Vespa style electric scooter

Jmauld

10 mW
Joined
Feb 15, 2020
Messages
23
Is there an electric Vespa style scooter that’s any good? Or an easy model to convert to electric? The Vespa electricca is out of our price range.
 
define "any good".

define "budget".

;)

to really be able to help you, we'd need to know as much as possible about your intended usage scenario, needs, etc.

required range, speed; required acceleration time from a stop to whatever your cruising speed is.
your weight, terrain you ride (hills, etc), winds, cargo needs, budget, road conditions, etc.

any other info you can provide.


note that any conversion is likely to require making / machining stuff, or paying someone to do that. so, easy will be relative to your skills and tools, or your budget.

regarding costs, batteries are the heart of the system, and usually the most expensive part. skimping on them can disable a build from doing anything near what you need it to. good vehicles / bikes / scooters have good batteries, and can cost a lot because of it. even more if they have a lot of range, especially in a small space.
 
When you say "Vespa style scooter," I assume you're referring to a type that often has the GY6 engine/drivetrain. In the picture you see to the left the pads of the drum brake and the rear spindle that the wheel goes on. You need to retain that physical structure OR devise something else for the rear swingarm. It's not like a motorcycle and I'm sure you were counting on pulling off the engine and putting the same chain onto your electric motor.

Can't say you can find something suitable that does not have the GY6. I can say you have a big job ahead of you if you do use one with the GY6.

187.jpg
 
“Easy” would be fabricating parts with a bandsaw and a welder. Machining parts is outside of my skill set.

Ideally, what I would like to find is something that looks like a Vespa, is already electric but may need a few upgrades. I’d like it to be equivalent to a 50cc scooter in terms of speed. So about 30-35mph would be good.

Range: Realistically, 10-15 miles would cover 95% of its potential use case. There are some outlier situations where 25-30 mile range would be great but I could work around not having that.
 
I have looked too. I think by "Vespa style," most people are thinking of the general appearance. A classic, non-obtrusive style. Me, I was looking for about 40-45mph and a range of about 30 miles.

I had one in China and it was limited to about 35-40kph and about 20 miles. In that environment, it was fine because the traffic there is slower.

I never did find one, in the US that was close to what I wanted to spend. I also face the reality that anything a scooter can do, my eBike can do too. That except for the ability to put my dog on the floor between my legs.
 
Just find an electric scooter/moped with dead lead acid batteries and convert it to Li-ion. I bought an almost new one that had been standing too long unused. I then put in a battery pack from AliExpress (research the best sellers) and am driving it for 2 years and >10.000km already.
If you really want to convert or build for the fun of it (won't be cheaper most of the time) then there are a lot of build threads here on E-S: https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=12
 
Electric-Motorcycle-Handsome-Boy-MTM306Z-.webp


Well,I'm sure there are a few broken 'Handsome Boy' scooters around you if you can find them. I was trying to fix one and it was really burned up. Even the batteries had melted, not sure what went wrong. Cost me $40. It was only a 500w scooter, not uncommon back then, even it it's fixable you might not what to.

Once shipping it doing again I'll be after a QS hub for this.
 
This is the "style" that I'm looking for: https://www.qvc.com/qvc.product.T132916.html?colorId=000&sizeId=000&ref=GBA&cm_mmc=GOOGLESHOPPINGFEED-_-GShopping|L|All+Products-_-pla-_-sjcxaTVX9|dc_24633700947_pla-298446599881__T132916-000-000&cm_mmca1=c&cm_mmca2=24633700947&cm_mmca3=pla-298446599881&cm_mmca4=T132916-000-000&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjIvuh6nH6AIVAeiGCh1d4wEJEAQYCyABEgIGyvD_BwE

That's clearly a toy and isn't big enough for an adult to ride on the streets. I have an ebike for myself, but my wife has been wanting a scooter like the above (but not a kids toy version) for a long time. We live near the ocean and have lots of 20-35 mph roads to safely ride on. I'd like to be able to register it as a scooter and ride it legally.

EDIT: I just found this one: https://www.kymco.com/product/like-ev

I'll look into it and see if I can find more info/availability. Although, this one looks a little more modern than what I wanted, it is very close though.
 
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