There's been a bit of news on the two-wheeled electric vehicle front lately.
The first thing I saw was that R Martin is now offering a lithium ion version of the EVD. The lithium ion version (with lithium iron phosphate batteries) costs $4500 ($1250 more than the lead acid version). These batteries increase the top speed from 50 to 55 mph, and the range from 50 miles at 30 mph to 60 miles at 30 mph. So basically for the extra $1250 you get a 10% increase in top speed and 20% increase in range.
A new company called Xtreme Green is also on the verge of offering vehicles to compete with the EVD and Vectrix.
Starting next month, they'll be offering two models of 'motor scooter'. Their EM40-A09 Motor Scooter will cost $5500 with a range of 50 miles per charge (I don't know what speed this estimate is based on, unfortunately), top speed of 50 mph, and also lithium iron phosphate batteries. Very comparable to the lithium version of the EVD, but with perhaps a greater range (but perhaps not).
Their EM60-A09 will cost a bit more (no details on this price yet), with a range of 75 miles per charge and top speed of 50 mph. Basically the same scooter with more batteries for greater range and a slightly more powerful motor (3.5 kW as opposed to 3 kW).
The Xtreme Green scooters also look almost identical to the EVD:
Their Vectrix competitor is the X Rider. It's supposed to cost $8000 (a bit less than the Vectrix), with a 65 mph top speed and supposedly 95 mile range (but again, it's hard to say how realistic this is). The weight of the vehicle is significantly lower than the Vectrix at just 266 lbs.
So anyway, it's good to get more competing electric vehicles on the road.
