Electric vehicles are hot. If you would believe all the news releases and PR it is only a matter of years before we all will be buying electric cars. Unfortunately (as anyone who tries to buy 50 cars will notice) reality is different. The technology is advancing fast but the practical hurdles as charging time, charging stations, limited range and costs of batteries are still there. I am not pessimistic: we humans usually overestimate the speed of developments for the short term and underestimate the changes over a longer period of time. But most likely we will be driving more hybrids and plug-in-hybrids than you might expect now.
The bottom end of the mobility scale is much less sexy: electric bicycles and electric scooters do not attract as much attention as a Tesla, but they are much closer to practical use.
E-assist bikes are being sold as fast as they can be produced. According to Ecovelo there are more than 1400 e-assist bicycle manufacturers in China, producing 5.5 mln units a year for prices between Euro 400 and 1000.
A number of manufacturers produce E-scooters with very practical specifications, like this one:(source Autobloggreen) 80 to 120 km range with speeds up to 80 km/hr is OK. It is well known that 50 cc twostroke engines in scooters produce a disproportionate amount of emissions (including noise), so a strategy that would force the replacement of twostroke scooters to EV would be welcomed in cities. Combine this with free parking where at the same time you could charge up your scooter and this might be a winning combination in cities like Amsterdam.
