Electric scooters whizz off the forecourts as fuel prices climb

By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:48AM BST 01/07/2008
Hundreds of electric scooters have been sold in the last month, as commuters look to cut their travel costs by investing in rechargeable machines.
This week, Harry and Claudine live the electric dream - whizzing round the streets of London on the Ego Electric Street Scoota. ; http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1494875123/bctid1640111350 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1139053637

Electric scooters, which run on batteries that can be recharged from a domestic socket, are predicted to take off this year, as the price of fuel leaves many commuters with increasingly high transport costs.
Two companies have entered the market in the last month in a hope to cash in drivers that are being hit by the high price of petrol, combined with the increasing desire to cut down their carbon emissions.
Ego and E-Max, both of whom launched their scooters last month, have had great success since they started selling their vehicles.

Firebox, the website that has the rights to the Ego Electric Street Scoota , has sold out of the £999.95 machine.
Meanwhile, E-Max has sold about 200 of its more powerful £2,760 vehicle in the last three weeks.
Simon Small, a spokesman for the Motor Cycle Industry Association, said: "People are fed up with the price of fuel and sitting in traffic jams.
"As a result, there is a definite trend towards smaller engine bikes, and that includes electric bikes, which have only just really started to come onto people's radar.
"But I think they could take off this year."
In China, electric scooters sell at the rate of 13 million every year.
The benefit of the electric bikes is that they should cost a fraction of the cost of running a car, or even a small engine bike.
The Ego claims that a full 8-hour charge, which should give it enough juice to last 40 miles, costs just 8p from a domestic plug socket – or the equivalent of just 0.5p a mile.
This compares to about 15p a mile for a small engine scooter, according to the motoring group RAC, and about 20p for a small car.
On top of this most cities in the UK have started free parking for electric vehicles, and drivers are exempt from any vehicle excise duty.
Kevin Ash, the Daily Telegraph's motorcycle writer, said that he was sceptical that electric scooters would become mainstream because most can not travel further than 40 or 50 miles on a full charge.
However, at £999, the Ego's bike "looks astonishingly cheap. At that price it could do very well," he said.