Concept e bikes

[JRA]

There seems to be no end to the race for the future designs of e bikes. There are some pretty wild concepts floating around and similar to the moto industry these designs are exercises and most never come to market but elements of them do.

Here is the latest from Gazelle: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Outside of the fact that this exercise probably cost a gazelleon bucks it does tick the right boxes like belt drive, IGH, weight distribution, fenders, rack and decent power and range figures that already are available to the e market you have to love a good Italian design teams efforts.

 

[E-Wheels]

If any off these concept ebikes make it to the market it will be exciting times ahead
See this one from Peugeot http://www.peugeotdesignlab.com/en/projects/transportation/peugeot-cycles-edl132-concept-e-bike

 

[JRA]

Auto manufacturers have been showing e bike concepts for years. Here is one from Opel/Vauxhall:

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/future-models-and-concepts/rad-e/overview.html

 

[E-Wheels]

JRA,
Nice looking machine
I think they mostly design these concept ebikes for advertising purposes only to show how clever they are, and to give the impression they are a green, sustainable and environmentally aware company which is all part of their overall marketing strategy
All fashionable attributes and requirements for a car company today
If they ever get into production then they are basically sold as an accessory to the primary purchase being the vehicle
Audi, BMW, Ford etc all have designed concept ebikes but you don't see many of them
Give credit to Mercedes for the SMART bike, but even they are now gone and generally forgotten about
I'm not too confident car manufacturers are willing to commit long term to ebike manufacture at the moment
Shame really as they and their business partners have already spent $$$$ in R&D and manufacturing complementary products that can be easily adapted to the ebike space
Bosch and Brose have successfully leveraged from their original motors designed for the auto industry

 

[JRA]

Gates is another company that has automotive roots that has been paying attention to the e bike industry and are not above a little pushing in the right direction as this report from 2014 illustrates:

http://electricbikereport.com/custom-electric-bikes-with-bosch-mid-drive-gates-belt-nuvinci-hub/

Their belt drives are showing up on many models targeted primarily at the urban market and the IGH's that work in congress with them are getting more sophisticated all the time as evidenced by the NuVinci and Shimano Di2 models.

 

[galvinro]

Not a concept anymore, but the BMW e bike looks nice, but a little pricey.