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New York set to legalize e-scooters and e-bikes
New York lawmakers look set to legalize electric scooter and bike sharing services throughout the state. A vote on a Senate bill is likely to take place Wednesday, just before the end of the legislative session. Since Governor Andrew Cuomo seems to support the legalization of electric scooters and bikes, the bill looks likely to come into effect.
GM's Arīv electric bikes are launching in Europe first
GM has officially launched the compact and folding electric bikes it unveiled last year under the brand name "Arīv." The automaker hosted a $10,000 naming contest for the e-bikes when it announced the new project, so someone somewhere out there is few thousand dollars richer. Both models are powered by proprietary motors GM built from the ground up and can reach speeds up to 15.5 mph with four levels of assisted power. Their batteries take approximately 3.5 hours to fully charge and have a 40-mile range. The bad news? They might not be available in the US anytime soon.
Lime's Emily Warren on rapid expansion and regulatory struggles
Lime is arguably the biggest player in inner-city electric bike and scooter rentals. Despite having only existed for around 18 months, the company now operates in over 100 cities across the world. On Engadget's CES stage, I sat down with the Lime's Senior Director of Policy and Public Affairs Emily Warren, to recap the company's explosive growth and global expansion. We also discuss the controversy surrounding this new rental model, Lime's next-generation scooter, regulatory challenges and how the company hopes saturation is the biggest problem it faces as it looks towards the new year.
Lime will take on London's Boris Bikes with e-bike launch
US dockless e-scooter and e-bike service Lime is bringing its electric-assisted bicycles to London, following their launch in Milton Keynes just over a week earlier. A fleet of 1,000 bright green e-bikes -- equipped with a 250-watt motor boasting a maximum assisted speed of 14.8 miles per hour -- will be available in the London boroughs of Brent and Ealing initially, starting tomorrow. The dockless bikes cost £1 ($1.30) to unlock and an additional 15 pence (19 cents) per minute of riding time.
Lime begins its UK push with dockless e-bikes
While dockless bike and scooter startups tussle with state regulators here in the US, they're making inroads overseas. So it goes with Lime, which just launched in the UK by bringing a fleet of its electric-assisted bicycles to Milton Keynes: a city located in South-East England that's proving itself somewhat of a tech hotbed with autonomous car trials and AI-controlled traffic lights. That may have made the region more welcoming to Lime than, say, London -- which fellow scooter startup Bird described as "the most highly regulated and restrictive market for this kind of product, globally."
Harley-Davidson shows off its road-ready LiveWire electric bike
Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric motorcycle, which has been in the works for four years now, is nearly ready for eco-conscious bikers. At the EICMA motorcylcle show in Milan, the company unveiled the production version and some specs, though not the all-important range yet. We do know that you'll be able to juice it at home via a Level 1 charger, or do so more quickly with Level 2 or 3 models or DC fast chargers. All Harley dealers that carry the bike will have Level 2 DC fast chargers on site.
Zero Motorcycles' 2019 line-up boasts more power and longer range
Zero Motorcycles has made a name for itself by producing electric bikes that appeal to motorcycle enthusiasts as well as alternative fuel fans. Its bikes have been a hit with thrill seekers and commuters alike, and its newly-announced 2019 line-up makes it easy to see why the company is consistently performing better than all of its competitors combined.
Carving up London on the monster Mate X electric bike
Most electric-bike companies are pursuing designs nearly indistinguishable from their purely pedal-powered brethren. They're hiding batteries in slightly thicker frames or attaching them where a rider would normally store a water bottle. While the execution differs, the goal is the same: to make the owner blend in with other cyclists. Mate is a little different, though. The Danish startup is developing e-bikes that are meant to stand out and make people stare. Its latest, the Mate X, is a monster ride with chunky off-road tires and a thick slab of metal that doubles as the top and down tube. And, oh boy, does it fly.
VanMoof's Electrified S2 is a seriously smart commuter bike
VanMoof is almost ready to ship its next generation of electric bicycles. The Electrified S2 and X2 are vast improvements over their predecessors, with bigger batteries, nippier motors and smarter locking mechanisms. If you live in a city and fancy commuting on a bicycle, but fear conniving thieves and the potentially sweaty exercise required to reach the office, this could be your savior. During a two-hour test-ride in London, I was impressed with the S2's stylish frame, pedal-assisted power and integrated 'stealth lock.' It's not a cheap purchase, but few electric bicycles are at the moment.
Curtiss' second electric motorcycle boasts a so-called V8 battery
Given that electric-powered bikes have dwelled in the background of the automotive scene since the 1890s, it's about time that motorcycle manufacturers took the hint from the explosion of EV cars and trucks to launch their own versions. Classic American cycle company Curtiss introduced its all-electric Zeus concept in May, and today, they've unveiled their follow-up, the appropriately-named Hera -- which the company claims has the "'world's first V8 battery." Which, yes, is nonsense, but given that the Zeus boasts one upwards of 14.4 kWh, this new motorcycle could pack a lot of power.
Harley-Davidson plans to debut its electric motorcycle in 2019
The Harley-Davidson electric motorcycle has been a long time coming. First announced as Project LiveWire back in 2014, the bike has gone through some design changes as well as becoming only one of the electric bikes the company plans to release over the next few years. Finally, though, it looks as if the LiveWire will be available next year.
