VTronic™ & EBretta™ Vintage Electric Conversions
Saigon Scooter Centre has been leading the market with it’s Electric Classic Conversions since 2007, including our pioneering, World’s first, electric conversions for both classic Lambretta and classic Vespa scooters!
Our latest Lambretta EBretta™ and Vespa VTronic™ ekits development and upgrades include Lithium Ion phosphate 36ah battery kits, Marine grade switches , Fuel flap mounted LED battery level gauges , power on LED’s and all new custom hand crafted badge kits.
Vintage Kits
Our latest specs for our best selling vintage kits are:
- 12″ 72v 3000w brushless hub motor including DC 72-12v converter
- Controller unit
- Rear tyre Dunlop 90/90/12 fitted (Or equivalent)
- 72v Lithium Ion phosphate 36amh battery unit (Removable with quick release connectors)
- 2 x Battery straps
- Mild steel powder coated Battery base plate
- Mild steel junction box and storage box , this bolts to below the central tubing (EBretta only)
- Rear mudguard steel powder coated , we supply this as it needs to be trimmed slightly to give better clearance with the increased wheel size. Bolts in to the existing mounting points (VTronic not necessary)
- Complete swing arm assembly powder coated. The original Lambretta rear shocker can be retained and for the VTronic kits we now incorporate a free upgrade of twin double sided rear shocks.
- Rear disc brake kit complete. This is semi hydraulic so the existing rear brake pedal and even the cable can be retained.
- Throttle actuator assembly using the original throttle cable. No modifications to the handlebar assembly are required.
- Wiring loom adapter cable
- 12v Horn, switch and wiring extension
- Marine grade CB switch
- Power on LED light
- Marine grade Stainless charging plugs
- Custom EBretta™ legshield badge set and seat badge
- External charging plug supplied with fuel flap fabricated also to fit a battery level monitor
- Ignition switches , charging plug and LED power on light are now supplied pre installed in the free upgrade legshield toolbox.
- Range 80-90km’s *Dependant on driver , speeds and driving conditions.
- Charge time 5-6 hours.
- Top speed 80-90kmph with settings on maximum rpm.
Please note VTronic™ and EBretta™ are SSC registered trademarks.
How it all started :
It was a late night in the SSC workshop back in 2006 and the vintage e-scooter project came about whilst working on an original 2 stroke 1957 electric start Lambretta LDa and the comment came up “Have you ever thought about putting an electric motor in a Vespa”…
The seed had been planted but 2 months passed and nothing was mentioned again and then by chance a spam email came in advertising a Chinese start up company producing brushless hub motors. Ideally suited to the Vespa 10″ wheel size it was ordered and we were off. This company later went on to be one of the largest manufacturers of emotors in the world.
The project started with a Vespa T5 Excel donor scooter and sourcing the major components then began. This took way longer than anticipated due to no local Vietnam manufacturers here producing any kit parts and no international suppliers offering a complete kit which also meant that nothing was compatible. Finding a reliable battery and BMS supplier was also to be another major hurdle and then the custom fabrication of numerous components including the swingarm assembly.
In the end with a multitude of problems and nearing abandonment of the project a good friend and long time scooterist who just happened to be a qualified electrical engineer was flown in from Hong Kong to save the day. The deal incorporated “a couple” of days’ work to hook up the system in exchange for flights, hotel, food and all the beers he could drink. The deal was done.
Six days later after very little eating and even less drinking and with 15+ hour days behind us the motor purred to life. By this time the motor was 48v 2000w consisting of 24 x 2v individual batteries in circuit, a Taiwan motor unit, Sevcon controller and a spaghetti junction of numerous other components to launch the very first of the VTronic™ range which is still on display in the SSC collection today.
After R&D , mock up, fabrication , testing, repaint and assembly more than 12 months had passed and just in time for the Saigon Scooter Centre 9th anniversary party the scooter was unveiled for the first time with test rides open to anybody who fancied to try the all new Vespa ‘e’xperience.
The scooter was launched to the guests and the feedback was amazing albeit with the prototype having a limited range of 30km’s and a top speed of only 45kmph.
Fast forward to 2024 and the SSC ekits are one of our best selling products with a worldwide customer base. We currently export to over a dozen countries, supply both in kit form and offer fully converted Lambretta and Vespa scooters with new kits currently being extended to incorporate the vintage Honda range. Our latest additions to the SSC escooter design offers reliability, performance, range and style and new upgrades are continually being made to keep us at the front of the e-scooter market place.
