Just The Thing For Downtown Living

[Vespa, scooter, hybrid]

Just when you thought the Windows XP on a Macintosh had the corner on what sounded like an April Fool's day gag, RetroThing (retrothing.com) is reporting that Vespa's (via parent company
Piaggio) really is now testing two prototype HyS hybrid gasoline/electric scooters (http://www.retrothing.com/2006/04/introducing_two.html) in Milan just days after joking about it (http://www.retrothing.com/2005/06/vespa_introduce.html).

Based on their Vespa LX 50 and the Piaggio X8 125, "the combination of electric and gas engines provides approximately 25% more power, helping to alleviate fuel consumption when starting or accelerating while reducing gasoline consumption by 20%." The scooter can also operate be switched into a low-speed "electric only" mode.

The vehicle can charge its batteries from the gasoline motor while traveling at normal road speeds and can connect to a standard 220V (European) household plug to recharge the electric cells in about three hours. Plugging in your scooter reduces operating costs by about half, versus the gasoline only version. Two 12V 26Ah batteries are located under the LX 50 HyS seat, where riders usually store a helmet.

No word yet on pricing or American availability, but how cool would this be for runs to the local pizza place or corner market?