The ProGo propane-powered scooter for commuters promises to be cleaner than those that rely on petrol or electric motors.
It’s the last mile of a journey that’s the toughest. You’ve done your bit for the environment by leaving your car at home, but the train station or bus stop is still twenty minutes from home. It’s enough to put most people off and it’s the reason why a propane-powered scooter is selling like hot cakes on the crowd funding website Kickstarter.
There are many battery-powered folding bicycles, skateboards and even unicycles for commuters, but designer Zev Charles Ellenberg believes propane offers a more practical alternative.
The ProGo is light enough to carry, extremely cost efficient and easy to maintain. It is powered by the re-fillable canisters that are used for camping stoves.
Ellenberg is aiming the £280 scooter at Californians, whose choice of transport is governed by strict emissions laws. British commuters looking for an imaginative solution for the last mile of their journey will be hampered by legal restrictions of their own. Such scooters, while capable of only 20 mph, require a driving licence and insurance if they are used on the roads. Unfortunately, no insurance is prepared to offer cover so they can never be legally used on roads.
While Go-Ped type scooters always attract attention, a more discreet way to effortlessly cruise the streets is a battery-powered skateboard will not only shake up the electric vehicle (EV) market, but revolutionise the way we perceive personal transport.
Boosted Boards looks indistinguishable from a conventional longboard, but nestling between their wheels are a battery and twin electric motors rated at 2000 watts (2.6 horsepower) that propel a rider at 20mph over a distance of 6 miles.
In terms of price, range and usability, lightweight vehicles like bicycles – and now skateboards – are the most practical option for those who want the benefits of an EV today. Unlike cars, electric bicycles and skateboards are light enough to be carried into a house to be re-charged and if the battery runs flat, the rider can switch to leg power in an instant.
John Thomas
Provision in UK law for innovative low/no carbon transport are a sick joke.
You have to think no-one in the Department of Transport understands the threat that carbon emissions to the atmosphere present to our children’s children.
We need people in the Department of Transport with the mental capacity to change the law to permit as many Segway’s, ProGo’s and electric whatevers as possible, ASAP.
Simon Fuller
These small portable electric and gas power scooters and skateboards could and should be part of an eco friendly revolution in personal transport, worldwide! CO2 induced global warming is really happening and is really dangerous. Loss of polar ice reduces radiation cooling and melts even more ice, further accelerating the warming. Increased atmospheric moisture further increases warming as H2O is a strong greenhouse gas. Etc etc! The cycleway networks could accommodate small clean electric and gas power bikes, scooters and skateboards. If the authorities were to build a lot more cycleways/greenways, including dedicated greenway routes alongside existing roads, then a personal transport revolution could take place. Dedicated cycleways are required, seperate from footpaths and roads. It is time not to just think about doing this but to do it !!!!
Matt
Daft little gas powered scooters are the last thing we need. What a triumph of laziness over common sense. I might have guessed California would come into it.