Seat will launch a new electric Scooter later this month, as part of the Spanish firm’s attempts to become a leader in ‘urban mobility solutions’ to tackle congestion in large cities. The eScooter, which is being developed in collaboration with Barcelona-based motorcycle maker Silence, will join the upcoming Minimo and the eXS Kickscooter in the company’s new urban transport line-up. While Seat has not given performance details, it says the eScooter features a 100% electric powertrain equivalent to a 125cc petrol bike. It will be presented at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona later this month. In recent years, an increasing number of car companies have started targeting solutions for crowded cities. Earlier this year, Seat announced that it would spearhead efforts in the segment within the Volkswagen Group. Last year the brand piloted a fleet of prototype car sharing vehicles, modelled on its upcoming Seat eMii, which users could rent through a mobile app, and a forerunner to its eScooter, the Segway-based eXS. In 2021, Seat will introduce a new small electric city car. The Minimo develops the concept of the Renault Twizy and fronts the firm’s increasing emphasis on small and environmentally-friendly transport alternatives. Seat boss Luca de Meo said that “the constant growth of large cities makes achieving efficient mobility one of the main challenges to
Origin: Seat to launch electric scooter as urban mobility vehicle
mobility
Plugged In Podcast: Charged up about two-wheeled mobility
Motorinos Steve Miloshev astride the Super Soco TC, an all-electric motorcycle built by an Australian company and of which Motorino has exclusive rights to in Canada.Andrew McCredie Steve Miloshev is the founder of Motorino, a Vancouver-based electric bicycle, scooter and small motorcycle company that is a pioneer in two-wheeled electric mobility in Canada.The mechanical environmental engineer first came across electric bicycles while on a job in China two decades ago, and immediately realized this form of sustainable personal mobility had a bright future in urban centres in North America and Europe.We talk to Steve about how far the battery technology has come since he founded Motorino in 2003, beginning with bulky and unreliable metal-hydride batteries through to todays lightweight lithium-ion technology, and he sheds some light on where two-wheeled electrification is going in the coming years.Plugged In is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.
Origin: Plugged In Podcast: Charged up about two-wheeled mobility
LEVC presents TX Shuttle as electrified mobility offering
London taxi maker LEVC has shown a shuttle-style reworking of its TX electrified cab at the Frankfurt motor show. Called the TX Shuttle, the new model uses the same 1.5-litre petrol engine and 147bhp electric motor as the TX for an electric-only range of 80 miles and overall range of 377 miles. The company says it “sees major demand in Europe for shuttle versions of the TX taxi”, and has adapted the vehicle to suit airport transfer services and minicab firms. The model’s six-seat interior receives minimal visual alterations over the standard model, but gains charging points, on-board Wi-Fi and a panoramic roof. LEVC says mobility and shuttle services have “the opportunity to specify the taxi to suit their own unique needs”, suggesting firms like Uber and Lyft could adopt the new model. The launch comes as LEVC targets increased sales across Europe. In July, the Coventry-based firm celebrated the completion of its 2500th TX taxi, but aims to rapidly ramp up production figures by exporting 70% of its cars before 2022. The firm has already sold TX models in Norway, Sweden, Hong Kong and Malaysia, but claims to have identified sales opportunities in Denmark, France and Germany, where the TX has recently been selected to front a new mobility service in the city of Offenbach. CEO Joerg Hoffman said: “The time is right for a new green mobility provider, cities are faced with ever-growing populations and the challenge of air quality. With our zero emission TX Taxi, TX Shuttle and LCV, we can change the way people and goods are moved around an urban area. “Our overall growth strategy is supported by export sales into new markets together with a new range of products. Our goal is to be the leading European green commercial mobility solution provider and I have every confidence we will achieve that ambition.” Future developments include the potential roll-out of self-charging technology, currently undergoing feasibility studies at the University of Duisenberg-Essen, and the launch of the firm’s new LCV
Origin: LEVC presents TX Shuttle as electrified mobility offering
ThunderBikes team dedicated to the art of electric personal mobility
