I want my HPV!

Alright, this is getting frustrating. It appears that an Italian scooter manufacturer plans to release a hybrid trike next year. According to this report in English, it will only cost around 9,000 dollars and have an electric range of 40 miles; according to this report in German, it will cost some 10,000 euros (closer to 14,000 dollars at current exchange rate) and have a range of 20 kilometers (around 13 miles).

Obviously, a lot of details still have to be cleared up. But what I don't understand is why my beloved Twike has to cost around than 22,000 euros in the most basic version (with a range of "40 - 80 km") if Piaggio can make a hybrid scooter for half that price.

Of course, you might now advise me to simply buy the Italian hybrid scooter, but you'd be missing the point. The Twike has two things that are important for me:

• you actually sit inside the vehicle, which is crucial if you, like me, live in a part of the world that has bad weather more than half the time
• it is a human-powered vehicle (HPV), which means you can actually get some exercise while you drive instead of being forced to sit more or less motionless for the entire trip

So if anyone wants to do me a favor, I'll have the top-end Twike HPV with a battery range of 200 kilometers for around 30,000 euros...