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Post from Chris from Keene, NH's Blog:
electric scooters, bikes, and mopeds
By Chris from Keene, NH - Jul 25, 2008 12:18:23 PM ET
Also listed in: Advice for Environmental Living | Boston Tree Huggers | Electric Cars | Massachusetts for the Gore Plan | Taking Action | Tree Huggers
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Tags: bikes, climate, commute, electric, mopeds, Prius, scooters
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I'm looking to buy an electric 2-wheeler. The pros and cons of a scooter, bike, and moped are interesting. My short commute involves a fairly steep hill which I'm not sure the scooter would handle. At first I thought an electric bike would be the way to go

http://egovehicles.com/home/
("climbs hills like Lance Armstrong")!

but the "mopeds" - particularly the XM-3500Li looks to be the closest thing to perfect I've seen.

http://www.x-tremescooters.com/electric_mopeds/xm-3500li/xm-3500li.html

75-80 mile range per charge, and up to 55 mph?! I might as well park the Prius for most of the year!

Has anyone had any experience with these electric modes of transportation? Any thoughts??

Chris in Keene, NH

Reader Comments

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THANK YOU!
By sean, Jul 25, 2008 at 1:41:12 PM ET
WOW Chris I cannot thank you enough for that information. Whie I dont have any experience with that mode of transport... rest assured that I will as soon as I get 5 grand!

thanx again
world without end,

sean
Re: THANK YOU!
By Chris from Keene, NH, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:30:01 PM ET
At first, I thought too much $. Then I started thinking of all the times I could take the moped to the store, or to work, or to see friends. Maybe 50% of the time I drive my car, I could ride the moped. Now, I bought a Prius 2 years ago. You know how much that cost? At $4/gal, and 50mpg, I figure I'm getting about 8 cents/mile in the Prius. The mopeds might drop it down to 2 cents/mile depending on how much your electric company charges for kilowatts. But a couple solar panels on the roof might offset that completely. Emissions are zero, although electricity generation needs to be considered - is it coal? hydro? nuclear? Lots of stuff to consider, but clearly the way to go for the future. No need to haul an entire car around just to transport myself, for all the times an electric moped would suffice. So all things considered, the price may be well worth it in the long run.
  
E-Scooter
By Bryan Williams, Jul 25, 2008 at 2:10:45 PM ET
My brother bought a couple Electric scooters for his teenage kids a few years ago and they work awesome. They got like 10 to 20 miles on a charge and zipped around great even with an adult on. And I know they had even a bigger model. I've considered getting something like that for myself. Thanks for the url's, I'm definitely going to check them out.
  
Still nervous
By Unknown user, Jul 25, 2008 at 3:28:40 PM ET
I love the idea. I also love using my bicycle. But our traffic here in Santa Rosa is so rude and speedy and distracted (often on cell phones) I'm timid about being out on the road. I'm hoping with the price of gas, people will gravitate top smaller vehicles at least...these big SUV's and trucks are scary when the driver drifts into you because they are on the phone. I know Keene is a much quieter town.
Re: Still nervous
By Chris from Keene, NH, Jul 28, 2008 at 11:48:33 PM ET
Yes, Keene's the kind of quintessential New England that's disappearing, I'm afraid. We've got our share of drivers on cell phones, but I think it's a perfect place to start introducing more electric vehicles and look at sustainable options. We have a limited "mass transit" system if you can call our trolley that. We used to have a railroad right through the middle of town. It would be awesome if I could get on the train again, and arrive in Boston or NYC on an express. But those rail beds are all trails now, and as much sense as electric rail makes, it would be a bittersweet compromise to take away the trails that so many people love. So, while we're going for individual transportation, electric 2-wheelers (and cars when needed) seem to be the way to go.