News Briefs

BMW has filed a patent for wireless electric motorcycle charging. Its concept has a wireless charging receiver built into the pad at the base of the electric motorcycle’s side stand - the only non-rubber component that comes into contact with the ground. When the rider parks the electric motorcycle, the side stand’s pad would land on the wireless charger (which houses an AC coil). Wireless charging power is correlated to the distance between the charger and receiver, so works best when the two are in nearly direct contact - the BMW design does exactly that.

 

In New Delhi, Piaggio Group has unveiled the new Baramati, Maharashtra produced Ape E-City, a full electric battery swap technology version of its iconic three-wheeler - marking the Group’s entry onto the Indian electric commercial vehicle market. India is implementing a policy to support electric mobility, especially for 2- and 3-wheel vehicles, through the roll-out of the FAME programme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) to promote the purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles with incentives - including a reduction from 12% to 5% in Indian VAT equivalent. India’s electric vehicle market is currently worth around US $71m, but is expected to exceed $700m by 2025. On Sept. 30, 2019, the Piaggio Group reported sales in India of 142,500 commercial vehicles, with a 5.6% increase in revenues for an overall share of 23.8% of the Indian three-wheeler market and leadership in the Cargo segment at 42.9%.

Pierer Mobility AG (PM), the newly branded KTM owner, has completed the integration of PEXCO GmbH, the Schweinfurt, Germany based E-Bike business that it bought in 2019. The board of PM has approved taking over the remaining 60% of the shares in PEXCO GmbH from Pierer Industrie AG. PEXCO makes E-bicycles under the Husqvarna and R Raymon brands.

It is now a little easier for Germans to use their car driver's licence to drive light-power scooters and motorcycles with 125 cubic centimetres and a maximum of 11 kW (15 hp) of power. In December 2019 the Federal Council voted in favour of a Driving Licence Ordinance amendment proposed by the Federal Minister of Transport that, though still requiring five years of driving practice in cars, a minimum age of 25 years and extensive theory and practice training, it will dispense with the need for an examination.

BMW Motorrad is teaming up with mobility provider Cooltra to offer its maxi-scooter BMW C Evolution as part of a ride-sharing pilot programme in Barcelona. The Cooltra Prime app makes it simple to find, book and unlock the BMW C Evolution. The scooters offer a range of up to 100 km and come complete with insurance and helmet.

 

Since the introduction of the Dream D-Type in 1949, Honda's 70th anniversary of motorcycle mass-production has also marked the company's 400 million-unit milestone for global motorcycle production. Honda was founded in 1948 and began mass-production of motorcycles at its first overseas production facility in Belgium in 1963. Since then, Honda has expanded its production globally in accordance with its fundamental principle of producing locally where there is demand, currently producing motorcycles from 50 cc commuters to 1,800 cc models at 35 facilities in 21 countries. Honda began motorcycle production in North America in 1979.

Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, B&B, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MNW. electricmotorcycles.news