Rock down to Electric Avenue: Cruising on a Vectrix

By Giles Elgood

LONDON (Reuters) - One of the first things you notice about the Vectrix electric scooter is that if you twist the throttle forward, the bike will go backwards, which is something you need to be ready for.

It's handy for getting out of tight parking spots, but can scare the life out of anyone who might be standing behind you.

The other thing that makes this big scooter stand out - or whatever the opposite of that is - is that it makes almost no noise when you are riding along.

A barely discernable high-pitched whine is all you get, so pedestrians about to step into your path need a bracing blast on the horn to keep them from certain death.

And since this bike runs off the charge it gets when you plug it into the electrical mains, your friends at the local filling station will be wondering why you never call in these days.

You won't get much more than 60-odd miles from each charge, so you need to remember to plug it in at night. You can boost the charge a little by rolling the throttle forward so that engine braking tops up the battery, but this thing is a city hopper and not a motorway cruiser.

The Vectrix, which is made by the U.S.-based Vectrix Corporation www.vectrix.com, has been on the market in Britain for quite a few months.

But you won't see many of them on the streets of London just now. It only costs 20 pence to charge the battery, but the bike costs 6,900 pounds, much more than a conventional scooter.