eBike News: Wilier, Tern, Stromer eBikes, Smartlocks, San Diego’s Pedal Ahead & More! [VIDEOS}
Sep 25, 2020
1 Comments
Share
In this week’s news:
- New eBikes from Wilier, Tern and Stromer
- Pedal Ahead Looking for eBike Volunteers in San Diego County
- Paris’s Cycle Temporary Cycle Lanes Go Permanent
- eScooter Updates from the US and UK
- Cycling Accessories; Smartlock plus Rear Light/Mudguard Combo
New eBikes and eBike Systems
Wilier Triestina Hybrid Move Fast
Wilier’s Hybrid Triestina Move Fast looks as though it certainly should do just that
While a lot attention has been paid to the sub-11kg Hybrid Cento 10 e-road bike from Italian manufacturer Wilier, the Triestina Hybrid Move Fast seems to have largely slipped under the radar of the bike press. Like its e-road cousin, this hybrid style bike features the Ebikemotion system from Mahle. Looking at the bike from the side view, the electric-assist system is virtually invisible, being composed of a small rear hub motor, in-frame battery and a small handlebar-mounted control button.
It has the latest Ebikemotion system, the X35+ that means great wireless connectivity in the form of ANT+. EBR couldn’t find a quoted weight but it will surely be a very light bike and it has gravel compatible tyres to boot, for those who want to leave the tarmac behind for a while. While the 3000 euro price tag starts to put it in the pricey league it’s a snip compared to the 7900 euro ‘starting price’ of the Hybrid Cento 10!
Tern Upgrades Vektron Folder for 2021
The new Tern S10 with new, more powerful Bosch Performance Line motor
Tern’s Vektron range are popular Bosch-powered folding e-bikes. They are made to give you all the benefits of a high-quality fully equipped e-bike, with the added benefit of a folder. While they aren’t the lightest electric folders out there (all models having a stated weight of around 22kg), they have the added convenience of being designed to roll when folded, so you can trolley them across train station interchanges and the like.
Tern have upgraded the motor performance across all three models in the range and updated the frame, components, and color options — all while maintaining similar price points.
The top-of-the-line Vektron S10, now has a Bosch Performance Line motor that provides support with up to 65 Nm of torque, and
improved pedal assistance of up to 300%. The Vektron Q9 and P7i have been upgraded as well, and now feature a Bosch Active Line Plus motor adding 10Nm of torque (now rated at 50Nm) with increased 270% pedal assist. The Active Line Plus does add some 300g of weight however, compared to the previously used Active Line. The stiff Vektron frame has also now been updated for easier battery port access.
New Redesigned Stromer ST2
Low maintenance, sleek and very quick – Stromer’s new ST2 model.
Stromer is a Swiss brand with a reputation for producing high quality, futuristic urban e-bikes, especially speed pedelecs (class 3 e-bikes in the US) capable of electrical assistance up to 28mph / 45kmh.
Bike-EU reports Stromer have relaunched their ST2 model, now with a belt drive and a rear hub motor that integrates 5-speed gear shifting from Sturmey Archer and Stromer’s largest capacity battery with 983 Wh and ‘a range of 180 km’. This, they say, will ‘help to make the Launch Edition, the ST2 LE, into the ideal replacement for the car.’
Cycling Accessories
Squire Goes High Tech with its New Smartlock
Squires’ Inigma is a bike lock unlike most. It doesn’t require a key, instead relying on bluetooth access from your smartphone to unlock it.
EBR has a sample and so far we’ve been very impressed with its ease of use. Full test report to follow…
Spanninga Integrate Rear Light and Mudguard
This new product from Spanninga incorporates rear light and mudguard
Dutch manufacturer Spanninga are well known for making bike lights but also make other accessories for bikes and e-bikes. Their latest, the innovative-sounding CoverMyBack2+ offers an integrated rear light and mudguard that mounts via a saddle rail bracket. The light has a USB rechargeable battery that can run for between 5 and 10 hours depending on the mode selected (boost/eco/flash). More product detail here.
Infrastructure & eMicromobility
Pedal Ahead – the New eBike Project for San Diego County
The Pedal Ahead project is looking for those who want to use e-bikes in San Diego County
Pedal Ahead is a new e-bike project in San Diego County that aims to make 200 Electra e-bikes available to the public with the final aim of having 400 available. It sounds to operate a little differently to regular e-bike share projects as individuals must apply directly for long term use of the e-bikes, with eventual post-trial ownership the prize for lucky applicants.
