scooters

Horwin’s EK3 Crushes Electric Competition With Motorcycle Infused EV

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by Cristian Curmei from https://www.autoevolution.com Electric mobility is officially a booming business. With such a growth, we’re bound to witness all sorts of EVs aimed at relieving overcrowded cities of traffic. One company, Horwin, hit the market with their Red Dot Design Award winning moped, the EK3. Now, the way I ran across this company may surprise you. I was walking around my neighborhood and strolled past a building with a sign saying SmartBalance. As I walked by, I started to understand what the shop was all about, EVs. I could see a few vehicles inside, but one in particular, which I later found out was the EK3, winked at me from the corner of the showroom. My research into this vehicle led me to find out about Horwin. This rather fresh team of motorcycle enthusiast, industrial experts, and even professional racers, ranging from Germany, China, and Austria, hit the market with the CR6 and CR6 Pro (L3e class / 125 ccm) light electric motorcycles. The “CR” stands for Café Racer. With a range of 150 km (93.2 mi), top speed of 105 kph (65 mph) and acceleration from 0 to 60 kph (37 mph) in just six seconds, these babies paved the way for Horwin’s triumph. As it stands the 2020 EK3 comes in with a length of 1900 mm (74.8 in), width of 690 mm (27.1 in), height of 1130 mm (44.4 in), and a minimum ground clearance of 125 mm (4.9 in). With the seat height at 780 mm (30.7 in), you’ll be positioned quite upright as you ride. The wheelbase is of 1320 mm (51.9 in). What makes the EK3 so attractive is its speed and acceleration. With a max power output of 6.2 kW (8.3 hp) at 95 kph (59 mph), and max torque of […]

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Ride To Work Day gets encouragement from Georgia Motorcycle Safety Program

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by Georgia Department of Driver Services from https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com Monday, June 21, is the 30th International Motorcycle and Scooter Ride To Work Day. The Department of Driver Services (DDS) Georgia Motorcycle Safety Program (GMSP) encourages all motorcyclists and scooter riders to help show support and raise motorcycle safety awareness with their commute to work. “Riding a motorcycle to work is a great commute option for those who are properly licensed and capable of safely handling a motorcycle,” said DDS Commissioner Spencer R. Moore. “If you are not properly licensed, please, consider a GMSP training class to ensure you are sharing the road safely.” June marks the official start of summer, and as the weather temperature rises, so will the number of motorcycles and scooters on the road. Motorists paying attention and sharing the road with two-wheel and three-wheel riders are imperative to the safety of motorcyclists and can help lower the rate of two-vehicle motorcycle-related traffic collisions. “Motorcyclists already know how much fun it is to ride and how easy motorcycles and scooters are to maneuver in traffic and to park,” said Holly Hegyesi, GSMP program manager and avid motorcyclist. “Ride To Work Day helps call attention to the benefits of riding a motorcycle and gives us a chance to share our enthusiasm with non-riders.” Ride To Work Day is celebrated on the third Monday in June and is a call for riders from all walks of life to come together to show how motorcycles and scooters are an economical form of transportation. A motorcycle work commute can be more fuel-efficient and take up less space compared to passenger cars. Although motorcycle riding is fun and brings many riders joy, it also comes with risks that support the mission behind GMSP to improve the safety of motorcyclists on Georgia’s streets and

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Uber Launches Electric Motorcycles And Scooters For Rides And Deliveries In Kenya

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from https://africa.com Uber Launches Electric Motorcycles And Scooters For Rides And Deliveries In Kenya And For The First Time In Africa. Uber has announced the launch of electric BodaBodas and bicycles for earners on UberBoda, Uber Connect and Uber Eats in Kenya, allowing riders and eaters the ability to choose a more sustainable option to move around and to have deliveries made. The launch is a first for Uber in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sustainable rides with UberBoda Green The launch of electric BodaBodas will not only offer an affordable and reliable manner of transportation within the city, but riders will be able to select a zero-emissions ride to help drive a green recovery. Using electric UberBoda vehicles will cost the same as a regular journey, as going green should never be more expensive. Riders can also expect the same door-to-door safety experience. The launch of electric boda presents a 45% reduction in overall costs for Uber Boda and Uber Connect drivers, for whom fuel is the most significant operating cost. In Kenya, the boda boda sector employs over 1.6 million youths, the vast majority of which are based in Nairobi. “We are doing our part to help transform mobility in the country so that Kenyans can play their part in reducing carbon emissions. Uber is continuously looking for ways to improve the customer experience, and we have a responsibility to invest in offering product innovations that make a difference to cities. We believe this collaboration will do just that”, says Brian Njao, Head of East Africa for Uber. Reducing emissions while making deliveries With consumers being environmentally and health-conscious, it is important for Uber Eats to be part of the journey. The introduction of electric BodaBodas can allow consumers to order their favourite meals while giving them peace of mind that

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Piaggio, KTM, Honda and Yamaha to set up swappable batteries consortium

