Eicma 2008: Piaggio MP3 Hybrid

Piaggio has presented its new MP3 Hybrid at the motorcycle show, Eicma, in Milan.
This is a special motorcycle equipped with a hybrid system, destined for the urban motorcycle market.
With plenty of development and research going into alternative and ecological motorcycles, this important urban sector could soon see a revolution.

The MP3 Hybrid is not simply a scooter with two engines, but a new advanced system of integrated engineering of a thermal engine with low environmental impact, and a zero-emission electric engine.

Both the systems have positive aspects along with some faults that are often complementary.
Combustion engines have better range and power but give off emissions, while electric engines are environmentally friendly, but have limited range and speed.
Piaggio states of its new hybrid scooter project:Piaggio MP3 Hybrid is a “parallel” hybrid in which a combustion engine and an electric motor are mechanically and electronically linked and simultaneously supply power to the wheel.

In this linked gas/electric engine, the gasoline engine behaves like a normal catalysed four-stroke engine with excellent performance and distance range on the one hand and low emissions and fuel consumption on the other.

The gas engine offers sparkling performance in standard running, charging the electric motor all the while.
And, whenever the rider needs to accelerate particularly fast — when starting from a stopped position, for example — the electric motor assists the engine, supplying about 85% extra performance that gives the vehicle snappier, more efficient acceleration over the first few metres, when it is really needed in town riding.
The Piaggio Hybrid is not your average hybrid engine: other scooters may stop, but the Piaggio MP3 Hybrid keeps going, quick and silent, because it can also work in electric-only.
The rider simply turns a handlebar switch to shut down the combustion engine and turn the Piaggio Hybrid into a totally environment-friendly scooter, a zero-emissions vehicle that can go into any area closed to other types of traffic.
Another turn of the switch and the thermal engine turns itself on and goes back to being the main engine, charging the battery as it travels through areas open to normal traffic.
The scooter’s range can be optimised in the garage by charging the battery from an electricity source using the battery charger.
This reduces running costs, electricity being cheaper than gasoline.
The rider uses all the normal controls (accelerator, brakes and additional handlebar commands) as well as a specific switch to choose one of the different operating modes: two hybrid and two electric-only (reverse included).
Hybrid manages power output from the two engines, thermal and electric, using a ride-by-wire type system: the electronic management system interprets the rider’s request for more torque and selects the assist ratio based on the state of the system (e.
g.
the level of battery charge).
During deceleration and braking, the control system recovers and accumulates power that is lost on normal vehicles in the battery.
The three hybrid modes are conceived to optimize performances, consumption and battery charge.
In electric-only mode, the Piaggio Hybrid shuts down the combustion engine and turns into a silent, zero-emission electric vehicle.
Ride-by-wire technology not only allows the control system to optimally manage the combined power output of the two engines but also ‘forces’ the thermal engine to work when it can be most efficient, thereby reducing specific consumption, with obvious advantages in terms of lower consumption and emissions.
With electric recharge taking only three hours from a normal household outlet, Piaggio has really worked on a practical and realistic offering.
While pricing and availability is unknown, let’s hope this hybrid scooter enters production and doesn’t remain just a prototype.