Piaggio gets ?150 million from EIB, will invest in green tech
Click above for more high-res shots of the Piaggio MP3 hybrid
Piaggio has been making scooters for decades, but much of its legacy lies with dirty 2-stroke machines. More recently, Piaggio's best two- and three-wheelers have used clean, efficient 4-stroke powerplants, but the company has designs on improving emissions and fuel economy even further by using hybrid drivetrains and electric motors for its scooters. We've seen the first fruits of this labor already in the form of the hybrid MP3, but these developments are extremely expensive. Compounding matters even further, the global market for all types of vehicles is down, regardless of size or the number of wheels. To help Piaggio stay at the forefront of technology, the European Investment Bank has granted the Italian company low-interest loans totaling €150 million, which are supposed to be paid back withing 7 years. Besides eco-friendly improvements, the money will also be put to good use funding the research and development of new safety features.
Gallery: Piaggio MP3 hybrid scooter
[Source: Faster and Faster]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Carney 3:18PM (12/31/2008)
The smaller the vehicle, the more burdensome making it a hybrid is - the redundant second electric engine and the enormous battery constitute a lot of extra space and weight. Not to mention the thousands of dollars in extra expense
A much smarter, easier, practical, and affordable method of achieving green status is to make the bike flex-fuel capable, able to burn alcohol fuel as well as gasoline. It costs only about $100 per vehicle to add this capability.
Alcohols burn clean, with no smoke, soot, or particulate pollution. They produce much less nitrogen oxide pollution because they burn cooler. And no sulfur dioxide, so most of the vehicular contribution to acid rain goes away. Also far less ozone and ozone smog. Ethanol and most methanols produce no net increase of CO2 emissions (so using them instead of gasoline is a major improvement in that regard), and growing the crops and plants that can produce them cools the climate. What's more, methanol can be made from sewage, trash, weed plants that clog water systems, and otherwise environmentally problematic "black liquor" from paper mills.
Alcohol is not a carcinogen or a mutagen. When leaked or spilled it biodegrades readily within a day or hours into harmless components.
Also of interest to bike enthusiasts, alcohol fuel has a higher octane rating, with better acceleration and responsiveness.
So unlike expensive, heavy hybrids that only stretch your gasoline a little further, or exotic fuel vehicles like natural gas that are out of luck when they're out of fuel, flex fuel vehicles can use gasoline if they have to and alcohol whenever they can find it.
Everybody wins.
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radler63 4:02PM (12/31/2008)
Smaller vehicles could be hybridized easily - think about pedal assist!
gorr 5:05PM (12/31/2008)
These state-subsidized peoples are not dead yet. They enforce battery-tech to manufacturers to put them toward bankrupcy and they push like mad the nightmare of land-cultivated ethanol which will only give porverty to most of the peoples. All they do is menacing any workers or small independant business. As of today not a single manufacturers of anything that move forward is making money. They have all credit problems and environmental insolube problems made by u.s.a politicians own by banks of wall streets.
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jpm 8:51PM (12/31/2008)
Why do they have to be so goddam ugly?
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jerry jiang 10:22AM (1/02/2009)
Hybrid as it power-train solution?? NO!!
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