Hi all,

In conjunction with other members, I have been looking for a way to get around town, for short trips for shopping, to friend's places, and to Baroon Dam and Mary Cairncross for walks. Trips often too short for the mechanical health of a car. I have also been looking for a machine that is a bit of fun, and most importantly, which has no emissions (beyond the small amount of electricity for the batteries).

In Australia we are very regulated. The electric scooter industry has lots of hurdles to overcome, and there are four clear categories that electric scooters and bikes fall in to.

1. Electric Assisted Pushbikes : These look much like a standard bicycle, except that they have an electric motor in the hub of the rear wheel, and either on the frame or rear rack a place for a small battery pack. Many are designed as integrated machines; some kits to fit to your bike are available. No license required, no rego required. Good power-to-weight ratio, will help you get up the hills of Maleny if you get the max 200w model. And they can be pedalled if the batteries go flat.
Check these websites:
http://www.aaev.com.au/bikes/index.html
http://www.electricbicycle.com.au/cruiser_elite.html
A Google search on ‘electric bike’ with domain .com.au will find all those available in Australia.

2. Electric Mo-ped Scooters : These look like scooters and have pedals and a chain to enable them to be pedalled as well and electrically operated. They are by law limited to 200w maximum power. With pedals fitted they are classed as a pushbike and thus do not attract registration and the rider does not require a car license. You can ride these with a good pushbike helmet, and a reflective over vest is a safety must. Considering the scooter body and larger wheels, batteries and then the rider’s weight, these scooters are very under-powered when limited to a 200w motor. Basically, they will go okay on flat ground (like around Maroochydore) but will come to a stop and/or require pedalling on modest hills. They would not be able to go up steeper hills. Not safe to take on public roads where lots of fast traffic is around. They can be ridden on bike tracks. If you were only riding from, say, Erowal to Maple St and back it would be fine. Frankly you would be better off with a good mountain bike around Maleny…
Check these websites for info about such machines:
http://www.electricbicycle.com.au/giacarlo.html
http://www.aaev.com.au/E-Mopeds/index.html
http://www.free-bird.com.au/HTMLpages/Imperial.html

3. Small Electric Scooters : These scooters are fitted with a speed limited motor capable of up to 50 km/h. This allows the rider to only have a car license and still be able to ride. A good scooter helmet is required, and a reflective over vest is a safety must. The scooters need to be registered and have CTP insurance and they are the minimum level of machine which would cope with the hills of Maleny - but many are still underpowered and have power-to-weight ratio issues. Better models have good near-2000w performance and have good battery capacity. Sealed lead-acid batteries, sealed silicon-gel batteries, and lithium-iron batteries are available. Some brands are better equipped than others, most are assembled in China using either American, European or Chinese design and technology. Look out for 1500w plus power and 40Ah plus battery capacity to cope with the green rolling hills of Maleny. These would be safe to ride on local roads, but I would not consider taking them on the 80 km/h roads such as along to Montville, down to Landsborough, down to Conondale etc - just too dangerous as the roads have no verges.
Check out these websites:
http://www.ozscootersdirect.com.au/showroom/sw0008.html
http://www.evadermotorsports.com/1000.php
http://www.emcaustralia.com.au/?q=products
http://www.ozemax.com/blog/owen.html

4. Big Electric Scooters : We all saw the Vectrix at the last meeting. This class has no limitation on speed or performance and is the real cutting edge of serious electrically powered transportation in Australia. A motor cycle license is required along with full rego and insurance. A full motor bike helmet is essential, along with protective riding clothing. Due to the specs and performance these are not cheap machines - around $15,000 on the road, and only confident motor bike riders would be willing to use them. These bikes can go on any roads at near-highway speeds.
Check out these websites:
http://www.scootersales.com.au/News-457-vectrix-electric.aspx
http://www.vectrix.com/portal/index.php