scooters

Electric scooters are being positioned as eco-friendly alternatives to traveling everywhere in your car. What could make an electric scooter even more green? How about a built-in solar panel? The Solar Electric Scooter does just what its name suggests: gives you a lift with an assist from the sun.

We've seen sleeker scooters (like the MUV-e) and weirder scooters (like the ZeitEco). The Solar Electric Scooter's claim to fame is right underfoot where the solar panel is built into the vehicle.… Read more

Segway scooters are still kind of cool, but they have the disadvantage of being big. It's a bit difficult to just pack one up, take it on your morning public transportation commute, and then saddle up to ride it to the office. Israeli designer Amir Zaid is thinking smaller than Segway when it comes to his all-electric MUV-e scooter. It's small enough to fold up into a suitcase-size bundle.

Zair's resume includes design work for Ferrari and Fiat, so you know the MUV-e isn't going to look like other scooters. It has three wheels and lots of rounded edges. There's even a bit of a Tron aesthetic at work here in looking at the renderings for the final product. Dare I say, it looks a little sporty? Not at all like this boxy scooter we saw recently.… Read more

There's no denying that the ZeitEco scooter looks weird, like the love child of a Yamaha and a Klondike bar. If you want to blend into a crowd, this isn't the vehicle for you. The name stands for "zero-emission individual transport." The result is an electric scooter that can fit in the back of many vehicles.

The ZeitEco handlebars and foot rests fold away so you can pack it into small spaces. It's also ready to handle your gadgets with a built-in sound system and the ability to charge them up. It's kind of like a boom box on wheels.… Read more

In the last decade, BMW's motorcycle division dabbled in scooters as a green solution for crowded urban centers, producing the C1 for a few years. Now BMW is showing off the final fruits of a new project, an electric scooter designed to achieve the performance specifications of a gasoline-fueled scooter.

The C Evolution is the third generation of an electric scooter that BMW has previously shown in concept form. This two-wheeler uses an electric motor and an 8 kilowatt battery pack to drive the rear wheel. BMW says that it can go 62 miles on a full charge. Although … Read more

RYNO Motors' single-wheeled electric scooter is self-balancing, has a turning radius of zero when stopped, and only takes up about as much space as a folding bicycle -- so it's conceivable that commuters could bring one onto a train. Plus, it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime.

However, it only has a maximum range of 20 miles between charges, a top speed that is limited to 12.5 mph (the actual top speed of 25 mph is limited to keep the RYNO scooter within the more relaxed legal boundaries of "personal mobility scooters"), and it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime -- yes, for some people, that last point is as much a con as it is a pro.… Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--When Yamaha gathered members of the media this week to road-test its 2012 Yamaha Zuma 50F, the motorcycle maker's reps unveiled PowerPoint presentations and let reporters tool around city landmarks to get a feel for the vehicle.

But, in this day of $4-per-gallon gas, all Yamaha might have to display to get buyers' attention is the vehicle's listed mileage: 132 mpg. With its 1.5-gallon tank tucked away beneath the rider's feet, that's 200-plus miles between $7 fill-ups in an age when filling a larger vehicle can cost north of $75. With numbers like that zipping about, more people might consider buying and riding scooters--especially if they're "green minded" and want to lay off the fossil fuels.

Yamaha chose San Francisco for the Zuma 50F demos because it's tailor-made for that environment. Small, fuel efficient, easy to park, and fast enough to keep up with clogged urban traffic, the 50cc engine was powerful enough to get even me--a certified lummox--up all but one of the city's Steve McQueen-christened hills. While the Zuma 50F got me down the brick-lined twists of crooked Lombard Street, it couldn't quite get me back up Telegraph Hill a short toss from Coit Tower. Me and my oafish frame had to hop off and jog it a few feet to the crest before hopping back on again. That was the only strike against the scooter's power, and it's not as if a majority of its buyers will be my size. … Read more

If your kids think traditional bicycles are boring, why not have them ride this "Tron"-inspired training bike instead?

Designed by Ryan Callahan, an industrial designer from the Town/Lifestyle group at Trek Bicycle, this pedal-less scooter could have kids speeding around the Game Grid while learning the basics of cycling.

Callahan presented his idea at TrekWorld 2012 last week. Do note, however, that this is only a prototype and further changes (perhaps the ability for the scooter to be generated from a baton) are expected. There's no release date for the final product yet.

Here's another look at the concept art: … Read more

Honda's first electric vehicle to hit the road in Europe will be a scooter. The auto manufacturer began testing its zero emissions scooter in Barcelona this week as part of a test program to help Honda analyze how the new technology performs with European driving patterns. The EV-neo is already available for lease in Japan, and the Barcelona City Council will be the first EU customers to receive the e-scooters.

Driving at 18 mph, the Honda EV-neo has a range of 21 miles. It's not far, but the electric scooter comes with a portable rapid charger to replenish … Read more

The Uno electric scooter is a unique beast: an electric scooter that looks like a mini-motorcycle and folds up into a Segway-like scooter balanced on two wheels.

A prototype of the Uno III, the latest invention from BPG Motors, will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show, its first public showing. It's aimed at urban dwellers, most likely in Europe, where there is a strong culture around motorcycles and scooters, said BPG Motors CEO Brad Harkavy.

The company plans to begin producing these electric scooters in limited quantities in about a year with mass production planned after that, … Read more