Despite lots of talk of “range anxiety”, sales of electric cars are on the rise. And in the parallel fuel conscience universe of motor scooters, sales are also trending up. So what happens when these two worlds collide? For that we turn to our chief Two Wheeler, Brian Robinson, for one current result.

BRIAN ROBINSON: Off and on through the years, we’ve talked about more and more people plugging in to the scooter lifestyle, whether they’re looking for more fuel efficiency or just cheap transportation. But until now, we’ve never actually plugged in a scooter.

In our ever-expanding search to bring you new and exciting ways to get to work and back every day, this week we’re looking at how to do that super economically too, with the Super Scooter from Current Motor. Yes, it’s a scooter, and yes, it’s “electric”.

Current Motor is a relatively new enterprise based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and they are looking to bring real world EV motoring into one of the friendliest of all automotive segments, the scooter. The Super Scooter may look like a traditional scooter, but it rolls on a unique chassis, and is powered by a 5kW electric motor that is actually located inside the rear wheel. 

The battery pack is Lithium Iron Manganese Phosphate, and is available in two sizes, 4.6 and 5.75 kWh. The larger of the two has 50-miles of range at over 65 miles-per-hour with a charge time of up to 6-hours.

From the wide and comfortable stepped seat, for the most part it rides like a traditional scooter, feeling only a tad heavier and ground clearance is limited; but like any other scooter, it takes no time at all to get accustomed to and you’re quickly up to speed.

EV operation is mostly quiet, and like most other battery powered vehicles, there’s computer controlled regenerative braking. The Super Scooter even has reverse. The look is all traditional scooter with full floorboards for a comfortable riding position and a wide fairing for shielding you from the elements. 

Partnering with Dell means there’s a slick tablet-style digital dashboard packed full of information; and an app for smartphones or tablets allows you and your 3G-equipped scooter to stay in constant contact, whether for just monitoring charge status, or planning a route. 

It’s an unfortunate reality that progress doesn’t come cheap, so if you’re ready to early adopt your way into the EV scooter realm you’ll have to bring 10-grand with you. With the high performance battery option it’ll cost you $11,495.  Cost of ownership however, is about as inexpensive as you can get at just 17-cents per mile. 

The 2013 Current Motor Super Scooter may be a work in progress, but it’s good work, and they are making great progress. Is an EV scooter for everyone? No, of course not. Is it great to see new companies starting up in America to perhaps shape our driving future? Absolutely!