A research team led by Professor Wei-Hsin Liao from the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has developed a lightweight (307 g) smart-materials-based energy harvester for scavenging energy from human motion, generating an inexhaustible and sustainable power supply just from walking. Specifically, the... Read more →

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its guidance to implement Secretary’s Order 3376, Increasing Recreational Opportunities Through the Use of Electric Bikes, which will allow the use of low-speed electric bicycles (e-bikes) at national wildlife refuges and other DOI-managed public lands where traditional biking occurs. The National Park Service... Read more →

Gogoro, a leading provider of eScooters, has introduced the Gogoro VIVA Smartscooter, a smaller, lightweight electric scooter targeting the 50-100cc gasoline scooter segment. VIVA leverages Gogoro’s Smartscooter electric powertrain, smartphone connectivity and battery swapping in a lightweight urban design for shorter, quicker trips. VIVA is designed to be compact and... Read more →

Bosch is developing e-stroller systems—an assistance system for strollers with a range of comfort and safety features including push support and an automatic braking function; connectivity via a smartphone app; an alarm function, and a variety of high-tech sensors. The variable Bosch system is equally suitable for single, twin, or... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group has developed a new prototype electric scooter. Building on its initial concept presented at CES 2017, the new model features rear-wheel drive, a lithium-ion battery and stylish front and rear lights. The latest concept features in future Hyundai Motor Group plans to enable first- and last-mile mobility... Read more →

Bike lanes separated from the roadway by physical barriers—such as parked cars, a curb, landscaping or posts—may make cyclists feel safer and encourage more people to ride. However, a new IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) study shows that protected bike lanes vary in terms of injury risk. Factors such... Read more →

Audi has developed a new e-scooter concept to respond to the urban trend towards multi-modal mobility. The Audi e-tron Scooter, combining the advantages of the electric scooter and the skateboard, is designed for sporty riders. To be transported by car, bus or train, the twelve-kilogram (26-pound) e-scooter can be folded... Read more →

A new study from North Carolina State University finds that while shared e-scooters may be greener than most cars, they can be less green than several other options, including, in some cases, buses. Their open-access paper is published in the journal E.nvironmental Research Letters Using life cycle assessment, the researchers... Read more →

Facial and head injuries from riding electric scooters have tripled over the past decade, according to a Rutgers study. Electric scooter use has been increasing in popularity as a more environmentally friendly and efficient alternative to gasoline vehicles. However, state helmet laws vary, and the study found that many people... Read more →

To shorten the charging time of e-bikes—in particular during daily use in the city—Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Coboc GmbH & Co. KG, a company specialized in electric mobility, plan to make the batteries of pedelecs capable of rapid charging. Presently, charging of an e-bike battery takes about two... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group is embracing micromobility as part of its electric mobility strategy. At the Geneva International Motor Show, Volkswagen is showcasing two concept electric scooters to address the need for micromobility solutions: the compact Cityskater, a production-ready surfer for the last mile of a journey, and a larger e-scooter,... Read more →

Vulog, a technology platform for free-floating, round-trip, peer-to-peer carsharing, scootersharing, ride-hailing and hybrid services, is partnering with Segway to accelerate creation of shared micro-mobility services. Through a deep integration between Vulog’s AiMA platform and new sharing-ready scooters from Segway, existing mobility operators and new entrants can now deploy profitable, large-scale... Read more →

GM announced ARĪV as the name of its new eBike brand, which includes two innovative, integrated and connected eBikes: the Meld, a compact eBike, and the Merge, a folding eBike. The name ARĪV was selected as part of a global crowdsourcing campaign announced in November 2018. ARĪV eBikes are launching... Read more →

Bio-Hybrid GmbH, a company belonging to the Schaeffler Group, will present the near-production Bio-Hybrid (earlier post)—a new, modern form of personal urban mobility and means of transportation—at CES 2019. The variable and electrically assisted vehicles will be showcased in Las Vegas in the Cargo and Passenger versions. At the same... Read more →

A new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the la Caixa Banking Foundation, has concluded that cycling is the mode of transport associated with the greatest health benefits: better self-perceived general health, better mental health and fewer feelings of loneliness. The study... Read more →

On 30 November, the European EU-LIVE consortium unveiled a new L5e-category (3-wheeled vehicles one can use at a speed above 50 km/h and on any road) electrified mobility solution. Positioned between the two-wheel and four-wheel segments, it is equipped with a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powertrain, two electric in-wheel... Read more →

Leveraging its knowledge and advancements in 48V automotive technology, Continental is now introducing two 48V drive units to the electric bike market. The 48V Revolution is the first 48V-powered e-bike motor with a fully integrated stepless automatic transmission contained in an all-in-one drive unit. With its 2-in-1 drive and continuously... Read more →

