Pedal power with an electric performance .....

NO road Tax, Insurance, Licence and street legal ?

Sakura (Cherry in Japanese) are a range of electricity assisted pedal cycles made in China. Priced between £500 and £700 the will speed the 80Kg rider (must be over 14 years old in UK) some 15-20 miles on a single charge to the 36 volt 14 amp SLA battery at a current cost of about 6p - at a dizzy maximum of 15 mph.

Fully charging the battery (Approx £69) takes about 8 hours, but you can only do this some 250 times which puts the cost per journey up to about 33p. Ideally you need one charging whilst you whizz down to Waitrose.

Should be ideal for lawyers buzzing round London with all those griefs briefs.

The picture shows a Sakura Shopper seen today in Manchester, it weighs 39Kg, sufficiently heavy to discourage any pedalling, or carrying up steps.

The importers have retailers nationwide, this one was supplied by Valley Scooters in Bolton Tel: 01204 532 183 Email ihammond@supanet.com and the proud geek riding it was impressed by the lack of requirement for a helmet and low running cost. Try also SR cycles.

You can read an Evening Standard review from November 2006 here.

Powerbyke and Izip make a similar range.

Update - a Canadian contact speaks glowingly of the Bion X bike, only available so far in North America.