Audi, the company that has brought us the hybrid-diesel racecars as well as many of the greatest car designs are tackling two-wheels now; the bicycles!
Yes, it is true…Audi has presented last week, at the Wörthersee Tour event in Austria a high-end, ultra-light carbon fiber electric bicycle. This new pedicycle would be ideal for stuntmen; it permits computer-controlled tricks as well as enabling you to strut down the road at 50mph!
Our inner child is incredibly thrilled yet upset that this was not available when we were actually 12 or 14 and busy learning to factor quadratic equations; a skill arguably even more useless in adulthood than being able to ride a bike on one wheel!
Audi has certainly geared up the experience with the bike’s specs:
1. A carbon fiber frame weighs just 3.53 pounds (1.6kg ) and a 2.3kW motor with a lithium ion battery (FYI; pedal-assist electric bikes’ legal maximum in most legislations is about a tenth of that). The bike’s total weight is 24lbs (11kg).
2. An on-board computer control, hydraulic brakes and gears.
3. A touch-screen on the top-tube that controls riding mode selection, recording of trick sequences as well as adjustment of various e-bike functions as electric pedaling assistance and lighting.
4. A display that show cases speed, distance, battery charge, energy consumption and inclination.
5. The battery can be charged in 2.5 hours or quickly swapped and gives a claimed range of 50-70km.
6. The seat height is continuously adjustable from a handlebar control, even while riding.
7. A Smartphone app to control the built-in immobilizer.
The bike’s designated as a high-performance bike for trick cycling, including the ability to ride on its back wheel alone in two (Power Wheelie and Balanced Wheelie) of the five available modes: Pure, Pedelec, eGrip, Power Wheelie, and Balanced Wheelie.
The pure mode is basically what you and I would simply call “pedaling”. The Pedelec mode will permit you to do 50mph. Riding solely on the back wheel is posibile by either picking an angle in Power Wheelie mode or shifting your weight in the Balanced Wheelie mode.
As stylish and high tech this bike really is, you’re going to need a license, registration and a helmet of course to be able to use it on the road.
Many automakers also sell performance bikes as lifestyle accessories, but nothing like Audi’s e-bike. BMW i Ventures, the New York City-based venture fund for mobility related investments, is providing seed money for a more mainstream electric bicycle that would be light and foldable. Drive to the train station in the suburbs, carry the bike on board, get to your destination city, unfold the bike, and motor electrically to your office a mile or two away.
There’s no word on whether Audi will ever actually sell this thing, though some automotive sites have speculated it’d have a Ducati label if they did, as the group recently bought Ducati.
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