While the B.C. Liberals’ 2008 “carbon crackdown” budget, which came out last week, didn’t make everyone happy, fans of battery-propelled transport will like it. Among other things, it proposes that electric-powered tricycles and bicycles be exempt from the seven-percent provincial sales tax, and buyers of electric-powered scooters and motorcycles will be able to claim up to 50 percent off the PST—for at least the next three years.

“We’ve been lobbying for this,” says Steve Miloshev, president of Greenwit Technologies. “It means at least, what, $150 off the price of a new scooter.”¦That can only make it easier for people to buy one.”

Miloshev is convinced that clean, emissions-free transportation is the wave of the future, and he has the improved sales numbers to prove it. From near bankruptcy several years ago, his Vancouver-based company has gone on to sell almost 1,000 units in Canada, with dealers in B.C. and Ontario selling Motorino products out of his E-Ride franchises. His company is now the largest distributor of electric bicycles and scooters in Canada.

“It costs approximately eight cents per 100 kilometres to operate one of our scooters,” he says, “and the quality of the bikes is now better than it was just a couple of years ago. They’re more reliable and more powerful.” About 60 percent of his customers are female, and increasing numbers of people are perceiving electric scooters not as recreational transport but as legitimate commuter vehicles, Miloshev says.

His stable of alternate-powered two-wheelers breaks down into three basic categories: bicycle, scooter, and motorcycle. “If it’s an electric bicycle,” he explains, “you can ride it without a licence or insurance, and most of the time it’s regulated in the same way. You can park it on the sidewalk in the same way as a normal bike.” With a top speed of no more than 32 kilometres per hour and an engine output of no greater than 500 watts, electric bicycles can be ridden by anyone over 16 years of age, provided they wear a helmet. This includes models that look like scooters but have the telltale pedals sticking out the sides, for supplemental power. These are classed as power-assisted bicycles by Transport Canada, and can also be ridden without a specific motorcycle licence. They usually have a range of no more than 50 kilometres.

Electric motorcycles, on the other hand, fall under the same laws as scooters with engines larger than 50 cubic centimetres. They can sometimes get up to 70 kilometres per hour, and have the same sort of performance as their conventional, internal-combustion counterparts. In other words, you need a licence to operate one, you can’t take them on the freeway, you must have insurance and a plate, and you’re required to obey the same traffic laws as cars when driving one. They are strictly for city use and have a range of maybe 100 kilometres, although, says Miloshev, some models have room for an additional battery, which can double their range. They can also climb hills and carry a passenger—within reason. Both scooters and motorcycles take from three to five hours to recharge, although a special quick-charge booster is available that cuts the time down to about two hours.

Despite their obvious environmental correctness and the current push for clean-running transportation gripping most Canadian cities, electric scooters and motorcycles are still kind of a hard sell, especially where government bureaucracy is concerned. “Do you know,” says Miloshev, “that you or I can build an electric car in the garage, and for about 25 bucks put a plate on it? But if I start bringing in electric scooters and motorcycles, Transport Canada will force me to spend $40,000 to certify each one. I can’t afford that.”

In fact, Miloshev says he’ll probably stop selling scooters and motorcycles and instead focus on electric bicycles. “There are just too many obstacles to overcome with motorcycles,” he says.

He also thinks it won’t be long before things start to get really competitive. “Right now, China has the best combination of quality and labour costs, but India and maybe even Brazil are cheaper and will probably start up. And I don’t know why some of the big companies from Japan haven’t gotten involved. I think it’s just a matter of time.”

Ditto for battery technology. At this point, conventional lead-acid battery packs are the only game in town, but if and when lithium-ion batteries, for example, become affordable, everything will change. “Right now, if you fit a lithium-ion battery to one of our products, it puts the price up to almost $5,000. That’s not competitive when you consider that you can buy a gas-engine scooter for as low as $2,000 these days. But on the other hand, that type of power gives you better range, quicker recharge times, and longer battery life.”

But things can’t be all bad. Miloshev is currently finalizing plans to expand into the Netherlands and France.