mph, fast enough for most travel.  But to appreciate the speed, you’ve got to try it.  With no drive train or transmission, the electric motor generates a huge amount of torque, which translates to speedy acceleration.  For a new rider, going from zero to 50 mph in less than seven seconds can feel like leaving a NASA launch pad. 

            How far can it go on a charge?  The short answer is, it depends on how fast you ride it.  If the trip is mostly at highway speed, the scooter can travel around 35 miles before needing a charge.  In ordinary traffic, the range is closer to 55 miles, thanks largely to the scooter’s regenerative brakes, which are similar to those on a hybrid car.  When the throttle is rolled back, the scooter’s forward momentum causes the motor to act like a generator, recharging the batteries.  Because the regenerative brake is also pretty effective at stopping the scooter, there’s also less wear on the brakes.

            How long does it take to charge the batteries?  A full charge takes about five hours, starting with a virtually dead battery, but 80 percent of the charge can be finished in about two-and-a-half hours.

            How much does it cost?  The scooter’s MSRP is $9,395, though sometimes discounts are available on the current model year’s inventory.  By comparison, scooters offered by well-known companies range between $2,000 and $8,000; the least expensive street motorcycles start at around $6,500, and average more than $10,000. 

            Then consider the cost to operate the scooter.  Information on their website boasts that a Vectrix costs about 50 cents to bring to a full charge based on 10 cents per kilowatt hour.  Here on Cape Cod, residential electric rates are closer to 12.5 cents, so the real cost per mile is a fraction of a cent higher than their advertised cost of a penny per mile.  By comparison, a fuel-efficient gas-powered scooter might get 47 mpg, yielding a cost per mile of around 9.3 cents—a number that will go up with gas prices.  In case you’re curious, the cost per mile for a fuel-efficient 29 mpg compact car is about 15 cents.  Those numbers are based on gasoline sold at $4.39 a gallon, and don’t take into account the maintenance costs of any of the vehicles. 

Connecting with the road

            My evaluation of the Vectrix scooter has had a second effect: it introduced me to the world of two-wheeling.  I’d never ridden a motorcycle or scooter before, and—having photographed more than a few grisly accident scenes—never thought I’d take up the hobby.  But it’s been enjoyable, and has given new life to the clichés about what it’s like to be on a motorcycle.

            Turns out, it’s true that riding a motorcycle helps you connect to the road in ways that are impossible in a car.  Suddenly, you can smell the wild roses on the roadside, or get a really good whiff of the doughnuts from Chatham Bakery.  With no exhaust fumes from the Vectrix to interfere with the experience, I could smell what my neighbors were cooking for dinner.

            The quiet nature of the scooter means you can hear birds chirping, eavesdrop on sidewalk conversations, and hear other vehicles approaching.  The downside of the stealthy scooter is that others can’t hear you coming, be they pedestrians or chipmunks.  For the record, no animals were harmed in the production of this article.  At least, not yet.

            There are things that automobile drivers never think about which take on new meaning when you’re on two wheels.  Here is a partial list:

(1)   Weather forecasts.  Riding in the rain is unpleasant, and you have to plan ahead.  Riding a device that can generate 3.4 kilowatts of electricity seems to underscore this point, though DeCosta assures me that the scooter has passed every manner of wet weather trial, just short of the “swimming pool test.”

(2)   Insects.  Small beetles hurt a little; a June bug could be lethal.

(3)   Solar glare.  No visors, other than the insufficient one on my helmet.

(4)   Potholes and sand on the road.

(5)   Properties with lawn sprinklers that spray the pavement.

(6)   Loose dogs.  It’s easy to be cavalier when you’re inside a car.

(7)   Coffee.  Wisely, there are no cup holders on these things.  This means that I’m typically riding without the benefit of caffeine for added alertness. 

            In the next installment, learn about the Vectrix scooter’s environmental benefits, and find out how easy it is for an inexperienced motorcycle rider to get on the road legally.