Italian auto maker Piaggio Group is all set to launch Vespa Elettrica, an electric scooter that can run about 100 kilometres on a single recharge. The battery-powered Vespa will roll out of its manufacturing plant at Pontedera in Pisa.
The company expects to start bookings in October and launch the new Vespa at the EICMA expo in Milan in November. Elettrica will hit the European market early next year. It will be later rolled out in the United States and Asia.
Vespa Elettrica is truly modern. It would be fitted with artificial intelligence to monitor the scooter's performance. The motor has a capacity of 4 kilowatts. The company claims that the new scooter does not need a recharge before 100 kilometres.
On offer are 2 kilowatt continuous power mode and 4 kilowatt peak power, making it better than the standard 50 cc motorbikes.
Piaggio is also working on Elettrica X, a hybrid version with a range extender that could almost double the running capacity to 200 kilometres. The battery takes four hours to recharge with a normal socket.
Vespa Elettrica will ditch the standard instrument cluster for a 4.5 inch TFT colour display to gauge speed, range and battery charge. The company is also offering a special application to support Bluetooth and for smart phone connectivity. This app can even track the issues in performance.
