Here in the United States, the price of battery-powered scooters is hard to justify when compared to its gas-powered brethren. KLD Technologies wants to change that with scooters it claims offer solid performance and cost about as much as a Vespa.
The scooters feature motors with something KLD Technologies calls nano-crystaline technology to improve efficiency over traditional iron-core motors. The company's Neue drive eliminates the need for a transmission and will propel the scooters when they arrive in the U.S. next year.
The Neue motor system uses the nano-crystalline composite material to conduct energy 10 times more efficiently than traditional, iron-core motors, according to KLD. The composite material generates less heat and allows the motor to operate at a high-frequency to low RPM ratio. This, the company says, eliminates the need for a transmission and enables the scooters to attain speeds comparable to gas-powered two-wheelers.
The E-165 will be the "highway friendly" model that KLD claims will do 65 mph and offer more than 100 miles of range. The E-140 will be "more suited for urban environments," the company says, with a top speed of 40 mph and a range of of 50 miles.
Up until now, KLD which is based in Austin, Texas, has focused on increasing its market share in Vietnam, where it is working with Sufat, Vietnam's leading scooter-maker. Christian Okonsky, founder and CEO of KLD Technologies, sees Vietnam as a proving ground for KLD's technology because there are more than 22 million two-wheelers on the road there. He said the response to the technology prompted the company to develop it for the U.S. market.
"The idea to bring our technology to the U.S. practically fell into our lap," Okonsky told Wired.com. "We're not interested in selling millions of scooters, but we do want to establish a presence and demonstrate the value of our technology to the American people."
KLD scooters go for about $2,000 in Vietnam. The scooters headed to America will feature lithium-ion batteries and cost $3,288. That is about $5,000 less than the VX-1E by Vetrix, an electric scooter of similar size and ability.
Image: KLD Technologies
