Zap Scooter

On the way out of the library on Saturday, I spotted a scooter. I went over to look at it, because I'm an enthusiast of these ultra efficient non-pedaled vehicles. I thought it was a Vespa at first. Then I got closer and realized it was a Zap Bikes scooter.

 

Zap is electric, and it turns out that's what it was. Zap is originally from Sebastopol, about 10 miles west of my home town in Sonoma County. They've since expanded to production in China and moving into Santa Rosa, which is about 5x bigger. The bike is actually nicely made, with sturdy parts. My problem with electric bikes is the batteries. They wear out, and normal gasoline scooters, even cheap 2-smokes, are more durable, cheaper, and cost a tiny fraction as much to operate compared to electric. That sounds ridiculous, I'm sure, but its not the cost of recharging off house power where the cost comes in. Its the cost of replacing the battery after about 200-300 recharges because discharges damage the battery, in a sort of half-life, only its about 20% life every time you discharge the battery more than half. And that's easy to do. This is true with electric bicycles too. And electric cars. But this depends a great deal on the battery material used.

 

Still, it was nice looking, and the owner was probably coming uphill from Nevada City, which is across Hwy 49 and down a short street, a few blocks away basically. I can easily see this being a rational choice locally, provided the owner keeps the trips short. Considering there's a hill between Nevada City and most of the supermarkets, but its a slow road and fine. Wish I could show a video of the way this place looks in 3D. BlogSpot needs the ability to offer maps from google maps. Same company, so why not? Sigh. In any case, with the hills here, even a 49cc scooter like you'd ride in flatlands anywhere don't work well here. Its too steep. The upside of an electric with a sufficiently strong motor and good enough battery is they have torque. So it works here. I'm not sure this is better than being strong on a regular bicycle, but if you aren't super-strong and can afford it, this is an option.