Dutch firm Orphiro develops an electric bike for the cruiser crowd, while BMW works on an E-Scooter concept.
The Orphiro is a sleek-looking, low-slung cruiser that boasts a 100 km range (should suffice for bar-hopping) and a 120 km/h top speed.
It has a hardtail look, which seems partially influenced by Harley-Davidson’s Softail models. The frame hidden beneath the bodywork looks a similar to a Softail frame.
An electric cruiser certainly makes sense, as you could easily keep pace with your cruiser-riding buddies while cruising downtown streets, and its range should be adequate for this.
However, if you dream of cruising the streets silently you’ll have to do it on a bicycle, because according to Bikes in the Fast Lane, Orphiro only plans to produce the bike in limited numbers and for companies planning to use the bikes for promotional events.
BMW has a more practical approach to the electric bike boom, with a long-range E-Scooter concept that is claimed to have the performance of current 600 cc scooters.
Because the high output motor and related electronics produce a lot of heat, the E-Scooter concept is liquid-cooled.
Its unique chassis uses the aluminum battery casing as the main frame, and front and rear subframes support the suspension components.
Charging time for a completely flat battery is claimed to be just three hours using a regular wall outlet.
BMW has not released details on when this concept will reach production.
That Orphiro looks like something that “Robo Cop” should ride, and the little Beemer, are they seriously going with that graphics layout? Vomitous is the first word that pops into my head. It’s like an “Acid” trip on two wheels, plus the fact that it’s electric means you can sneak up on people and scare them with it.
Loud batteries save lives…?
Hahahahahaha…love it.