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from https://auto.economictimes.indiatimes.com The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category, mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles. Piaggio Group on Monday said it has signed a letter of intent with KTM AG, Honda Motor and Yamaha Motor to set up a Swappable Batteries Consortium for motorcycles and light electric vehicles. The consortium will define the standardised technical specifications of the swappable battery system for vehicles belonging to the L-category: mopeds, motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles. The companies will be working closely with interested stakeholders and national, European and international standardisation bodies. The founding members of the consortium will be involved in the creation of international technical standards. The Consortium will start its activities in May 2021. In the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and the transition to electromobility, the founding members of the consortium believe that the availability of a standardised swappable battery system would both promote the widespread use of light electric vehicles and contribute to a more sustainable life-cycle management of batteries used in the transport sector, the companies said in a joint statement. Also, by extending the range, shortening the charging time and lowering vehicle and infrastructure costs, the manufacturers will try to answer customers’ main concerns regarding the future of electromobility. Michele Colaninno, Piaggio Group chief of strategy and product, commented, “With the signing of this letter of intent, the signatories show their proactiveness vis-à-vis the major concerns of their customers and the political priorities as regards the electrification of vehicles.” An international standard for the swappable batteries system will make this technology efficient and at the disposal of the consumers, added Michele Colaninno.

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E-bikes that look like motorcycles take another hit in Canada

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by Maryse Zeidler from https://www.cbc.ca Appellant’s lawyer says his client relied on Motorino XMr for affordable transportation The British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that e-bikes designed to look and function more like mopeds or scooters do not meet the province’s definition of a motor-assisted cycle and therefore require a driver’s licence, registration and insurance. The case was brought forward by Ali Ghadban, who was issued a ticket in Surrey, B.C., in 2018 for riding his Motorino XMr without a driver’s licence and insurance. He said he wasn’t able to obtain them from the provincial insurer, ICBC. Two of the three Appeal Court justices assigned to the case agreed with the B.C. Supreme Court judge’s decision from May 2020 that found although the Motorino XMr is outfitted with pedals, limited power and a maximum speed of 32 km/h, it doesn’t qualify as a motor-assisted cycle because it’s not designed to be operated primarily by human power. At the heart of the issue are the XMr’s small pedals, which Court of Appeal Justice Harvey M. Groberman agreed would do little to propel the nearly 115-kilogram bike. Groberman said the XMr is designed to almost exclusively operate as a low-powered electric motorcycle, or as “a very heavy, impractical bicycle.” Although the XMr meets many of the technical requirements of a motor-assisted cycle as defined in B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act, Groberman wrote, it doesn’t do so in practice. “If a piece of legislation defines ‘cat’ as ‘a small four-legged furry mammal that purrs,’ we would not expect that definition to include a dog fitted with a loudspeaker that plays a purring sound,” he said. Affordable, environmentally friendly Lawyer Dan Griffiths, who represented Ghadban in the case, said his client is a man of modest financial means who

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Honda Drops Hot Upgrades for 2021

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by Silvian Secara from https://www.autoevolution.com Of all the models mentioned in the company’s recent announcement, the 2021 PCX takes the cake for being the most innovative. Given the abundance of exciting announcements made by motorcycle manufacturers as of late, we’re inclined to believe that 2021 is becoming a promising year for the two-wheeler realm. The latest statement to support that claim was made by none other than the almighty Honda, which revealed details on as many as four new entry-level machines for the 2021 and 2022 model years. First and foremost, the company’s scooter lineup will have the honor of welcoming an updated PCX that boasts a 157cc single-cylinder powerplant. Back in 2009, this bad boy was unleashed on the U.S. market as PCX125, gaining an array of steady upgrades ever since. Besides a modest displacement boost, the newcomer prides itself with a modified chassis that offers “reduced weight and improved cornering performance.” Additionally, the 2021 Honda PCX comes equipped with a 30-liter storage unit below the seat and Honda’s state-of-the-art Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) setup. In addition, each and every lighting component is an LED item. This tasty piece of Japanese machinery will hit dealerships as early as March, with an MSRP of $3,799 for the base model. On the other hand, the ABS variant will cost you an extra 200 bucks, which is what you might refer to as a bargain. As we move down the scooter range, we’ll come across a fresh Metropolitan hosting a generous amount of storage space for your convenience, including in-dash and under-seat compartments. Should you be looking for a “European-style scooter engineered to embody American practicality,” you’ll be able to get your hands on a 2022 Metropolitan in April, for just $2,499. Next up, the manufacturer’s insanely customizable Ruckus will also make

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Motorcycles and motor scooters in high demand as car sales tank in Alberta

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by Helen Pike from https://www.cbc.ca Instead of sitting at home when the pandemic shuttered Alberta’s economy, some hopped on the saddle of a motorbike and hit the streets. According to statistics provided by the Motorcycle & Moped Industry Council (MMIC), sales across the province started to climb in April and May and peaked mid-summer. Year to date motorcycle sales are up 16 per cent and motor scooter sales are up 14 per cent over last year’s figures. Meanwhile, new vehicle sales are down about 26 per cent compared with January to August 2019, according to Statistics Canada. David Grummett, director of communications, said MMIC believes there was a healthy mix of new riders, returning riders and existing riders with some with vacation money burning a hole in their pockets. “There were a lot of new riders,” Grummett said “[There were people coming] back to the sport in big numbers … there were just people that wanted a new bike and maybe they weren’t going on the cruise. So they had some extra disposable cash. That seemed to be a good place to put it.” Jen Brown hadn’t been on a bike for a decade. She had taken a course and always intended to have a motorcycle of her own, but life got in the way. Until the pandemic hit. Then she found herself with extra cash usually set aside for rec-sports leagues and camping trips. So, she got a second-hand beater and, on her first solo ride, met a community of people by chance, on her first ride to Bragg Creek. ‘Everybody stepped up’ “Quite honestly, it’s what kept me sane all summer long,” Brown said. “The group became more and more eclectic, And we all sort of supported each other and helped each other out.” After that, she was

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How data is driving new approaches to transportation

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from New York Times Analysing digital streams of information from electric scooters and motor-assisted bicycles are helping solve travel congestion issues. Five seconds after a Los Angeles rider unlocks a dockless electric scooter with a smartphone app and sets off to a destination, a cityoperated databank is informed. Five seconds after the trip ends, typically no more than a mile away, another alert updates the record, noting the location. In 24 hours, the exact route is uploaded and logged for analysis. That ride to the bus stop or the convenience store, emissions-free and nearly silent, would seem to be a zero-disruption event in a sprawling city with millions of people and vehicles. Yet extrapolated over years, it foreshadows a shift of potentially enormous consequences. While the identity of that rider is unknown to the city, a stream of data from the scooter’s GPS module and cellphone link — speed, time of day, battery state of charge — flows to cloud servers an average of a million times a month during Los Angeles’s pilot program. Each trip is but a trickle of bytes, yet it is a rich resource for the planners and the policymakers who hope to tame the persistent tangle of traffic in this vehicle-dependent metropolis. That vehicular chokehold can weigh as heavily on a neighborhood dweller as it does on a road user. “Cities have to assure that their resources are used efficiently, and that includes the shared spaces,” said Stephen Zoepf, chief of policy development at Ellis & Associates, a Silicon Valley consultancy that helps cities develop transportation technology plans. “The effects of crowding, in noise and emissions, are a tragedy of the commons,” he continued, using an economist’s term for situations in which resources are depleted by those acting in self-interest rather than the general good.

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Paris e-scooters under pressure to prove green credentials

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Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. Paris – Pulling on makeshift roped hooks along a sun-drenched bank of the Seine River in Paris, Youva Hadjali and Edison Gompo fish out two electric scooters — not the most ecological fate for devices billed as a carbon-free fix for strained urban transport systems. As city officials vow to rein in the use of wildly popular e-scooters, their short lifespans, along with the energy consumed to build and service them, have many wondering if they are as good for the environment as operators say. Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. “Overall in Paris, Lime scooters have saved the equivalent of two days without any cars at all” since they arrived 16 months ago, Arthur-Louis Jacquier, head of French operations, told AFP. Critics say such claims fail to take into account the carbon emitted in constructing the scooters and the daily collections for recharging the so-called “dockless” vehicles. Those emissions are compounded by lifespans of barely a year, due to wear and tear but also vandalism. They were a specific target of activists at the Extinction Rebellion protest in Paris last month, who gathered up a huge pile of the devices to denounce what they labelled “pointless pollution.” “Scooters don’t replace cars, they motorise walking trips,” one sign said. Studies indeed show that most scooter trips are replacing walking or biking, with just a third displacing car use, said Jeremiah Johnson of North Carolina State University.

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Hundreds of drunk scooter riders lost their licenses at Germany’s Oktoberfest this year

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by Zac Palmer from https://www.autoblog.com Drinking and riding carries the same penalty as drunk driving Oktoberfest just wrapped up in Munich, and surprisingly, there’s some pretty alarming transportation-related news coming from it. Ride-sharing scooters and drunk party-goers don’t make for a good combination, but that’s exactly what German police had to fend with throughout the 16-day-long event. According to German news outlet Deutsche Welle, and picked up by The Drive, local police say they caught 414 people riding scooters while under the influence. Of those, 254 riders had their driver’s licenses revoked on the spot. Germany treats scooters the same as cars, so there are serious consequences for not following the rules of the road — similar to America, there are repercussions for drunk driving. What remains unreported is how many accidents or injuries occurred as a result of all the drunk scootering. German police were on high alert when it came to the scooters, as they were just unleashed on the public in June this year. The numbers are slightly better for folks who were driving an actual car in the city of Munich during the festival. Police found 315 drunk drivers and forced 215 of those to give up their licenses immediately. Millions from all over the globe attend Oktoberfest every year. Beer is consumed in copious amounts in massive beer glasses known as steins — the only size of beer served in the beer tents amounts to 33.8 ounces. Drinking tasty German beer and singing all day may have given some folks a little too much confidence to pilot an E-scooter home rather than walking like the rest of the crowd. Police did a great job of keeping the scooters from entering onto the Oktoberfest grounds, banning their use during the festival itself. We’ll leave you with

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