All Tests – Introducing the MP3 Hybrid – A different scooter

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Getting in touch with the MP3 Hybrid

All Tests - Introducing the MP3 Hybrid - A different scooter

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 !

A different scooter

"It’s very interesting", finally points out to us Marcel Driessen, the big boss of Piaggio France,"because with this new type of product, we have to think differently"In the case of the MP3 Hybrid, pure performance – apart from fuel consumption?! – does not have the same importance as in other" two-wheelers "….

Thus, putting a few seconds longer than the others to reach 20 or 25 km / h and slip through traffic jams no longer appears to be a handicap for the user, who derives his satisfaction elsewhere: compared to the scoots of his little comrades , its MP3 Hybrid consumes and pollutes less !

"When electricity comes from wind turbines or photovoltaic panels, the MP3 Hybrid becomes 100% ecological", remarks Jean-Philippe Dauviau, marketing director of Piaggio France, even if the Green Khmers will still pretend that batteries or solar panels also have a significant ecological footprint…

In response, users of the MP3 Hybrid can always advance the fact that Piaggio offers a concrete alternative to "all oil" and its damn CO2 which warms the climate … but does not directly penetrate the ozone layer, like the thinks little Nicolas !

"With this MP3 Hybrid, Piaggio expands the family and confirms its leadership role in solving traffic, safety and environmental problems", summarize the managers of Piaggio France."It is a showcase, a product that shows the technological know-how of the Piaggio group".

Battery life – Lithium-Ion type manufactured in the "Far East"then assembled in Italy – estimated at 1500" cycles "or full recharges:"in electric mode, this makes it possible to travel 30,000 km and in mixed use, at the rate of 200 days per year, the Italians predict that the battery of the MP3 Hybrid should last seven years", explains Jean-Philippe Dauviau.

This battery can therefore be recharged while driving, but also on any mains socket (but without it being possible for the moment to mount it at home or at the office, read below). And since the presentation of the new model this summer, performance has already improved: "it takes one hour to recharge the battery to 80% and two to refuel", assures us Paolo Capozzella.

"Yes, originally we were careful", hence the 85% after two hours and 100% after three indicated at the beginning (read),"but we realized during the tests that we could speed up the process without disturbing the system", confirms the engineer to the picky Journal moto du Net.

Likewise, the Italian specialist assures us that progress in the field of accumulators continues to grow: "in two years, at the same volume, a battery will be able to store twice as much energy". We can reasonably conclude that in 2012, an MP3 Hybrid will cover 40 km in electric mode..

Let’s just hope that by then, the Italian engineers will have found a way to refresh the batteries placed under the saddle more discreetly! Because as soon as the MP3 Hybrid stops moving, the noise of the fans of its battery – more annoying than deafening, in reality – comes to cover the "absolute silence"praised by the presentation video clip … Too bad !

Another possibility opened up by the meteoric development of batteries: significantly reducing the size of batteries for equal performance. Because with its 13 kg, the current battery of the MP3 Hybrid is not designed to leave its host: no question of taking it under the arm to charge it in the office or outside a garage..

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