It was just a few days ago when Harley-Davidson CEO Matthew Levatich announced that their first ever Harley-Davidson electric bike will go into production as soon as 2019. This exciting announcement came together with some not so exciting news related to the brand’s drop in net income at the end of 2017 together with the closure of their Kansas City factory. (more…)
Following the announcement of Energica as the official company to supply the electric race bikes for the 2019 FIM Moto-e World Cup series, Dorna made the follow-up broadcast that Michelin will be the official tyre supplier for the first ever electric motorcycle racing series in the world. (more…)
After a long and tedious discussion between Dorna, FIM and other involved parties, the 2019 FIM Moto-e World Cup series has received its green lights. Italian electric bike manufacturer Energica has been chosen as the main (and only) engine supplier for the upcoming historic moment in motorcycle circuit racing. (more…)
While we were on the edge of seats and cheering our hearts out for our favourite racers in the 2017 Shell Malaysia MotoGP, Honda has launched the new PCX Electric and PCX Hybrid scooters at the 45th Tokyo Motor Show.
Honda says that both bikes will go on sale beginning 2018 across Asia.
The Honda PCX Electric is a fully-electric scooter featuring a high-output motor developed by Honda. However, its most novel feature is the Honda Mobile Power Pack, which consists of two detachable lithium-ion battery packs. Can’t find a charging station? Remove the Power Pack and bring it to a plug point.
The Honda PCX Hybrid, conversely, uses Honda’s newly-developed and original hybrid system specifically for motorcycles. The compact hybrid system employs a high-output battery and the AC generator (ACG) similar to the starter-type Idling Stop System in the current petrol-powered Honda PCX 150.
Both PCX Electric and PCX Hybrid look similar to the petrol PCX, except for a few differences.
Honda is pushing hard to go electric to meet the datelines set by many countries to prohibit the production of internal combustion engines within the next decade or two, in the interest of reducing greenhouse gases which contribute to global warmin. Honda Motor President and CEO Takahiro Hachigo added that the PCX Electric is part of Honda’s goal to increase production of EVs to two-thirds of all vehicle production by 2030.
In Asia, India is leading the way to go electric, having proposed 2030 as the dateline, while China will complete their EV infrastructure by 2022. Malaysia, on the other hand, is still stalling.
Kalashnikov, the Russian arms manufacturer best-known for producing the AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova) assault rifle has recently shown off an electric motorcycle to be produced for the Russian military and police forces, reports Popular Mechanics. Kalashnikov Group presented the bikes at the 2017 Army International Military-Technical Forum in Moscow.
The e-bike is operational, evidenced by the promotional video (click here to watch), showing a rider unplugging the bike and proceeding to ride in sunglasses and a cap over rough terrain. The police version looks like a supermoto, for urban patrolling.
The Honda Riding Assist-e Concept at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show.
Honda had earlier previewed the Riding Assist concept (click here for our coverage) but that was powered by a gasoline engine. However, both the e-bike and petrol engine bike were built upon the Honda NC700 frame.
Riding Assist in Honda’s term means that the bike keeps itself upright when stationary at the traffic lights without needing the rider to put a foot or feet down to balance it. Also, the bike keeps itself upright at slow speeds, possibly a good feature for tackling u-turns. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fall off it.
Interestingly, the self-balancing feature was built by Honda’s robotics division. Honda have long been developing robotics and humanoid walking robots like the ASIMO in year 2000 was a prime example.
the Honda Riding Assist-e uses an electric motor mounted under the seat which sends power through a driveshaft to the rear wheel, like that on Honda’s VFR series. A radiator sits behind the electric motor. However, the self-balancing technology doesn’t use gyroscopes.
That’s as much as we know about the Honda Riding Assist-e at the moment, until it is fully unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show on 25th October 2017.
In any event, the Honda Riding Assist-e and Riding Assist look production-ready and it’ll be interesting to see if Honda can bring them to life.
In our opinion, attention should be paid to electric bikes or e-bike as more and more countries around the world and our region are pushing towards the full banning of new gasoline-powered vehicles in favour of electric vehicles, within the next decade or so. But do not fear electric vehicles as electric motors transfer immediate torque without lag, unlike gasoline engines.
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