Looks like a Vectrix electric scooter.

 

Yep, thats it. Would make since too, since an electric one would be perfect for puttering around the zoo, quiet and clean (atleast around the zoo, won't get into the 'where the energy comes from' debate)

 

Cheaper than a Segway, I'll wager.

 

I wonder how much it shortens the range to have the flashers going... :wink:

 

Maybe not such a good choice, they went belly-up!

Thanx, Russ

 

Do you know if they did ?? I see the site is still up and they asked if I still want one via email..

the email still works.. I just don't want one now that I have my burgs.. they waited too long to respond.. so I bought my burgs.

 

Wikipedia is your friend!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vectrix

As of July, 2009, the company has fired the majority of employees and is in the process of being sold or liquidated[2]. The company web site has also been down or locked intermittently.

 

I checked out electrics before buying my burg, they are perfect for driving down to the mail box providing you have a charging station at the mail box and time to wait for a charge to drive back to the house

 

That's an unfair characterization. With a range of 65 miles, I could drive back and forth to work for 7 days without having to recharge it. Those of us in urban/suburban areas could benefit from these types of bikes, and guess what, that's who it's made for! Those of you with mailboxes more than 30 miles from your home may continue using dino.

 

I wonder how much it shortens the range to have the flashers going... :wink:

Definitely not as much as driving at 62 mph (top speed) with the headlight on bright....

Yea, the white 'cop' scooter:

I'd guess it's a VX-1..range is supposed to be about 60 miles if you keep it around 25-30 mph. Increase speed and of course, you drain the battery faster. I'd guess that even with the flashers going, you could putz around all day at the Zoo, unless, maybe it was the San Diego Wild Animal park....but with an electric anything you have to be VERY VERY careful around animals and pedestrians (especialll blind ones), because, well, they can't heare ya comin'...

 

Thats the problem with the claims on all the electric vehicles, they give you the range when driven under idea conditions in big bold letters but you really have to dig to find what those ideal conditions are. If you want to find out what the range is when driven in more normal conditions be prepared to really dig.

 

well, what is 'normal' for you may be different than my 'normal'.

At speed you're pulling a lot of juice out of the battery. This didnt' take a lot of digging (off the Vectrix FAQs page):

How far can I go on a charge?

"As previously mentioned range is very much dependent upon driving habits. The Vectrix is designed as an in the city commuting vehicle. In such a mode you should experience 35 to 55 miles (56-89 km) of range on a single charge. This is also dependent on additional weight (gear) or an additional passenger will affect range. *VX-1"

and

Does acceleration affect my range?

"Acceleration is the rate which you are attempting to increase the speed of your scooter. The greater the acceleration the faster you are depleting the energy in the battery pack. The harder and more frequently you accelerate the more adversely you will affect the range of your scooter. Being "first off the line" means you will also be the first to drain your energy supply."

and

Why do I get less range at HIGH SPEEDS?

"It takes more energy to push a scooter faster because you encounter aerodynamic resistance. The faster you attempt to travel the more important this factor becomes. Also it is a fundamental characteristic of battery energy storage systems that the amount of energy you are able to extract from the battery is inversely proportional to the rate at which you are drawing out the energy. The battery pack is rated for 30 Ah. If you draw 10 amperes of current you will deliver more energy that if you are drawing 100 amperes of current. Bottom line is that the more conservative you drive the further you will travel on single charge."

 

I agree, what is normal is hard to define. However, they could do something like post what happens when you run it through the EPA city/highway driving cycles. Or they could put in what the range will be under varied riding conditions like how far you can go if you run 60 mph out on the freeway with a 160 lb rider and no extra gear. You don't see that stuff in the press releases or the fancy brochures on the showroom floor. Instead they say something like you can go up to X mph and up to X miles but not how far you can go if you go X mph or how slow you have to drive to go X miles. To unsophisticated buyers they leave the impression that you can go the max miles at the max speed.

