I was visiting my brother in Ann Arbor, MI when I saw a red maxi-scooter in the window of a downtown boutique. It was fully electric, it seemed, and built by Current Motor Company, whose facilities were just 20 minutes away. As a previous owner of 2 scoots myself, and an avid scooter fan in general, I had to check it out.
After a single phone call, I was invited to tour Current's warehouse, where I was greeted by John and Ben, a pair of former Chrysler engineers.
John and Ben showed me around the clean, well-organized space, told me a bit about the company, and patiently answered all my questions. Talk about accessible!
One of the shop's walls was lined with crates of Chinese scooters sans engines. Current orders rolling chassis from a Chinese scooter manufacturer, which looked bad on the surface, but their explanation made sense: they are focusing on engineering a solid EV platform today; aesthetic concerns will come later.
Current modified the Chinese chassis, putting lithium-ion batteries where the engine and fuel tank would normally be. The bike's rear swingarm and suspension were designed in-house, along with a proprietary Battery Management System (BMS) and Bike Control Unit (BCU) to ensure the batteries are as efficient as possible. You can read more technical details at Current's site.
Current's maxi-scooter's range depends on your riding habits, but they promise somewhere between 30 and 90 miles of riding, depending on how heavy your right foot wrist is.
The Test Ride:
John and Ben encouraged me to take one of the bikes for a test ride (and offer test rides by appointment), which is something most scooter dealerships won't let you do. The Current was easy to turn on: I turned the key to the "on" position and hit a button. The bike was quiet and smooth, aside from an initial whirring noise coming from the magnets.
The Current's launch was quick enough that I wouldn't have to worry about getting run over while pulling out into traffic. It felt nimble, even zippy (for its size), and there was more than enough room for a passenger to tag along on short hops. The bike stopped as smoothly as it started, with braking augmented by a power regeneration feature. The reverse button was a nice feature as well - making the bike easy to parallel park and move around a parking lot.
The Current scooter's biggest problem is the Chinese body. The bike's plastic and chrome baubles are eyesores, but Current promises over and over that they'll get to making something more beautiful after they've perfected the more utilitarian parts.
Source: Technorati
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment