Highlights from the 2012 Beijing Motor Show
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Electric Bicycle

Riders can run through five travel programs from pedal-power to electric only

Audi has announced that it will debut a new performance e-bike prototype at next week's Wörthersee Tour car show in the picturesque village of Reifnitz, Austria. Described as a high-end pedelec for sport, fun and tricks, the Audi e-bike Wörthersee features a futuristic carbon fiber frame that houses an onboard computer and a Li-ion battery pack, and carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) wheels - both designed to keep the weight down. The prototype offers five travel modes, ranging from pedal-power to electric-only, and inclusive of two "Wheelie" modes where the power is automatically controlled to assist the rider while the front wheel grabs some air. Read More

The new golf-centric Hanebrink pedelec bike was developed as a faster charging and cleaner...

Details have now surfaced for the golf-specific, and fourth, Hanebrink electric bike we briefly mentioned a few days ago. The Links BRINK features many of the same specs as the bikes that have come before it, including those wonderful chunky 20-inch (50cm) diameter, 8-inch (20cm) wide tubeless tires, but has an easy mount and dismount frame and comes supplied with its own custom two-wheeled golf trolley. Read More

The Ducati-inspired RockShock air suspension is said to result in improved performance on ...

Electric bikes based loosely on mountain bikes (such as the Terminus and eSpire) might be well-suited to forest trails, but for increased stability through sand dunes and snow and ice, as well as steep rocky climbs, you're better off riding a fat-tire bike like the Hanebrink electric bike we featured back in 2010. The company has now pulled back the curtains to reveal two new models for 2012 – one with added rear suspension for improved performance on steep or rocky trails, and the other designed specifically for golfers. Read More

The smart ebike has been put through the final tests before its mid-year release

Smart has provided some more information on the company’s first foray into transportation of the two-wheeled, pedal-assist variety. With help from the likes of parent company Daimler, the bike’s battery supplier, and GRACE, the Berlin-based e-Bike manufacturer that helped in its design, the smart ebike was put through its paces in February in Majorca to test the bike ahead of its impending release. Read More

The Hornet is a new velomobile that is designed around an included electric-assist motor

If you take a recumbent tricycle and enclose it in an aerodynamic fuselage, what you end up with is known as a velomobile. The vehicles are significantly faster than bicycles on the flats and downhills, plus they offer more weather protection, but they do tend to be heavy – this can make hill-climbing quite an ordeal. Some manufacturers compensate for this limitation by offering electric assist motors as optional extras, although these just add even more weight, along with boosting what is already often a pretty high price tag. Toronto-based BlueVelo, however, has taken an interesting approach with its new Hornet velomobile. It was designed around its electric assist motor, which is included in the vehicle’s relatively low price. Read More

The Veliac Three has hauling capacity and more natural handling

Typically the terms "tight handling" and "electric three-wheeler" are mutually exclusive, particularly when you are talking about the "two-at-the-back, one-at the-front" designs. Joining Adiva and a number of other manufacturers we've looked at in recent times, London-based electric bike manufacturer 50Cycles is looking to marry the two by introducing tilting functionality into the equation. The company's Veliac Three electric tricycle uses a new lean mechanism designed to ease maneuvering around corners and curves. Read More

The Specialized Turbo e-bike has a top electric-assist speed of 45 km/h (28 mph), reported...

Specialized has just announced its new Turbo electric bicycle, which it claims is the fastest e-bike ever made ... a claim that the makers of the BlackTrail e-bike would likely dispute. Whatever the case, the Turbo's top motor-assisted speed of 45 km/h (28 mph) should definitely limit where it will be sold – in the U.S., Britain and most of Europe, for instance, it would be illegal. Nonetheless, limited numbers of the bike should reportedly be available for sale (although it hasn’t been stated in which countries) as of May. Read More

The EH Line Street Racer

EH Line calls its top-of-the-line Street Racer the "Ferrari" of its electric bike range. The 250 kw e-bike has a beautiful aluminum monocoque chassis and Bionx power sensing technology which offers eight levels of rider support - from an additional 300% of the muscle power the rider puts in, through to recharging the battery and even simulating gradients during flat road training. It also has Ferrari-class pricing which begins at EUR6,990 (US$9,250) ... and if you're in any doubt as to how good an aluminum monocoque can look painted in different ways, see the gallery. Read More

The Velocity is a prototype pedal-electric bicycle with a power system that can be removed...

For people who wouldn’t otherwise ride a bike, or who don’t want to arrive at work all hot and sweaty, electric-assist bicycles are a neat idea. Commonly referred to as pedelecs (for “pedal-electric”), they use an electric motor to augment the rider’s own body strength while pedaling, yet that motor can usually be switched off when they don’t need it. The only problem with that setup ... even when the motor isn’t being used, it and its battery are still there, weighing the bike down. For his prototype Velocity pedelec, however, Taiwanese designer Larry Chen came up with a creative solution – an easily-removable motor/battery unit. It was enough to win him a gold award at the latest International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan. Read More

Pictures have emerged of Vauxhall/Opel's concept electric bike, the RAD e

Pictures have finally emerged of the Vauxhall/Opel RAD e Concept pedelec (pedal-assist electric bicycle, in other words). "Pictures" is precisely the word, mind - these are computer renderings rather than product photos. Still, they give a good idea of what Vauxall/Opel has in mind (if nowhere else), and the accompanying press release gives one or two further points of insight. Read More

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