Launches & Lunches: Electrolux Launches Third Gen Ergorapido

IT’S CALLED THE Ergorapido, which might fly off the lips of Italians, but sounds like a tongue teaser to me, especially after a few glasses of mood-altering lightly carbonated beverage to celebrate its imminent release in New Zealand.
Electrolux has had huge uptake on the Ergorapido model, available here for 10 years now, and it’s not hard to see why. Vacuum cleaners have literally come out of the closet with portable design styles like the Ergorapido, and with the tendency towards city apartments in the city on the one hand, and larger floor spaces on the city fringes on the other, there’s good reason why a handy floor-stander like this is often augmenting or even replacing the more bulky, less portable models.
Left in its own little pozzy of the room, the Ergorapido looks like it belongs admidst the furnishings, and it’s on the spot and charged up to take care of any little messes, instantly.
Unlike its big brother, the UltraPower, the Ergorapido doesn’t come with a charging base/brace, and the desire for one or the other is very much a matter of taste. The Ergorapido will happily stand to attention on its own without that support, but might fall over if an over-exhuberant family pet or ADHD child gets his or her hands on it!

Electrolux NZ celebrated the forthcoming product release with lunch at Sidart in Ponsonby, right where the wonderful and sorely missed Alhambra restaurant used to be (sob!) Chef Sid Sahrawat came up with a delectable menu of divine tastes and colours that complemented the theme: artist Janette Cervin had painted a flowery picture on canvas for each of the four colours the Ergorapido is to be available in: Watermelon Red, Tungsten, Clear Blue and Snow White.
Happily for me, the chef obligingly came up with food to match my vegetarian requirements, so I was beyond happy.
So, what’s new about the Ergorapido? For a start, it’s said to be “engineered with a vastly more powerful motor fan”, and a redesigned nozzle head. Naturally, it has more powerful suction, while “its 180 degree swivel nozzle and larger rear wheels deliver improved manoeuvrability.”
The handsome wee sucker also includes a new stainless steel-fronted detachable hand held vacuum for reaching to those tricky places. Oh, and there’s “new, improved BrushRollClean technology offering a 50 percent larger coned pleated filter, ensuring tangled dirt and fibres are cut off and removed easily.”
What I love about the Ergorapido (as I do about the UltraPower) is its accessibility. You know the thing: damn, the cat’s left what looks like a week’s worth of fur moult on the ottoman. Grab the Electrolux, off it comes, all good. No closet to rummage through, wires to untangle, behemoth to lift! The other thing I love that is a feature of both the UltraPower and the Ergorapido is the disco lights. Now, I’m not really a disco kind of guy, but those lights have a reason to exist: they’re like searchlights when you’re vacuuming in those dark corners or under couches.
* The Electrolux Ergorapido will be available in April. The Ice White Ergorapido (14.4 volts) will retail at $299.95. The Tungsten, Watermelon Red and Clear Blue Ergorapido (18 volts) will go for $399.95.

http://www.electrolux.co.nz/
http://www.sidart.co.nz/