Ricardo has developed and demonstrated an advanced and cost-effective motorcycle Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) concept that offers the comfort and convenience of automatic and semi-automatic operation with better-than-manual fuel efficiency. Manual transmissions predominate in almost all non-scooter two-wheeler categories; automated alternatives can be expensive and bring efficiency penalties. BY contrast,... Read more →

Automotive supplier Schaeffler introduced a new micro-mobility concept during the “auto motor und sport” conference. This study shows how the company envisages a solution for urban individual forms of mobility. The Schaeffler concept combines the advantages of stability and weather protection with the energy consumption and space utilization of a... Read more →

The City of Los Angeles is introducing the Go LA app, powered by Xerox, a solution that integrates all the available methods of getting around the second largest metro area in the United States. Unlike other efforts to improve the daily commute, the Go LA app captures the full range... Read more →

by Alex Vanover Honda isn’t a car company… it never really has been. When asked to define what kind of company Honda is, company representatives bill the multinational firm as an engineering company. It is a company that strives to engineer products in a variety of different sectors of the... Read more →

The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announced $14.5 million in funding for five projects in ARPA-E’s newest program, the Traveler Response Architecture using Novel Signaling for Network Efficiency in Transportation (TRANSNET). Many travelers’ and commuters’ transportation choices waste significant amounts of energy due to traffic complications, convenience and... Read more →

In addition to developing its own innovative premium vehicles and technologies with a focus on sustainability, BMW i also serves within the BMW Group as an incubator for innovation reaching beyond the brand’s vehicles. As one example, a drive unit swing arm, now entering production at the HNF eBike factory... Read more →

Shell, in collaboration with Professor Gordon Murray and engine specialist Osamu Goto will co-engineer an ultra-compact, efficient car for city use based around the internal combustion engine (ICE). Initiated by Shell, the collaboration, which is called Project M, brings together Shell’s Lubricant’s Technology Team, The Gordon Murray Design Group and... Read more →

BASF and Floatility have partnered for the development of an ultra-lightweight and solar-powered electric scooter. Weighing less than 12 kilograms (26.5 lbs) and consisting of more than 80% composite and plastic materials from BASF, the scooter will give commuters the sensation of floating and thus has been named ‘e-floater’. The... Read more →

Ford Motor Company is expanding its global Ford Smart Mobility plan (earlier post) with a new experiment to study how connected electric bicycles can work seamlessly with cars and public transport to deliver faster and easier daily commutes and help businesses operating in urban centers. Ford detailed the new experiment... Read more →

At CES, Ford CEO Mark Fields announced “Ford Smart Mobility”—a plan to use innovation to take Ford to the next level in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience and big data. The initial step is the creation of 25 mobility experiments across the globe designed to help change the... Read more →

ARPA-E is making approximately $10 million in funding available for a new program, TRANSNET (Traveler Response Architecture using Novel Signaling for Network Efficiency in Transportation), designed to optimize energy efficiency in multi-modal, urban transportation networks (e.g. personal vehicles, buses, light rail, etc.). In 2013, the United States used more than... Read more →

In a new report, Navigant Research forecasts that global annual sales of e-bicycles will grow modestly from 31.7 million units in 2014 to 40.3 million units in 2023 under a base scenario—a CAGR of 2.7%. Navigant expects China, the market leader, to reach 28.8 million e-bicycle sales this year under... Read more →

Toyota i-ROAD and COMS for use in "Cité lib by Ha:mo" EV sharing trial in Grenoble, France. Click to enlarge. The City of Grenoble, France, its metropolitan area Grenoble-Alpes Metropole, EDF and its affiliate Sodetrel, Toyota Motor Corporation and Cité lib officially launched the new “Cité lib by Ha:mo” electric... Read more →

Ford launched its Innovate Mobility Challenge Series, inviting the developer and maker communities to come together to find innovative mobility solutions in eight different locations around the world. The worldwide challenges kicked off in Lisbon, Portugal; Los Angeles, United States; and Mumbai, India; before moving on to Delhi and the... Read more →

Main components of the DIET-FI system. Click to enlarge. Global automotive supplier DENSO Corporation has developed a new electronic fuel injection system for small motorcycles called DIET-FI (DENSO Intelligent Economical Technology-Fuel Injection). DIET-FI is the first fuel injection system that doesn’t use a throttle position sensor or engine temperature sensor.... Read more →

A study by European researchers has found that two-stroke (2S) scooters, although constituting a small fraction of the fleet, can dominate urban vehicular pollution through organic aerosol and aromatic emission factors up to thousands of times higher than from other vehicle classes. The study by the team led by researchers... Read more →

