With 'Pickup Scooter,' America Meets Indian Carmaker

Indian manufacturing company Mahindra is well-known in its native country, but it wants to be a household name in the U.S., too. So it has started its expansion into this country — with an electric scooter that dreams of being a tiny pickup truck. It's called the GenZe because it generates zero emissions and because many of its customers will likely be the young people in Generation Z. Terence Duncan, who designed the scooter being assembled in Ann Arbor, Mich., argues that the GenZe, which costs $3,000, just might make owning a car unnecessary for many city residents, especially college students. With a 30 mph top speed, it's just for city streets. It has a 30-mile range. You can lift the battery out and take it into a coffee shop to recharge. The cargo space in the back is big enough to haul groceries, which is why Mahindra calls this a "pickup scooter." "We built the entire architecture of this bike around this pickup truck bed back here. You can put a cooler back here. You can put