The Pedal Ahead website states ‘Electric bicycles are now available for commuting to work and school, transportation and day-to-day activities, all while promoting an active healthy lifestyle! Each participant rides an average of just 5 miles per day, tracks and shares rides for our e-bike study, and secures low-cost bicycle insurance. YOU own the Pedal Ahead e-bike following the successful completion of the two-year term!’
If you are interested in participating in the project you can apply here.
Paris Cycle Lanes to be Permanent
The Local reports that ‘New cycling lanes in Paris, opened in a rush to deal with a massive commuter shift to bikes during the Covid-19 pandemic, will be made permanent…’
The French capital already had a reasonable network of cycle lanes but this news that the extra 31 miles / 50 km of traffic lanes previously used by cars will now be permanently handed over to cyclists (a move initially announced as temporary) will no doubt be music to the ears of cyclists, e-bikers and kickscooter users there.
The article also reports that ‘Bike repair shops are booked out for months as Parisians dust off their bikes, while the bike rental project Velib’ is working at capacity.’ The Velib public hire project has both electric and non-electric bikes available on the short term to hire to anyone.
Since 2015, Paris has invested €150 million in cycling initiatives and its five-year plan includes measures such as doubling Paris’s cycle lanes to 870 miles / 1,400 km from the existing 435 miles / 700km or so, creating 10,000 bike parking spots and upgrading the Velib’ system.
eKickscooter Update
The UK’s Beryl bikes have recently expanded into e-scooter share projects
As we have reported before, electric scooter share startups seem at something of a crossroads, with current developments having a make or break feel about them – certainly in the US and the UK. In the US the industry seems beset by corporate and stock market setbacks while in the outcome of UK public trials are eagerly awaited; will it precede a blanket legalization of e-scooters (they are currently illegal to use on public land unless sanctioned by a particular rental project) or will they fade away?
Companies participating in the UK projects include startups such as ZIPP and Beryl and bigger companies such as Voi. There are currently e-scooter trials in the UK in Middlesborough, Norwich, Stafford and West Midlands.
This interesting Smartcitiesdive article acknowledges that 2020 has been a tough year for e-scooter share project with an obvious impact from Covid-19. However, the graph below shows how use was taking off remarkably up until the end of 2019, with e-scooters coming from nowhere over the course of 2018 and 2019 to take the lion’s share of e-micromobility trips in the North American market, fuelling a massive expansion of e-trips in the process.
Battery Watch
The eMicromobility Industry Needs Open Source Batteries
The headline is the opinion of Micah Toll at Electrek. As Micah points out, ‘With each company operating their own proprietary batteries, these packs are often the weak links. Replacements are annoying to find and the packs themselves often die sooner than the vehicles, especially in the shared e-mobility markets.’
Up until now the answer to low battery levels on e-bike and e-kickscooter share projects has been to have ‘an army of independent contractors or dedicated charging teams who carry scooters around in gas-guzzling vans.’
Swedish startup Teleport Mobility thinks it has the answer; its new battery standard. The key point is that the batteries will be made available as an open-source reference design once testing is completed. Companies could either lease the packs directly from Teleport Mobility, or they could design and build their own, pending rigorous safety verification that the packs are built to the technical standard. The aim is to get uniformity of size and design across different brands of electric mobility who would use Teleport’s patent-pending battery stations.
The article tells is that the battery banks could also act as mini power stations, ‘where operators such as businesses and hotels could use them for energy storage to save on electricity bills, similar to a Tesla Powerwall. They could also be used for emergency backup power.’
Modiary’s New Fast Charger
Bike-EU reports that ‘Lithium-ion battery charger developer and manufacturer, Modiary, have unveiled a new smart charger, MDA310. The company claims the product can charge three times faster than ordinary chargers and the built-in software allows for an “intelligent control of the whole charging process”.
The smart charger is developed for charging of 10S lithium-ion battery packs with an optional output current of 6A/5A/4A and will be launched onto the market soon.
Stay tuned for more e-bike news and reviews and thanks for reading!
-Rich
Reader Interactions
Comments
Leave a Reply
It is worth noting that there has been a bike share system, now incorporated into its public commuter system, in Montreal, Quebec since 2014. Recently it includes e-bikes in its line-up and the city’s 500 km bike paths have increased during Covid 19 to accommodate the increase in users, particularly e-bike users. Such a shame we have too short a biking season, although e-bikes are gaining popularity in the winter months. Here is a taste…
http://www.bixi.com
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/qc/canallachine
https://dailyhive.com/montreal/most-beautiful-bike-paths-montreal
https://www.mtlblog.com/things-to-do/canada/qc/montreal/8-montreal-bike-paths-thatll-take-you-past-some-incredible-views