No word from GCC as to who provided the power electronics for the electric scooter. Enova supplied Tokyo R&D with a 120 kW Electric Drive System—consisting of an enhanced induction motor and controls—earlier this year for integration into the bus.
Tokyo R&D recently introduced the es-x2 electric scooter. According to Green Car Congress, the scooter has a top speed of 60 kph (37 mph) and a range of 40 km (25 miles) on one charge. Charging time is 2.5 hours. With those specifications one has to believe that the battery system is lithium ion.
Founded in 1981, the company has 5 divisions: Vehicle, EV System, Composite, Mechatronics and Racing. The company supports clients in high technology research & development.
As previously noted, mechatronics combines mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, and software engineering. With lithium ion batteries, there is more of a need for software engineering since the Battery Management System must work with the motor controller and charging system under varying conditions. Other electric scooter manufacturers certainly are either testing, offering or considering the inclusion of advanced lithium batteries because PLI batteries are generally one third the size and one-fifth the weight of VRLA (Valve Regulated, Lead Acid) batteries.
For example, in a prior article Green Car Congress relayed an announcement from Oxygen S.p.A. about a new line of electric scooters, designed for delivery fleets across Europe, that will use Valence’s new U-Charge XP lithium-ion battery systems, to include “integrated battery monitoring electronics and a communications port to access battery data.”
Want another example? This blog previously reported that advanced Polymer Lithium-Ion (PLI) batteries would be available in electric motorcycles and scooters for sale from ETG (Ecodrive Technology Group, Inc.).
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Bill Moore writes that wheelchair and scooter markets at $1.7 billion in 2005 are expected to grow to $5.3 billion by 2012. Transforming Grannies, Ho!
Bill Moore also notes that, in the past few months a number of Indian companies, to include Ultra Motor, Electrotherm, Avon Cycles, KEV India, Kaiser Auto Moto, Standard Group, take the plunge into manufacturing this environmental friendly vehicle category.