I decided late last year I decided that I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible, and despite owning a Toyota Prius realized that it was still the number one act I had control over that created pollution. So after months of debate I decided to swallow the $13,000+ cost of the only electric vehicle on the market that I thought could balance both performance and cost for my 30 mile one-way commute between San Pedro CA and Anaheim CA. Once the initial break in period which involves deep discharging of the batteries and recharging to condition them I've found the Vectrix to be very reliable (this is a VERY important thing to do, else you find your range incredibly lower! I had my doubts when I first rode my Vectrix home from Santa Monica) . The Regen braking works fantastically and I rarely use the mechanical breaks except for emergency maneuvers. I have found that if you don't ride and charge the bike for over a week performance, as in range dips a bit but after one cycle things seem back to normal. All in all, I'm happy to be one of the first to purchase this bike and would recommend it to anyone comfortable with riding motorcycles.

Price is in Euros! 9700 euros
One should take into account that 1 litre of diesel contains roughtly 11.000 wh of energy. My vectrix's battery contains in 80 kg of NIMH only 3700 wh, nearly 1/3 of one litre of diesel.
After assuming that nothing can perform like the energy density of the oil, I was astonished by the superb performance of the Vectrix. I've been riding it for over 8000 km, and I do declare it is the best purchase I've ever made. I recomend not to waste your time comparing costs and maintenance with tradicional gas scooters that might compensate initial high price: Forget all them. Forget Oil. If you can afford it, buy it: Driving a Vectrix is an unice experience! The only drawback is the range: One should plan carefully open road trips because of the limited energy stores in the battery. I'm planning to buy the lithium upgrade that will be avaiable by the end of 2008, wich wiñlll contain more than 7 kwh! With this upgrade, i'll be able to increase my range from 40 km to 80km!