In an unexpected move for any of the Big4 (HYSK – Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki), Yamaha has placed a full page ad ,(apparently) for the E-2 electric scooter in today’s Tokyo newspaper.  I’m not exactly sure why we are seeing “E-2″ featured when I was expecting to see something called the EC-03 or Passol-L.  I do see “EC-03 & PAS” there at the bottom and perhaps someone can chime in with some help with figuring all that out.

According to our man-on-the-street, Akisan, motorbikes are never advertised in the paper.  Motorbikes are getting bad reputation in the eyes of the younger generation for the number of accidents and their association with bōsōzoku.

Perhaps Yamaha sees a clean-cut, peace-sign-thowing, earth-friendly electric as a means of cleaning up the motorbiker image?  Whatever the reason, they chunked an impressive pile of ¥en at the idea to make it happen.

From what we know about the aluminum-alloy framed EC-03, it’s got a 50V 14Ah Lithum-ion battery that can push it along at 18 mph (on a flat surface) for a distance of 26 miles with a 6 hour charge time; similar performance to what we saw from the UltraMotor A2B Metro… maybe a bit of a longer distance.

I personally hope this electric “personal commuter” receives a warm welcome form the Japanese consumer.  Yamaha only has plans to release 1,000 units of the EC-03 this year starting September 1st, 2010 in the Tokyo Metropolitan area and all over Japan starting TODAY.

Oh!  And here’s another shot of the green wonder.  What do you think?  Looks a tiny bit familiar to me, but I just can’t place it.  Not the Yamaha Cuxi 100.  I’m not sure what.  Take a closer look and tell me what you think about the design.  We know that the Mini E Scooter concept will be powered by a Lithium Ion battery but we’ll have to hold out another week or so before we know what kind of motor is moving this concept.

Also coming in with their “ME TOO!” concept is Smart with their Smart Escooter. The design is very alien, but it’s growing on me.

***UPDATE 9/24/2010***
Ladies and gentlemen, we have video!

And (thanks to Lorenzo from SCGT) some footage of the E Scooter in the wild.

Anyway, I posted the video above and you can read the write up on their site HERE>.

STUPID CRAZY shout-outs go to my co-conspirators contributors:
Greg Griffin – Test Rider
Wiretree - Music 0:00 – 1:12 “Back In Town (instrumental)”
GeekBeats – Music 1:15 – 1:55 “The Stride”
General Fuzz – Music 3:25 – 5:31 “Summer”

ENJOY!

The Progressive Automotive XPrize! In my opinion, this is the most important competition of our lifetime. Sure, it’s great that a team will receive a grand prize of $10M for building a car that gets at least 100 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalency) in real world driving while being safe, affordable and desirable.  BUT, the real winners here are you and I… and our children… and their children.

The XPrize is Generation X’s version of the moon landing.  Think about all the social advancements that the space race brought us!  Ok, Tang… I know there are others, but what I’m trying to say is that the XPrize is a major catalyst for change! The winners of this competition will provide evolutionary genetics to our next generation of transportation!

Knowing the importance of the Automotive XPrize, don’t you think you should participate?  So, you can tell your grandkids “You know why you’re driving that newfangled doohickey?  Because I voted for it!” and they can nod their head and say “SURE you did gramps.”  Well, this is your moment!  You’ve got from now until August 16th to vote for FAN FAVORITE in the MOST PRACTICAL category.  Need MORE incentive?  How about this… Register to vote and every day that you vote you get another chance to win $3000 bucks!  That’s worth it, right?  Voting to tell the builders what would make your future car more practical while getting chances to bank $3k?!

Fan Faves for MOST STYLISH (Zap Alias) and MOST INNOVATIVE (Aptera 2e) have already been chosen… so vote on MOST PRACTICAL now and then MOST WANTED coming up August 17th – September 6th.

AND… as long as we’re talking about voting, K-Way MOTUS sent us a little note and they would love for you to pick their ride (seen above) as most practical.  It’s essentially an MP3 with a roof like a BMW C1, but running on a parallel electric / gas hybrid platform.  You’ve a pair of electric motors in the two front wheels and for the long haul it’s got an 850cc gasoline engine on the real wheel.  The K-Way MOTUS will hold two passengers and in a future incarnation they plan on adding a swivel-out front seat for easy entry & exit.

There are lots of exciting choices, so go register and CAST YOUR VOTE!

***UPDATE***
Oh, we forgot to mention that “The $10 millionprize grand prize will be presented at an Award Ceremony on September 16, in Washington, D.C.”

Isn’t that sad?  I feel a bit like Jon Stewart back on 1/20/09.  But, I actually will miss the brand a bit. Now we’ll never hear any more talk of the Hummer bicycle, scooter, eyewear, heck think of how awesome the the Hummer O2 would have been.  The dream is now over.  Look out FJ Cruiser, you’re next!

(Dang, I should got a Ruckus)

…a small scooter but have a large integrated storage area and an optional storage compartment in the mid-section of the scooter. The flexible steering handlebar allows the scooter to transform into a more potent motorbike for higher speeds which improves the aerodynamics of this vehicle and brings more pleasure of riding.

Interesting idea! I’ve always liked the cargo scooter and in fact, this isn’t the first one to show up on Tuvie. I’m also a big fan of the cargo Microcar. I have to wonder if Aprilia ever sold any of their Cargobikes, which was really nothing more than a SportCity with a large storage compartment where the step-through once was. Not taking anything away from it! I’d like to see that kit available here in the USA! *writes email to Cargobike*

Oh, and… it’s really too bad we won’t ever see any Honda Cargo Gyro’s or new Bajaj Vans here. Well, not so much “too bad” as “it really pisses me off”. *climbs on soapbox* STOP the auto lobbyists from blocking the acceptance of micro work vehicles on American roads! *steps off soapbox* At least I think (hope) you can still get Peirspeed’s Pizza scooter.

Right now, according to GasBuddy, the national gas price average is about $2.63 per gallon.  Not, bad.  Not GREAT, but better than most of Europe where prices average around $7 a gallon (OUCH!).  GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan doesn’t expect prices to go down this winter.  Here’s a small clip from his recent blog post:

What a year it has been. Since seeing gasoline prices collapse last fall, prices have risen some to nearly 41% higher than they were a year ago, and I have to say, the economy isn’t looking much healthier, so what happens now?

Looking at data, I believe that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, prices are likely to rise. The state of the economy here is improving, albeit slowly, and that means that our appetite for motor fuels will increase. While I don’t foresee any shocks at the pump between now and Christmas, I do think we’ll see fluctuating prices, but we will see prices slowly move higher.

We’re also seeing an increase in geopolitical tensions as Iran began war games this week, pushing up concern about a rash move from the oil producing country. Also helping boost prices is the perception that with additional refineries closing, capacity will drop, adding more risk into the market if demand moves up in the coming months.

So, what does that mean?  I hope it doesn’t mean we revisit the $3.00/gal prices of 2007, like we had the winter before the price explosion of 2008.