Zoomi Life

I’ve been pretty curious lately about the XM-5000Li electric moped. X-treme Scooter’s newest e-moped for 2009, the XM-5000Li looks damn good and has some nice technical specs: a 60mph top speed, 80+ mile range, and a six hour recharge rate. But it’s hard to get any information out of X-treme past the marketing found on their website, and their products have been hit-or-miss in the past in terms of quality. Their packaging hasn’t been great either. So I’ve been really interested to find someone’s personal experience with buying and receiving the XM-5000Li.

Read More: Unboxing the XM-5000Li Electric Moped: One New Owners Experience

Sometimes failure and adversity can pleasantly turn into opportunity. Take this morning, for example. I utterly failed to wake up on time to make it to today’s Santa Monica Electric Vehicle parade, an event I’d been looking forward to for some time. However, my failure to arrive on time also presented me with an opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with Adam Maoz of Zero Emission Motors, and to test drive his Volt electric moped.

Read More: Volt Electric Moped Test Drive

It’s not often that I say something like “Wow” when I look at a scooter or moped. I don’t generally like them. This one is different. The XM-5000Li electric moped has a lot of great features for such a low-priced machine, including a boatload of power. Most mopeds are underpowered little things without much excuse for their existence. Not this one.

Read More: Closer Look: The XM-5000Li Electric Moped by X-Treme Scooters

As with our electric car picks for 2008, these electric scooters are all available in the USA now or will be in 2009 and are top picks for various reasons: design, capability, innovation, etc. Most of you know by now that scooters are one of my least favorite things, but there are an amazing number of them on the EV market and they seem to be popular as commuters and all-around “get around” machines.

Read More: Our Top 5 Electric Scooters Of 2008

The new Bolt Electric Moped from Zero Emission Motors is the newest edition to their lineup of 1,500watt Electric Mopeds. We last caught up with the guys at Zero Emission Motors when they released a similarly named the Volt Electric Moped. The Volt was the first electric moped, that I know of, in the price range, to achieve its’ top speed/range numbers.

Read More: Zero Emission Motors Unveils Bolt Electric Scooter & Savings for the Holidays

In motor vehicles, whether they be electric or gasoline powered, or halfway between, there’s a basic understanding among manufacturers: if you don’t have anything to ad, repaint it and call it “new” anyway, so you can market it to the masses.

Such is the case with Vectrix’s new 2009 series. Not that this is a bad thing. The scooters (which look like motorcycles, as I mentioned in an article not long ago) are basically good how they are and don’t need much change anyway. They changed the name (from MaxiScooter to VX-1) and that’s about it.

Read More: Vectrix Announces 2009 Vectrix VX-1 Electric Scooter

Piaggio makes unique scooters, to say the least, that utilize 3-wheeled designs. Unfortunately, Piaggio decided to name this machine the MP3, which their marketers failed to tell them would instantly make it seem less hip as it tries to rip off the popular music format’s household status.

When I tell you I’m riding an MP3, you’ll assume I’m using a creative euphemism for listening to a song. No one thinks of scooters when they hear “MP3.” If you see a scooter and someone tells you it’s called an “MP3,” you’ll just shake your head and say “what a stupid name.”

Read More: Piaggio Announces MP3 Hybrid Scooter - Gets 141 MPG

If you prefer traditional, but more modern-styled scooters, then the Zapino electric scooter will appeal to you for sure. For the urban or close suburban commuter, the around-towner, or people who need a small, low-cost get-arounder for their RV or similar use, it’s hard to beat the Zapino. And for the ladies out there? It’s available in pink! Sold yet?

Read More: Zapino: ZAP’s Electric Scooter

Scooters have come a long way from their early days as glorified bicycles and nerd-haulers. They aren’t just for geeks anymore, but have grown up into stylish and sleek performance machines. The Vectrix VX-1 is one of the top machines on this list and is fast becoming the world’s leader in all-electric, road worthy electric scooters. Even the NYPD is fielding them!

Read More: Closer Look: The Vectrix VX-1 Electric Scooter

Zero Emission Motors’ Volt electric scooter

If you’re looking for an inexpensive electric scooter tailor-made for city driving, then the new Volt electric scooter from Zero Emission Motors might be just the ticket for you. The new Volt electric scooter (named just like the newly-announced electric car, but unlike the car, available today) is a new electric scooter just released by our friends over at Zero Emission Motors - we got the opportunity to meet Adam Maoz, president of the company, a couple of weeks back at the Kick Gas festival in San Diego, and got to see the Volt in person.

Read More: Zero Emission Motors Unveils Volt Electric Scooter