Rome: 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 10 million euros (Dh55.1 million) 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.
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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 15 kilogrammes, but gives the scooter a range just using electric power of about 20 kilometres – 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
