Smooth Operator

Electric Vehicles Aren’t New Anymore, But Trying To Find Viable Solutions To Make Them Usable Is. This Scooter Manufacturer From Taiwan Hopes To Do Just That And Allen Ko, Chairman Of Kymco, Believes They Have The Blueprint For It.

- Debabrata Sarkar

Taiwan; rings a bell. But not the sort that warrants a place in a car magazine. It may be a speck of an island in the China Sea, but every other important consumer electronics company seems to have their roots there. And given the brands we most commonly use in India, I’d say we make up a bit of a fan club for them. We haven’t been complete strangers to automotive exports either, there was a distinct line of scooters from SYM that made their way to our shores not so long back. However, there is another name that shows up when it comes to two-wheel mobility – Kymco.

Easily the largest scooter maker in Taiwan, Kymco exists in various markets across Europe and North America too, with mobility products that cover a variety of genres and propulsion. So, when the Taiwanese manufacturer showed offthe Ionex concept at the Tokyo Motorcycle Show last month, it seems to be more of a natural extension of their line-up. They already have a couple of electric scooters on sale and have been manufacturing electric powered, personal mobility products as well. However, these have been fairly standard looking scooters which face the regular challenges of electric power.