BENELLI is keen not to be left behind in the fast progressing electric vehicle world with releases seemingly being scheduled left, right and centre - so they decided to get their electric Dong out for the electric market, but it’s only in Asia for now.
First reported by RideApart, the Benelli Dong will be first seen in Indonesia, but other Dongs may then subsequently pop up in European and American markets - such is the demand for affordable electric mobility.
One of the stand out features here for the lightweight and affordable electric scooter is that it comes with an artificial exhaust sound generator - so as you ride around the city on your Dong it’ll make noises beneath you!
This is a point that electric riders may feel gives them a touch more ‘visibility’ when filtering past stationary traffic. In fact it's one thing I thought about on the TC Max Review.
We’ve seen artificial noise on previous Kymco electric concepts, and also a ‘Safe Sound’ Dominos electric scooter from 9 years ago - which is amusingly the voice of a Dutch guy saying ‘mmmmmm Dominos’ as you ride, with an idling noise of d-d-d-d-d-dominos (You’ll have to watch it).
Style-wise, this little Dong is quite unique - with a rear wasp-like cylinder pod housing the 1.2kW motor and 1.56 kWh lithium-ion battery, with seat atop. Capable of pumping out around 1.6 bhp, the Dong reaches it’s limit at around 28 mph, and can last around 37 miles before it can’t continue anymore. That may not sound like much, but if used as a commuter scooter in urban environments, it's small but powerful.
If you’re interested in the electric Dong, you can purchase one for around the equivalent of £1,800 pounds - which in the grand scheme of things, is a pretty affordable price.
I’d imagine the Dong would be renamed if it were to come to the Western world - maybe they’d call it something more innocuous, like Richard?
