The Piaggio Group announced it has secured a €60 million (US$77.6 million) financing deal with the European Investment Bank to fund the development of new products.

The seven-year loan will fund research and development projects at Piaggio’s Italian facilities. The loan is in addition to investments Piaggio already budgeted for the period from 2013 to 2015 to develop new products. The new research and development projects will focus on three fields: safety, fuel-efficient combustion engines and alternative fuel technologies.

For safety, Piaggio will be working on active, passive and preventative safety measures. This is especially important in light of recent legislation enacted by the European Parliament to make ABS mandatory for motorcycles and scooters with engines larger than 125cc by 2016. Piaggio has already gotten a start toward that goal, gradually adding ABS to models such as the 2013 Aprilia RSV4 R and RSV4 Factory. Continue Reading »

French manufacturer Peugeot is not very well known on this side of the Atlantic. Sure, some people may have heard a thing or two about Peugeot’s cars, but it’s easy to forget the company also produces scooters. Next week, Peugeot will present its new Onyx supercar concept at the Paris Motor Show, but it won’t be alone. By its side will be a bicycle concept and the Onyx Supertrike concept pictured above.

The Onyx Supertrike is still just a design concept at this point but it does have some interesting features. With two wheels on the front end and one at the rear, the Onyx Supertrike resembles the Piaggio MP3. The Onyx however has a large hump in the middle.

This hump is part of the Onyx Supertrike’s transformer function, allowing it to convert from a sporty trike to an urban commuter. In sporty mode, the rider leans over the hump and positions his feet on the rear footrests. Remove the hump however and the Onyx Supertrike resembles the MP3 with feet forward positioning and step-through scooter design. We’re not sure how practical this feature is, but again, it’s a design concept, not a production model. Continue Reading »

Indian manufacturer and former Honda partner Hero MotoCorp has unveiled a new hybrid scooter prototype at the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi.

The Hero Leap runs on a series hybrid powertrain with the battery-powered electric motor providing most of the power and the gasoline engine acting as a range extender, charging the battery and supplying power when the battery runs low. Hero claims fuel economy of up to 100 km/l, which translates to an eye-popping 235 mpg.

Continue Reading »

The Piaggio Group revealed its business plans for the next three years with a focus on developing fuel efficient engines and introducing new electric motors and hybrid powertrains.

Beginning in 2012, Piaggio plans to introduce a new generation of engines with lower emissions and improved fuel economy.

Examples include the new 350cc engine introduced in the Piaggio Beverly SportTouring and the fuel-injected 125cc four-stroke, three-valve engine equipped in the Vespa Quarantasei concept (which the company has apparently, and quietly, renamed as the much easier-to-pronounce Vespa 946).

Moto Guzzi is also introducing a new 750cc 90-degree V-Twin engine in its 2012 V7, V7 Scrambler and V7 Racer. According to Piaggio, the new V7 engine pictured below, after the jump) offers a 10% increase in power output as well as improved torque and fuel economy and fewer emissions.

Continue Reading »

It’s been about a year since Bombardier Recreational Products announced it was developing a hybrid version of the Can-Am Spyder Roadster. Developed in partnership with the Advanced Technology Center at Sherbrooke University in Quebec and with funding from the Government of Canada, the hybrid Spyder is an ambitious project for BRP.

We met up with Scott MacWilliam from BRP at the Toronto Motorcycle Show to take a look at a working prototype of the Can-Am’s hybrid three-wheeler. The Can-Am Spyder Hybrid project is still early in its development, just a year into the projected four-year program, but MacWilliam says BRP is on track of its performance goals.

Continue Reading »

The ET-120 is the hybrid version of the Strike EV that was released earlier by Eko Vehicles based in Bangalore, India and claims to be the first hybrid motorcycle in the world.  The new hybrid bike will feature a 70cc gas engine and electric motor that will get 120 km/l or about 282 mpg in hybrid mode, has a top speed of 40 mph but the power and torque will be equivalent to a 120cc engine.

More info and a press release after the jump.

Continue Reading »