Honda will use electric bikes to test swappable batteries
Honda has teamed up with Panasonic to start testing the swappable rechargeable batteries it debuted at CES this year. The partners are bringing Honda's Mobile Power Packs to Indonesia, where they'll be used to power electric mobility products, particularly electric bikes. Indonesia is the third largest motorcycle market in the world after India and China, and its government has been thinking of ways to reduce traffic and pollution brought by the rise of the two-wheeled vehicles. One of the solutions it came up with is to encourage the adoption of electric-powered vehicles, making the country one of the best places to test the batteries.
VanMoof's Electrified X cured my fear of bike thieves
Five years ago I lost my bike. A few months prior, I had moved into a half-finished block of flats in southeast London. The apartment was complete, but construction workers were still beavering away at the stairwell. Progress was slow, though, and I was keen to commute on two wheels every morning. So I started cycling to work and, at night, chaining my beloved mountain bike to the banister at the bottom of our apartment block, long after the construction team had gone home. Until, one morning, I woke up and discovered that it had vanished. The stairwell, coated in white paint, had a black scorch mark where my lock used to reside. I can only presume that construction workers returned in the night and took a blowtorch to the chain. I haven't owned a bike since.
BMW hopes AI-managed electric bike roads will ease traffic
In some cities, the most common electric vehicles are likely to be two-wheelers like bikes and motorcycles. But cities aren't really designed for them -- you have to compete with cars on the road and at charging stations. BMW and Tongji University think they can do better: they've developed a concept, Vision E3 Way, that gives e-bike riders their own roads. The paths would be safer and reduce traffic congestion, as you might expect, but they'd also take advantage of the electric nature of the vehicles to make two-wheel riding more accessible.
GenZe has a commuter e-bike for a connected world
Cities have started to embrace their bike-riding commuters. More and more bike lanes are appearing on city streets as transportation departments realize that more bikes means less congestion. For longtime riders, it's a blessing. For those bike-curious folks, the chance to get to work without weaving in and out of cars means the jump to riding to their job is less daunting.
BMW's latest motorcycle concept links futuristic style and tech
No doubt, BMW has come up with some cool conceptual vehicles lately, with a color-changing Mini and a futuristic, self-driving Next 100 auto. Its Motorrad Vision Next 100 motorcycle, revealed last October, is maybe the coolest yet with a gyroscopic system designed to keep riders upright and safe no matter what. It also looks pretty, well, rad. The company's latest electric motorcycle, the BMW Motorrad Concept Link, is based on the first Next 100 but brings a more refined, commuter-friendly style to the idea of a zero-emission electric motorcycle.
Zip around Taiwan on the faster Gogoro S electric scooter
Gogoro's battery-powered scooter left us rather impressed after our test ride in Taiwan back in 2015, and the startup has since sold over 14,000 units locally plus rolled out 240 GoStations nationwide for customers to quickly swap batteries -- as opposed to having their electric scooters plugged in for hours. To keep the momentum going, today the company announced the Gogoro S, a high-performance model equipped with the new 7.2 kW G1-S motor which pushes the scooter from zero to 50 km/h or 31 MPH in just 3.7 seconds -- a notable improvement from the 4.2 seconds with the original 6.4 kW G1 motor, which is already quite quick. But for the sake of safety, the top speed is still capped at 95 km/h or 59 MPH.
Six folding electric bikes that fit practically anywhere
By Cat DiStasio Imagine being able to carry a clean energy vehicle with you, just about wherever you go. Enter the folding electric bike. Battery-powered bicycles are on the rise as two-wheeled commuting gains popularity in places with heavy traffic and limited parking. Having the ability to fold up an e-bike and toss it in your trunk -- or even in a backpack -- expands your range of transportation options. There are a few big-name car companies like Ford and Volkswagen getting in on the action, while other innovations come from tech startups and university research groups. They all have one thing in common, though: They take a 300-year-old design for a two-wheeled vehicle and make it address modern transportation issues.
Xiaomi's foldable electric bicycle costs just $460
Xiaomi may not yet have a drone that can carry people, but at least it has an electric bicycle now, and it'll only cost you 2,999 yuan or about $460/£307. The Mi Qicycle is the second product from the Xiaomi-backed startup, iRiding, who released the premium 19,999 yuan (about $3,000/£2045) Qicycle R1 just back in March. This time round, iRiding is able to slap Xiaomi's "Mi" brand on its latest ride to target the mass market. While the Mi Qicycle weighs a total of 14.5kg (almost twice that of the carbon fiber-made R1), it can be folded into half its size for easier storage. It comes with a 3-speed hub plus a 250W motor which offers pedal assist, and that's good for up to 45km (about 28 miles) on a single charge.
ICYMI: Pennyfarthing reboot, ice box fridge and more
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: SnikkyBike wants to get folks on its electrified pennyfarthing of a bike, except that it doesn't even have pedals, only a place for people to stand. Surechill Technologies made a refrigerator that takes the best parts of old school, pre-electricity ice boxes and reimagines it to use low amounts of energy. The game Surgeon Simulator has a re-skinned version that lets users practice operating on Donald Trump, which looks just as uncomfortable as any presidential candidate being laid out an operating table should, party affiliations notwithstanding. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
