Go electric with the EVT-America Z-20
By Ryan Block 
posted April 26th 2005 1:34PM
posted April 26th 2005 1:34PM
At two grand, the EVT-America Z-20 is significantly cheaper than a shiny new Vespa, and while you won't get that
sweet post-mod aftertaste, you won't have that bitter petrolium-based fuel-use guilt either. The Z-20 is an
all electric scooter powered
by a 48-volt 2000-watt hub motor that can zip you along at up to 35 miles per hour for between 40 and 50 miles,
depending on how much you had to eat that day and whether or not you brought a bag of books with you.
Hand-crank charger not included.
[Via Treehugger]
Is it me or the "Large Seat" is covered in some sort of garbage bag plastic?
For $319, you can get a Pukka -- this bike outperforms most $1000+ electrics, but it won't do 35MPH (Only 18MPH)...
RPG launchers on the sides too?
For about a grand you can get this electric powered beast that does up to 60mph!:
http://www.gadgetuniverse.com/cgi-bin/sgin0101.exe?T1=TT+340&FNM=25&UID=2005042611133184&GEN9=
ill buy anything with stirrups.
Yikes... misread... dang delta SkyMall says it goes 60mph... oh well... still..
"you won’t have that bitter petrolium-based fuel-use guilt either."
But power stations burn fossil fuels to create the electricity in the first place.
damnit! this FUD is !@#$% me off. unless you live somewhere where the only electricity is produced by natural gas, wind turbines, and/or geothermal plants (iceland?), elecric isn't much better for the environment than oil. let's review, shall we?
coal - i don't think i should have to explain this one. and last time i checked, it happens to be THE LARGEST source of electricity for the united states. sad, people, sad.
hydroelectric dams - environmental effects indeed. and please don't tell me how tidal generators are better.
solar - the sheer amount of cell that need to be produced, therefore the amount of chemicals that have to be used to produce cells - and REPLACE old cells
my personal favorite is nuclear, but no one want a nuke plant near their house. if you're scared of meltdowns, google "pebble bed nuclear reactor". anyhow, until we get something like fusion this really just isn't going to work out.
It's too bad all these little scooters only go 40-50 miles before they die. I can't even get to work and back on that. Almost, but not quite, and I'd hate to have to push one for the last few miles, ugh!
This would be perfect for San Francisco, assuming it's got the ooomf to get up our hills. But what I'm wondering is, with 200amps of 12vDC, do you think they could drop an inverter in there so you could plug in your gadgets at the park or on the beach?
Also, I wonder how it sounds. If you want to take about pollution, how about the noise pollution of a two stroke engine?
Now if only you didn't look like a total dork riding a scooter...
Hello
"elecric isn't much better for the environment than oil."
I disagree. Having a region-centric power plant that is highly regulated and maintained is much better than having a few million mini-polluters with little or no regulations. No more refineries. No more chemical spills during transporting. No more octanes. No more winter/summer fuel additive changes. No more foreign fuel reliance.
If the power company is biomass, even better, because the pollutants the company releases will be the same that the plants originally captured, and not gunk buried underneath million year old rock.
Perhaps in a hundred years things will change for the better.
To all the people who suggest that electric power has as negative an environmental impact as fossil fuels do: some municipalities (e.g. Palo Alto, CA where I live) offer a 100% renewable electricity option that is slightly more expensive than the regular power. In these places switching to an electric vehicle can have a double impact (you're only using green energy at home, and you're taking a car off the roads).
Also, let's not forget, it's takes *A LOT* of electricity to refine gasoline itself! Gasoline just don't magically appear at the pump, folks!
Don't buy scooters with 10" tires. I scraped about an acre of flesh off my shoulder doing an ass-over-appetite flip on one of these. Landed in a pile of fire ants- that hurt, children!
yeah they never talk about the gearing...the fine print says the speed is based on a 160 pound person on level, paved roads. What kind of hill can it pull?