The Vespa is really buzzing now

It took a while, but now Vespa is also over the bridge. The legendary scooter will appear in an electric version next year. Vespa promises that the electric Vespa will have the same 'style, agility and driving pleasure' as its historic predecessor.

The Vespa power is currently shining on the motorcycle fair EICMA in Milan, although visitors only see a prototype there. The e-Vespa will not be available until 2017. It will buzz as quiet as a mouse and can drive at least XNUMX kilometers with a full battery, promises Piaggio, the Italian parent company.

How much does the electric Vespa cost?

Johan van Dijken (68) of the Vespaclub Noord-Holland already saw photos of the new electric model. 'He looks nice,' says Van Dijken. 'Let's see if such an electric Vespa accelerates a bit and isn't too expensive. Vespas are quite expensive.' An advantage of the arrival of the electric scooters is that they can drive back into the major cities. 'You can no longer enter the municipality of Amsterdam on an old two-stroke scooter. They are seen as far too polluting.'

Popular

Vespa is not the first manufacturer to market an electric model. A number of different e-scooters are already available in the Netherlands, including the Dutch brand Ebretti. A test conducted by the ANWB in 2013 concluded that the e-scooters are very expensive compared to their petrol variants. And also that the range of the tested models was limited. "All beginnings are difficult," the researchers concluded.

Honda is the big competitor

In Italy itself, it is not Piaggio, but Honda the best-selling scooter. Especially the petrol models of the SH type are extremely popular in the country. The brands Kymco and Yamaha are also doing well. Exactly this year it will be seventy years ago that the first Vespa drove around in Italy. Due to the slender construction and engine noise, the cheap scooters were soon called 'wasp' (scooter). There are now XNUMX million on the road worldwide.

Van Dijken has been driving for twenty years Wasp. “They're great scooters. There is a certain feeling to it, I enjoy that every day. Those old Vespas have a typical sound. I'm afraid that will never come back with an e-scooter.'

Photo electric Vespa: piaggiogroup.com