Notice you had to go to the FAQ section to find out that people are wondering why they are not getting the same miles they were told they would get when they bought the bike. Why didn’t they put that stuff up front in their printed material? The answer is that if they did far fewer people would buy the bikes in the first place

 

I think the fact that they went bankrupt is all you need to know about how well they worked in the real world.

Thanx, Russ

 

Perhaps in a normal economy, but you there were many healthy businesses that could not stay open during this recession. This was an upstart, too.

 

I think the fact that they went bankrupt is all you need to know about how well they worked in the real world.

Thanx, Russ

well like I said before the site is still up and I gave them a call and they still sell them and have a few.. I just don't need one now that I have the burgs. my email contact person with the company is still valid..

http://vectrix.com/ they still say they are in bussiness, do you have a link that shows they are not ????

these bikes were not ment for long trips just putting arround town or to the store.. and would be perfect for that.

on a side note: at least I get 1 of these http://www.teslamotors.com/ soon... they just called me and it is on its way :cheers: very nice... wahoo... I picked the red one.

 

do you have a link that shows they are not ????

Yes! See my previous reply: viewtopic.php?p=388112#p388112

 

Or they could put in what the range will be under varied riding conditions like how far you can go if you run 60 mph out on the freeway with a 160 lb rider and no extra gear.

Last I checked, Suzuki doesn't do that for the Burgman. Heck, looking at their site right now, im not seeing any fuel consumption figures for the 400.

The debate of saying they should make it clearer is a little much. I don't see any manufacturer have a range of mpg that one can obtain, its a set figure. That car gets 29 mpg in the city. In your city with your driving habits, might only get 20. In another city with someone else habits, might get 35. So why should this company say you'll get anywhere from 30-60 miles... and when they did in their FAQ, you chastise them for it?

Anywho, think this thread got a little away from what the original post was about. I just found it cool that more and more municipalites are looking to scooters as effecient transportation for patrols or whatever they need. Whether its electric or gas, still cool

 

do you have a link that shows they are not ????

Yes! See my previous reply: viewtopic.php?p=388112#p388112

ok I see,

just hope they don't take my tesla away from me too.. ev1 gone, pheonix gone shelved now vetrix.. I wan't my electric toy.

 

The debate of saying they should make it clearer is a little much. I don't see any manufacturer have a range of mpg that one can obtain, its a set figure. That car gets 29 mpg in the city. In your city with your driving habits, might only get 20. In another city with someone else habits, might get 35. So why should this company say you'll get anywhere from 30-60 miles... and when they did in their FAQ, you chastise them for it?

What the car companies post is the results of the EPA city/highway mileage cycle and is based on a standard methodology. How valid it is can be debated but at least it is a figure bases on a fixed set of conditions so you can get a general idea of what you can really expect out of the vehicle.

You missed my point completely. It's that they brag about these huge mileage figures based on an unknown methodology and sell vehicles based on how great those figures are. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of electric vehicles and will jump at the chance to buy one when they get to a point that they are good for something other than "just putting around town or to the store" as Wild_One08 pointed out. In the meantime I just wish they would be more honest about their real capabilities. They do themselves a big disservice because people will be disapointed with what they get an less likely to believe it when a break through does come.

 

Confirmation from Vectrix:

http://investors.vectrix.com/vectrix/rn ... nRnsO6909V

From what I've read, the company spent millions on development and research on products (new model VX-1E, trike version, and other test products) that didn't pan out too well rather than just strengthening their core product. As they had yet to turn a profit, that was a large gamble that they lost in this financial climate.

 

From Edmonds:

Electric Scooter Hopeful Vectrix Shuts Down, Appears Headed for Bankruptcy

While everybody and his brother (if Honda, Yamaha, BMW and Piaggio count) prepares to launch a new wave of electric scooters, one of the original players, Rhode Island-based Vectrix , is preparing to bow out.

