Getting in touch with the MP3 Hybrid

The best-selling two-wheeler in France today – yes! -, the Piaggio MP3 arrives this fall with a new technology on the market: the hybrid! Site was able to test it a few days before its arrival at the dealership: first impressions !

Small safe, big price…

On the storage side, the MP3 Hybrid is still devoid of storage compartments, while the space under the saddle is fully requisitioned by the battery and new electronic equipment. Fortunately, the trunk remains free !

This safe accommodates a jet helmet without worry and even accepts, by asking nicely, a full face: the XR-1000 protected in its cover comes in lying on its side, for example. On the other hand, there is no question of accommodating a case or a bag of A4 or larger format. It will be necessary to carry them on the back or between the knees, hanging on the ring provided for this purpose.

The 48-liter Top-case available as an accessory will therefore be welcome. Note that, at the end of the day, its courtesy lighting is powered by photovoltaic cells !

Apart from its new practical considerations, the MP3 Hybrid retains the strengths of its brothers: exemplary stability, reassuring cornering, safe braking and remarkable comfort, including for the passenger.

In terms of weaknesses, we note again and again the absence of ABS, engine performance (s) behind the competition, a significant weight and a high price … Very high even, since the hybrid version of the Piaggio tricycle will reach € 8,990 !

Available from the month of October in about sixty dealerships selected by Piaggio France, the MP3 Hybrid is roughly twice as expensive as a 125 type "GT" scooter. Compared to the French best seller, the MP3 LT 400, it requires an extension of € 2,000.

Unfortunately for Piaggio and its future customers, no help – in the form of a tax credit as is practiced in the automobile – is foreseen for the purchase of this "green" scooter….

"We now have some lobbying work to do but it looks difficult", explains to Site Jean-Philippe Dauviau,"for the moment we are the only manufacturer to offer this type of product and we are not French … The support of the union chamber may be too weak. We will also contact the city of Paris". Will we have to wait for Peugeot Motocycles to deign to finalize its famous HYmotion 3 concept (unveiled last year at the Auto Show, read) to see this issue move forward ?

It remains to be seen whether the MP3 Hybrid will succeed in attracting French customers with its consumption and its emissions of polluting gases reduced by half compared to the competition – which the Site will verify in detail very soon..

"It is not easy to estimate a volume and if we announce a number, you will not miss us if we do not reach it", Marcel Driessen judiciously points out to us … before launching himself:"I would be happy to sell 1000 MP3 Hybrid next year", confides us the sympathetic big boss. To be continued: answer next year in the Site market reports !

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