The Bultaco Rapitán. Click to enlarge. A start-up is bringing the old Bultaco motorcycle brand back to the market with the planned launch of a line of electric two-wheelers. The new company unveiled the Rapitán and Rapitán Sport prototypes—close approximations to the Bultaco motorcycles that will be brought to market... Read more →

Bosch regards the two-wheeler segment as one of the growth markets of the future and expects worldwide sales of motorcycles to reach around 150 million units in 2020, more than the equivalent figure for cars. Asia is a driver of growth. Source: Bosch. Click to enlarge. Bosch is entering the... Read more →

The C evolution. Click to enlarge. BMW Motorrad is launching its battery-electric C evolution maxi scooter. (Earlier post.) Its two conventionally powered maxi scooter model—C 600 Sport and C 650 GT—combine the ride qualities of a motorcycle with the specific agility and comfort of a scooter; the C evolution adds... Read more →

VMT per capita has declined across the US (2006 to 2011). States with shading are missing reliable data for all or part of an urbanized area, and ‘X’s denote the location of excluded urbanized areas. Source: US PIRG. Click to enlarge. A new report by the US PIRG Education Fund... Read more →

China has a number of critical economic and environmental imperatives driving its pursuit of vehicle electrification, said the roster of plenary speakers at the SAE 2013 New Energy Vehicle Forum held in Shanghai this week. These include the increasingly problematic pollution and haze in cities; China’s projected increased reliance on... Read more →

Toyota FCV Concept. Click to enlarge. Toyota confirmed that it will display its latest fuel cell vehicle concept along with four other world premiere future mobility concepts at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show. The Toyota FCV Concept is a practical concept of the fuel cell vehicle Toyota plans to launch... Read more →

Navigant ranks Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Company as the top e-scooter company. Source: Navigant. Click to enlarge. According to a new Leaderboard report from Navigant Research, Jiangsu Xinri E-Vehicle Company is the best positioned company in the global e-scooter market in terms of strategy and execution. Although still a nascent market... Read more →

In a new report, Navigant Research forecasts that the global market for e-bicycles will grow at a modest rate of 3.1% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 31 million in 2013 to nearly 38 million in 2020. North America, Western Europe, and Latin America will show signs of faster growth... Read more →

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will has outlined a vision for a £913-million (US$1.48-billion) investment in cycling infrastructure for the city. Among other features, the plans would create a “Crossrail for the bike”—a route that will run for more than 15 miles (24 km), very substantially segregated, from the... Read more →

Concept of the Grenoble urban EV car-sharing project. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), the city of Grenoble, the Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, car-sharing service operator Cité lib, and French energy provider Électricité de France (EDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to begin by the end of 2014 a collaborative zero-emission... Read more →

i-ROAD concept showing Active Lean in action. Click to enlarge. Toyota unveiled the new i-ROAD three-wheeled electric personal mobility vehicle (PMV) concept at the Geneva motor show. Seating two in tandem and under cover, i-ROAD has a range of up to 30 miles (50km) on a single charge. Using “Active... Read more →

As part of its plan to significantly expand the mobility services business operations, Daimler Financial Services AG (DFS) has created a subsidiary known as Daimler Mobility Services GmbH (DMS). Daimler’s car2go, moovel, and other mobility services have been consolidated into DMS. The new company’s headquarters are in Stuttgart. Daimler Financial... Read more →

Avis Budget sees car-sharing as a rapidly growing component of the mobility industry, with Zipcar well positioned for the opportunity. Source: Avis Budget. Click to enlarge. Rental car company Avis Budget Group, Inc. has agreed to acquire car-sharing company Zipcar for $12.25 per share in cash, a 49% premium over... Read more →

A new study by the RAC Foundation and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) examines the potential for alternatives to new car ownership models to kick-start the electric vehicle market. The paper, “Car Rental 2.0”, summarizes the findings from a joint seminar held by the RAC Foundation and... Read more →

Ha:mo Ride EV-sharing station. Click to enlarge. Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), in cooperation with the Toyota City municipal government, transportation companies and others, began testing of an optimized urban transportation system called “Ha:mo” (“harmonious mobility”). The system will select optimal means of transport for users based on the operational status... Read more →

The UK’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) has announced six winners of the Low Carbon Urban Mobility Technology Challenge—a competition to identify and promote low carbon innovations with the potential to cut carbon emissions and other environmental impacts arising from transport in cities. The winning ideas proffer solutions to the... Read more →

Daimler AG is investing in the ridesharing network carpooling.com GmbH. The main shareholders will continue to be the company’s three founders, as well as venture capital firm Earlybird. The capital investment will serve primarily the development and expansion of carpooling.com’s mobility solutions. carpooling.com is the leading ridesharing network, with 4... Read more →