The future on two wheels
Motorcycles and mopeds are currently regarded by many as too loud and dangerous. In the future, electric motorcycles will represent a more efficient, quieter, and accident-free alternative
Traffic gridlock is imminent — indeed, in Asian mega cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok and Jakarta it’s already the status quo. Smog and traffic jams are a part of everyday life.
The situation is not yet this extreme in American and European streets, but nevertheless: according to US traffic data analysts at Inrix, the average Los Angeleno spent 104 hours in traffic jams last year. In Moscow it was 91, and in Munich 49. The trend? Rising.
The problem could possibly be alleviated with a switch to two-wheelers. Considering factors such as topography, road conditions and required ranges , some locations could benefit from using bicycles and pedelecs, while motorcycles and mopeds could be used to provide respite, as proven in a 2011 study by consulting firm Transport & Mobility Leuven.
In the city of Leuven, Belgium, analysts calculated that if one in ten car drivers switched to riding a motorbike, time lost in traffic would be reduced by forty percent.
Better two-wheeler safety is a no-brainer
Several large European cities have already cottoned on to the fact that motorbikes and mopeds play an active role in preventing traffic jams. Cities such as Rome, Milan, and London allow their riders to use bus lanes.
In Paris, cunning entrepreneurs even offer moped and motorbike taxi services. Two wheels are more agile, quicker and require far less room to maneuver than four — a regular car needs more than four times the amount of space. That’s just too much in the increasingly dense traffic of larger cities. Karl Viktor Schaller, Development Chief for BMW Motorrad in Germany:
If you put 50 people in individual cars, you would easily fill a street. If you put them all in a bus, then they take up far less space. The best option is to put them all on motorbikes. Then they need less room while retaining their individual mobility
Schaller forecasts that the two-wheeler will play an increasingly important role in the future:
“A key reason that we aren’t currently trying to convince everybody to switch to motorbikes is safety.”
While the safety of motorized two-wheelers has improved considerably in recent years, thanks to ABS and traction control, there is certainly room for improvement. BMW made inroads with regards to this with its C1 concept in the year 2000 — a moped with a roof that could be driven without a helmet. While the idea was a good one, it was too far ahead of its time and flopped.
“Motorbikes will soon feature a digital safety cage”
-Karl Viktor Schaller
Last year, the Munich team presented the ambitious “Vision Next 100” study, with a flexible chassis, emission-free engine, and tires that adapt to current conditions.
This futuristic motorbike has another couple of tricks up its sleeve — gyro sensors prevent the bike from falling over. It is intelligently connected with both its driver and its surroundings. If despite all the cutting-edge tech the rider makes an error, an armada of digital assistants intervene to prevent an accident.
BMW Development Chief Schaller is convinced that parts of the project will be implemented in the not-too-distant future:
Motorbikes will soon feature a digital ‘safety cage,’ which safely prevents accidents and falls. Helmets and protective clothing will become obsolete. A riding suit made of intelligent materials will be capable of adapting to the climate to warm or cool the rider. The helmet will be replaced by a headset that presents the rider with information relevant to the current driving situation
‘Urban Commuters’ as heroes of e-sector
“The heroes of the e-sector will be so-called Urban Commuters”, says Vito Cicchetti, General Manager at Honda Europe. BMW isn’t alone with their concept. The world’s biggest motorbike and moped manufacturer, Honda, also took a look into the future earlier this year and presented a motorbike that balances itself and, on command, follows its driver like a loyal dog.
Vito Ciccheti, Head of Motorbikes for Honda Europe:
Motorbikes and mopeds are becoming ever more important. We are investing heavily in this area.
Other manufacturers are also buying into the consensus that an ‘electro-boom’ is coming and are developing vehicles or are already launching products accordingly. Even tradition-steeped Harley Davidson intends to launch its own electric model by the end of 2017. Cicchetti:
Especially in Southern Europe and Asia mopeds are the heroes of inner city operation
There are already an estimated 200 million e-mopeds on the road, but they are only slowly gaining wider acceptance in Europe. A key factor here is the price. Many Chinese e-mopeds run on cheap lead-acid batteries and have limited performance.
The trade-off is a lower price. Electric two-wheelers in industrialized nations feature Lithium-Ion batteries, high performance, and are equipped with plenty of extras. This is reflected in the price. Schaller:
“Modern electric mobility isn’t cheap. The energy storage system for a motorbike costs fifty euros if a fuel tank is chosen, or over 1000 euros for a battery,” explains Development Chief Schaller from BMW
Electricity is everywhere
For the BMW C evolution, you’ll fork over around 15,000 euros. The Ego electric sports bike from Italian manufacturer Energica costs more than 30,000 euros. Customer hesitation is not surprising.
With today’s limited vehicle charging infrastructure, the weight of batteries, and the fact that nobody knows what the resale values will be in a couple of years, smaller producers such as Energica will need to wait with bated breath. Energica Boss Livia Ceveloni is convinced that electric mobility will flourish:
While a fuel tank needs to be filled at a rest stop, electricity is virtually everywhere. It’s only practical that we use it
Bikes not welcome here
Industry consensus is that the electric mobility concept of the industrialized nations will prevail, with cheap e-mopeds gradually vanishing, even in China. The biggest urban centers, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have recently moved to ban them, as manufacturer trickery has resulted in many of these mopeds officially being classed as bicycles, for which no driver’s license is required.
While this makes them especially popular, it also leads to an excessive number of fatal accidents. Cicchetti adds:
The transport and market situation for motorbikes in Asia is entirely foreign and cannot be compared to the situation in Europe
In other news , the Vietnamese capital Hanoi recently ruled that all motorbikes will be banned from its roads by 2030. Every day, Hanoi’s eight million residents flood the city with five million motorized two-wheelers.
There will also be a limit for these small and agile machines, since they cause too many traffic jams and generate smog. The Vietnamese capital also committed to developing the rudimentary public transport system as a viable alternative. After extensive protests the city distanced itself from their original plan— now they will only limit access to certain areas of the inner city.
