The Sound of Silence
Make no mistake, the world is changing before our eyes and as Scootering discovered, Scomadi’s response is electrifying in every sense of the word.
It may surprise readers that, in principle, I’ve no objection to electric scooters. I’ve ridden a few and the experience was good fun. Admittedly, the infrastructure to support them isn’t fully developed and the case for them will only be complete once there are enough sources of ‘clean’ electricity. My main objection to the current set of offerings is far more fundamental.
Most of them look like motorised bidets. When Scomadi launched in 2009, it was to bridge the gap between modern technology and classic looks. It was a concept that found an eager following, spawning an entirely new genre of scooters.
That vision remains at the heart of Scomadi’s philosophy, so it should come as no surprise that an electric version has been in their sights for some time. What I didn’t expect to see at the recent factory opening was a machine so close to mass production.
Based on the current TT frame and bodywork, the eScomadi demonstrator (it hasn’t been named yet) is a good-looking beast. From its deep black paint to the colour-coordinated trim, the nod to 1950s hot rods was obvious. It couldn’t have shouted ‘retro tech’ more clearly. Describing what it’s like to ride an electric scooter is difficult. Imagine explaining how it feels to ride a GTS300 4-stroke automatic scooter to a car driver whose only ever experienced a push bike. It really is that different.
My recommendation is that if offered the opportunity to try one, do it. Although the same engine is fitted to all variants, performance of an EV is determined by means of electronic wizardry. On the demonstrator a three-stage button is fitted, enabling the rider to switch between 50cc, 125cc and 200cc equivalents. Although there’s no technical reason why these couldn’t be fitted on production machines, legislation determines what power can be ridden by licence category. No doubt there’ll be a keen market in software tuning upgrades. For the test ride I was advised to use the settings as ‘gears’, starting in 1, taking it to the limiter and moving up the same way through 2 and 3. Even in setting 1 the eScomadi is sprightly off the mark; in fact it reached top speed in a surprisingly short distance. For city trips that are constantly interrupted by traffic lights it would be perfect.
The reason that an electric engine performs so well is that there’s very little lag between ‘twist’ and ‘go’.
All electric engines are capable of producing huge amounts of torque and when my gloved thumb skipped straight through 1 to 3 the amount of torque shocked me. In the blink of an eye I went from pedestrian to Usain Bolt. The eScomadi instantly leapt forward and then kept gaining speed. I’d measured out a quarter mile for my road tests and flew out of that indicating almost 70mph. From a standing start the eScomadi left a Vespa GTS 300 standing. At one point I actually stopped to make sure my colleague hadn’t broken down. On corners the eScomadi handles just like its fossil-fuelled siblings, but the throttle response is instant. It would be all too easy for inexperienced riders to get themselves into trouble.
On board, the experience is both exciting and disconcerting. Exciting because there’s no engine vibration, it feels like extreme freewheeling. At the same time it’s disconcerting because there’s no noise. Actually, that’s not strictly true, there’s a low-pitched whine that increases with speed.
As I hurtled towards a crossroads I realised that if a driver, or pedestrian, was relying on noise to warn them of my approach, things wouldn’t work out well. The Scomadi team is aware of this and the addition of ‘noise generation’ is currently under consideration. The question of how to ensure the safety of all road users whilst reducing noise pollution is one that troubles all EV manufacturers.
Could the eScomadi be the machine which finally persuades riders away from petrol? For rally-going scooterists the answer’s probably no. For city dwellers looking for stylish daily transport the answer could well be yes. Put it this way, I’m nowhere near casting my two-strokes aside, but if that day should come the eScomadi is an electric scooter that I’d seriously consider owning.