Vespa’s first electric scooter on way

Scooter maker Vespa intends starting production on its first electric scooter in September.

Italian company Piaggio says sales of the Elettrica follow from October through a yet-to-be-announced website.

Piaggio says that initial sales will be limited, and will expand throughout November, timed to coincide with EICMA 2018, also known as the Milan Motorcycle Show, Electrek reports.

An increasing number of companies have started offering electric versions as part of their line-up.

Though sales will initially be for Europe only, Piaggio plans to expand availability of the Vespa Elettrica to the US and Asia in early 2019.

Appropriately, the electric Vespa will be produced at the Pontedera plant in Pisa, the same place as the original Vespa was born in 1946.

The Vespa Elettrica will have similar performance to a standard 50cc scooter. It features a brushless DC motor rated for 2kW continuous and 4kW peak power. The motor has a torque rating of over 200Nm.

The range is around 100km and the lithium battery can be recharged in four hours. It should also last for 1000 charge cycles, which the company says will translate to around 50,000-70,000km of real world riding, or around 10 years for most riders.

Maximum speed hasn’t been revealed, and neither has the price which is expected near the high end of the Vespa range.

High-tech features will be included as Piaggio moves towards smart interconnectivity between vehicles and people.

A hybrid version, the Elettrica X, is also planned.