The future of motorcycles and scooters is electrifying or I should say electric. In April, I wrote about the Zero X, an electric dirt bike just hitting the market. Now there’s the high performance Vectrix ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle), a high performance scooter which, according to the Boston Globe, has grown its dealer network from 5 to 50 dealers in the U.S. So far, 1,000 have been shipped by the Middletown, R.I.-based Vectrix Corp., according to the article.
With a 21 Kw DC brushless motor and a nickel hydride battery, the ZEV can go up to 62 MPH and has a range of 35-55 miles between charges. And it’s goes from 0-50 in a respectable 6.8 seconds, according the tech specs on Vectrix web site. The on-board 1.5 Kw charger plugs into a standard 110 volt socket and charges the battery in 3-5 hours.
The electronics — CANBUS networking, an insular bi-polar transistor (IGBT) and DSP to control the power to the motor and an LCD instrument cluster – can be diagnosed by Vectrix software loaded onto a laptop. Will it hold up? Time will tell, but the warranty is good for 24 months.
They look pretty sharp, too. Maybe it would have sent a better message if The Dark Knight zipped around on a ZEV instead of that drag-slicked monster motor cycle that sprung out of larger assault vehicle after Batman wrecked it.
The ZEV doesn’t come cheap, though. The 2007 model is $8,795 and 2008 is $9,395, but the company claims they cost a mere penny a mile to operate. Check out the photos and video.
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