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Alt-fuel Scooters?
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
fuel cell bike
See-through or step-through?
What’ll power scooters of the future?

The same question concerning cars has of course been the center of conversation lately, what with gasoline in the US finally reaching the pain threshold.

It’s a safe bet that just like today, two-wheeled and four-wheeled motor vehicles will share the same types of power plants.

That’ll mean whatever kinds of motors emerge in the four-wheeled world – be they electric, hybrid, hydrogen, compressed air, or whatever – will need to fit into a two-wheeled package in a way that, at a minimum, retain the same level of utility provided by current vehicles. Range, power, costs, durability … these are functional requirements.

 But what about form? We all know that scooters evolved around a formal concept, i.e., the idea of a step-through frame. The first Vespas addressed functional issues with existing technology – in Piaggio’s case, by wedging spare aircraft starter motors into that form. If a step-through frame makes it a “scooter,” then future scooters will have to manage a similar trick.

Fossil-fuel motors are amazingly compact. But will emerging technology be as tiny? Will it fit into a step-through frame? Are step-through frames even all that important?

This whole thing came about when we ran across an interesting Wired Magazine feature on alt-fuel motorcycles recently, which included Piaggio’s MP3 hybrid (a version of which supposed to be available in LX form), and another creation from Yamaha that looks a lot like a scooter, but isn’t a step-through. Another model takes the idea of step-through to a strange new level.

Nobody knows what types of powerplants will dominate future transportation, but it’ll be interesting to see if they’re small enough to fit into something resembling a scooter frame. If not, expect we’ll need to re-define what makes a scooter a scooter…or will the word “scooter” join the list of terms like “phonograph?” dingbat

Wired: Alt-fuel Motorcyles (Weblink)
 
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