Italian company launches first hybrid scooter

Stefania Prestigiacomo, Italy's environment minister, rides the Mp3 Hybrid scooter Italian scooter company Piaggio on Tuesday launched the world's first hybrid motorcycle, which combines a petrol engine with an electric motor to yield improved fuel consumption, lower emissions and the ability to run as a zero-emission, electric-only vehicle in city centres.

The MP3 Hybrid is based on the company's innovative leaning three-wheeler, which is narrow enough to be threaded through traffic like a conventional two-wheeler.

The hybrid uses technology that has cost "close to €10m ($14m) to develop", Leo Francesco Mercanti, Piaggio senior vice-president for product development and racing, said at the launch in Rome.

He said the hybrid was developed to tackle the challenges of growing urban traffic congestion and increasing sensitivity to environmental issues.

The powertrain uses tried-and-tested technology for hybrids in cars by combining a petrol engine with an electric motor that also functions as a generator under braking.

Under normal driving, both the 125cc petrol engine and the 2.6kW electric motor are used, with a electronic controller deciding how much of each to use.

Where the Piaggio diverges from conventional hybrid car technology is in using a lithium-ion battery – a first in a hybrid vehicle, according to the Italian company. Lithium-ion cells, like those found in mobile phones, are powerful and light – the one in the Hybrid weighs just 15kg but gives the scooter an range just using electric power of about 20km – much more than hybrid cars.

The scooter can recharge the battery while riding or the battery can be recharged by plugging into a domestic socket or roadside recharging point – charging a flat battery would take three hours to full, and two hours to 85 per cent capacity.

To ride, the electric engine boosts acceleration to give the feel of a 250cc scooter – so the scooter can keep up with the most aggressive of Rome traffic.

In the electric-only mode, however, speed is capped at 30kph, which means the Hybrid struggles to hold its own.

Piaggio says the electric-only speed limit was chosen for Italy's city centres where combustion engines are banned, to fit in well with pedestrians. Mr Mercanti said it would be simple to reprogram the electronics to give a higher electric-only speed, with only a slight loss of range.

The conventional MP3 surprised Piaggio with its sales success and the Italian company is hoping that it can replicate that success with the Hybrid.

Piaggio claims a petrol consumption of as little as 60 km per litre, if the Hybrid is used 65 per cent in hybrid mode and 35 per cent in pure electric mode, compared with 26 km per litre for a conventional mid-powered scooter, and 18 km per litre for a low powered diesel car.

However a price tag of about €9,000 ($12,000) – precise prices have yet to be set – will make that level of success difficult to achieve.

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