A victim of the "good idea a little too soon" syndrome, Vectrix has told most of its employees adios and says the remaining staff is beginning "the process of preparing for a bankruptcy filing..."

The company has closed down its website, but in a press release apparently prepared for the European media and downloaded from the site before the site was shut down (and posted by Autoblog Green) company president Michael Boyle says that Vectrix would file for bankruptcy if an effort to find a solution for its cash-flow and debt woes can't be found. That effort, he wrote, would include "the sale of the company."

Vectrix blames its woes on the economic crunch that has dried up credit and made people leery of buying big ticket items.

The company was formed with the goal of providing a full-sized "maxi" scooter for commuters and other daily riders who wanted reliable, comfortable, reasonably speedy two-wheeled transportation.


Vectrix also intended to make a big hit in Europe, where scooters and 'cycles are widely used for daily transportation, and perhaps to gain a toehold in the Chinese market (10 million scooters and growing) with an electric two-wheeler that would help answer that country's call for non-polluting transportation for the people.

The Vectrix' big drawbacks were its size, a heft 426 pounds; range, 40-50 miles on a single charge at reasonable commuter speeds (the company claimed 68 miles, but at a steady 25 mph); and price, a hefty $11,000 when it was introduced abut two years ago.

The company's problems - besides marketing - were anchored by poor timing: it launched on the brink of a global economic meltdown that dried up credit and consumer markets and with a scooter that used powerful but relatively heavy and short-range nickel-metal hydride batteries just before the lithium ion battery breakthrough (lighter, more range).

We hope the problems get resolved, but we understand that's a long-shot and that a Vectrix bankruptcy is close to inevitable.

Thanx, Russ

 

Their website is still in operation. There are two types of bankruptcy...liquidation and reorganization.


Apparently their fleet operations is going well.


VECTRIX USA :

Vectrix Corporation
Tech Plaza III
76 Hammarlund Way
Middletown, RI 02842

T: (401) 848-9993
F: (401) 848-9994

Vectrix Service
55 Samuel Barnett Blvd
New Bedford, MA 02745


T: (508) 992-5300
F: (508) 992-6252

VECTRIX EUROPE : :

Hazeley Enterprise Park
Hazeley Road
Twyford, Hampshire SO21 1QA
United Kingdom

T: +44 (1962) 777 600
F: +44 (1962) 713 113

Maybe somebody outta call 'em and find out.

 

I stopped by the local scooter shop looking for a particular pair of ear plugs (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it) anyway I rode the burgy 650. There was an unusual bike on the sidewalk and I was checking it out. No exhaust pipe etc. The salesman came out and started telling me about the bike. Electric, 62 mph and minimum 40 mile range.
When he offered to let me ride it I took him up on it. The first and most obvious item is it is quiet with a capital Q.. You can hear the blinker relay click.
The salesman warned me that after riding it I would be spoiled by the acceleration and want to trade the burgy. Wrong. It did have some impressive get up and go but nothing like the brugy.
I rode it about 10 miles. Very comfortable and I liked the controls. Regenerative braking was accomplished by rolling the throttle handle past neutral (idle to the rest of us) This caused the bike to slow about as effectively as applying the rear brake on the Burgman 650. The more you turned it the more braking effect you got.
The price was steep at over 9K.
The speed limiter was strange strong acceleration and at 62 mph it just stops going faster..
There is a guy that rides one to where I work. I haven't talked with him as he works a different shift but I see him coming in while I am going home He does a 40 mile round trip with a couple of miles on the freeway.
Too bad they are having trouble. If I never went anywhere but work I would have considered one once the price dropped some. I was told the price was down to 8K.
I don't dare mention to my wife about another scooter. Too many in the garage as it is.

Anyway these are my thoughts on this bike.

 

Vectrix's website is still up.

Wikipedia isn't always accurate or true.

If you've never been on an electric bike, it's a winder to behold. Hit the throttle and you have INSTANT torque. Quiet and efficient with the regenerative braking.