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In elementary physics, we learned about density. Water is denser than air, mercury denser than water. Uranium, our teacher told us, is probably the densest of them all.

Obviously our teacher did not live in Rome, for it is common knowledge among Italians that the densest thing known to man is a downtown Roman street during rush hour — rush hour being roughly from midnight to 11:59 p.m. The street has no visible gaps of any size. That's because the tiniest spaces are instantaneously filled by scooters. In Rome, they are as plentiful as gnocchi at Sunday lunch.

Indeed, after a century or so of powered transportation, Romans have decided that all forms of mobility are inferior to the scooter.

True, Romans love their Fiats and Alfa Romeos. But they are a practical people and scooters allow them to get to work before noon. They allow mothers to drop off their kids at school on time — three on a scooter is nothing unusual. Our 15-year-old babysitter arrives on a scooter (the legal driving age for the small scooters is 14).

Plumbers and electricians use them for work, their tool boxes wedged between their feet. Executives in expensive suits arrive at the office on them. You can smoke on a scooter and Romans have perfected the art of wedging mobile phones between ear and helmet, allowing them to drive, smoke and talk simultaneously.

After a year and a half in Rome, I too am sold on the idea of a scooter. Our Fiat is useless in the city because the traffic is horrendous and parking non-existent. I walk a lot and take buses. But there are many times when a scooter would be perfect. Like zipping a kid to soccer practice or the dentist. Or getting to a restaurant with my wife in a crowded part of town.

While I think scooters are ideal for Rome and other warm Mediterranean cities, I do have a couple of big problems with them. They are noisy and spew oily fumes. I keep wondering: Why aren't there more electric scooters? If electric cars are the future, why not electric motorcycles?

Rome does have a few electric scooters and bicycles. But the vast majority have extremely short ranges, making them little more than conversation pieces. What this market — any market — needs is a serious scooter with good range and comparable power and comfort to a machine with a 200-cc or 250-cc engine.

Enter the Vectrix, a U.S. company that claims to make the first zero-emission "maxi scooter" with genuine motorbike performance. Its Rome dealership gave me one for a week in the early autumn.

I almost cried when I had to return it. So did my girls, ages 8 and 11, who considered it more fun than an amusement park ride, not to mention politically correct.

The Vectrix, which is assembled in Poland, is no toy. Except for the lack of exhaust pipes, it could pass for a normal scooter. In size and appearance, it's similar to the popular Suzuki Burgman.

The scooter was in development for 10 years before it hit the streets in the United States and Europe in 2007 and it shows. It is a big, sturdy machine — perhaps too big — powered by 125-volt nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. This is the same type of battery used in hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius.

Vectrix didn't skimp on the components. There are Brembo disc brakes, front and rear, and Pirelli tires. It has a windscreen and 40 litres of storage under the ample seat.

My favourite feature was the regenerative braking system. Twist the throttle forward when you want to slow down and the motor acts as a brake while generating electricity. I almost never had to use the regular brakes.

My second-favourite Vectrix feature was the reverse gear — absolutely essential for a bike of this size. At 230 kilograms, it weighs as much as some super-bikes with 1000-cc engines (the company plans to launch a smaller, lighter model next year).

When I turned the ignition key for the first time, I expected some sort of hint that the Vectrix actually had a power plant. Silence.

I twisted the throttle, heard the gentle whirr of the electric motor and nudged the scooter into a murderously busy Roman boulevard. I was terrified. Whether on four wheels or two, Romans drive like they're in chariot races. Going too slowly can be more dangerous than the opposite.

I wondered whether the machine could keep up with traffic. I opened the throttle all the way and was pleasantly surprised. The hefty brute surged forward. Electric motors deliver smooth, torque-y power and the Vectrix's motor is no exception.

Even though I am not an experienced motorbike pilot, I had no problem driving the Vectrix. The big batteries, mounted at the bottom of the aluminum frame, give the scooter a low centre of gravity, so negotiating corners was easy. But I found the Vectrix a bit too long and heavy to be truly nimble in the bedlam of Roman traffic.

Give the Vectrix a bit of open urban road, however, and it shines. Its top speed is 100 km/h and it's rock solid at 60 or 70 km/h. Unless you're drag racing a Ducati, the batteries should last 80 to 100 kilometres. The claim is probably true; the most I travelled in a single day was 40 km, at which point the power gauge showed the batteries were about half done.

The Romans had curious reactions to the Vectrix. In traffic, the noise of their own cars and motorbikes made it almost impossible for anyone to tell my scooter was electric. But all we got were smiles in the city's narrow backstreets, which have been terrorized by noisy, smoky scooters since the Vespa arrived after the Second World War. As the bike crept silently over the cobblestones, we felt we were welcome guests, not an unwanted intruder.

Now the bad news. Silence and clean motoring do not come cheap. In the United States, the Vectrix sells for about $8,500 (U.S.), almost twice as much as a gasoline-powered equivalent. The Canadian price isn't known yet, because Canadian dealers are still being lined up (Calgary is expected to have the first dealership).

Yes, the cost of recharging the batteries is far less than a tank of gas, and you don't have to worry about oil and filter changes. But the economics still work in favour of gasoline-powered scooters.

But that's not the point. The point is that the Vectrix is an engineering marvel that is far kinder to cities, lungs and ears than a conventional scooter. What are those qualities worth?