UBC ThunderBikes team members, left to right, Bhargav Thoom, Kevin Heieis, Huy Nguyen and Ramiro Bolanos with the teams electric MK3 mountain bike.Andrew McCredie Despite its members having diverse countries of origin, this university club has a singular focus: advancing personal mobility using electricity.The brainchild of fourth-year mechanical engineering student Bhargav Thoom, the UBC ThunderBikes is a student-run design team with a goal to educate and enthuse members about electric bikes and electric bike conversions.I sat down with three club members, including Thoom, last week in a shared workshop in the William and Wayne Engineering Design centre on the Point Grey campus to find out what tomorrows electric vehicle engineers are learning today.Thoom is from Calgary and was inspired to start the ThunderBikes team after learning about a University of Calgary club called Team Zeus, which builds for and competes in electric motorcycle competitions.We didnt have anything like that and I thought we were a better university so I thought we should do something similar, he said with a bit of a wry smile. My decision to start with an electric bike (rather than an EV motorcycle) was so we could build our foundation on something that was a little easier to work with so that members can get hands-on experience with their own personal projects.Then once we had that experience we could build bigger motors, bigger components and better cooling systems. The MK3 uses an electric hub motor at the rear wheel to power the bike so that pedaling is not required at anytime. Andrew McCredie The club began in earnest last summer with Thoom, club founder and inaugural team captain, and nine members embarking on a project to design and build an electric mountain bike to compete in a 10-kilometre off-road competition at the The Lost Sierra Ebike Festival competition this summer.Team mechanical lead and newly appointed team captain Huy Nguyen said they settled on a design that is very similar to a number of commercially available EV mountain bikes, one that features an electric hub motor at the rear wheel, which powers the bike without any pedaling required.Dubbed the MK3, the bike came together somewhat slowly, as funds were short which meant many of the components were rebuilt used ones. Then in February of this year, a major setback none of the team of bright students expected occurred: the MK3 was stolen.We didnt have shop spaceactually we still dontso we were working out of my dorm room on campus, Thoom said. One day when I was moving stuff around in my room I had to leave the bike outside for an hour or so. And it wasnt there when I got back. It was devastating.He took to social media and was amazed at the response from Vancouvers bike community. Exactly a week after the theft he received a text from someone who had spotted the MK3 for sale on Craigslist.We contacted the Vancouver Police Department and they got it back for us. The Calgary-based Daniel Family Foundation has provided much-needed sponsorship money to the team’s projects. Andrew McCredie Thoom says he missed a lot of classes that week without the bike, and thanks his profs for being so understanding. He also is grateful for the media coverage the theft generated, noting it led directly to the securing of their first big sponsor.A Calgary-based group called the Daniel Family Foundation heard about what we were doing from those news stories about the theft, liked the mission statement of our project and they became our biggest sponsor and will support us for the next three years.Though they are still on the lookout for more sponsorship and funding (you can reach the club at thunderbikesdesign@gmail.com), the Daniel Family Foundation commitment allows the club to look at expanding its project builds to the point that the team is now building two new electric-powered vehicles a more powerful, longer range mountain bike, and an all-electric motorcycle to compete in a Super Sport competition in California next summer. And there is also a side project to, as new team captain Nguyen puts it, fix the MK3 from the crash.Ah yes, the crash. In addition to being founder and team captain, Thoom was also the MK3 rider at the Lost Sierra competition, which took place just a few weeks ago in California.Our suspension was off, Thoom explained. We used cheap parts from one of my previous builds due to our limited budget (they used one-third of their entire budget just getting to the competition). After my first (and only) test run the suspension was killing me so I asked the team to adjust it for more cushion.He suggested to deflate the tires a little bit, but admits he forgot to think about the weight of the (rear hub) motor. One kilometre into the race, the bike was not performing well, with little power, and on a steep descent into a rocky flat, Thoom realized he had a rear flat tire and a dented rim (called a pinch-flat caused by the heavy rear hub). Thus,
Origin: ThunderBikes team dedicated to the art of electric personal mobility
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