Your right Scott, they do draw a lot of power, but not for very long unless they are working under load. The motor we have is rated at 3500W which equates to 4.7 BHP at 6000 RPM, not far off scooter engine. Because of this factor, I require the motor to remain under load developing its max power. this will kill the battery, but you cant have it all ways. With out the Varidrive, it would very quickly reach it's max RPM, this would mean selecting a single gear that would mean guess work at the very least. I think I will wait and see what Peugeot say.
Veitch.