Čezeta scooter makes comeback with new design and fuel

A Czech manufacturing icon is making a comeback with a new design and new power source.

Photo: CTK

For those with longer memories, the Čezeta was produced in its thousands from the late 1950s onwards. Nicknamed ‘the pig,’ the distinctive rocket like scooter with long seat and surprising luggage capacity underneath, has undergone a makeover under manufacturer Čezeta Motors. Instead of the previous petrol driven motor, the new look Čezeta 506 will be electric powered. The electric battery should give it a distance of around 100 kilometres before recharging with the scooter able to achieve up to 100 kilometres an hour.

The drawback of the electric motor is that recharging will at the moment take around four-and-a-half hours. But the producers are looking to drastically shorten that recharging time and trim it down to around 45 minutes, the British owner of the company, Neil Smith, said on November 5. The new model will be hand assembled at Mirošovice near Prague with the electromotor sourced in China and most of the electrics and other elements from around Europe.

The production target for next year is a fairly modest 100 units but this is expected to soar to 500 in 2017 and the gaol is for production to climb to around 1,000 within five years. The Čezeta 506 should come in a choice of five colours with two of the designs having more of the retro aspects. GPS and other modern applications will be included.

Compared to other scooters, the economic to run Čezeta comes at a rather hefty price of around 9000 euros or around 270,000 crowns before VAT., in other words, the price of a small car. A three year initial guarantee on the scooter can be extended to 10 years.