Final 12 months on the EICMA Milan Milan Motorbike Present, I stumbled throughout a novel-looking car generally known as the Ponie P2. Described as a van substitute, the 60 mph (100 km/h) electrical motorcycle sports activities an enormous cargo case beneath the seat and was prepping for manufacturing on the time. Now a 12 months later, I caught up with the corporate on the similar present to learn the way the Ponie P2 is now making ready to hit the street.
The corporate behind the bike, PNY, has spent a lot of the previous 12 months finalizing its manufacturing path and is able to begin a number of pilot packages, together with with DHL and the native postal service, amongst others who’ve signed as much as snag a few of the first 50 Ponie P2s that simply rolled off the manufacturing line.
With 400L (105 gallons) of cupboard space between the middle cargo space and an non-compulsory rear trunk, the Ponie P2 actually is nearly as near a “van replacer” as you will get on two wheels. There are some bigger four-wheeled cargo e-bikes on the market, however they aren’t as quick or as nimble, limiting their use to bike lanes and in areas the place sidewalk parking is met with a blind eye.
The Ponie P2 may not carry as a lot cargo as a Sprinter van, but it surely may doubtless do a whole route of mail deliveries whereas sustaining the identical lane-splitting and parking benefits of a bike – to not point out the power to achieve minimal freeway speeds.
The bike can be nearly as steady as might be, sporting its giant 6.7 kWh CATL battery as a flat pack beneath the primary cargo space. That low middle of gravity is additional aided by the hub motor preserving the motor weight at mere axle peak. It received’t do the unsprung weight any favors, however a supply motorcycle isn’t precisely efficiency territory, both.
The P2 even has fairly vary per cost, quoted at 150 km (93 miles) when touring at metropolis speeds of 35 km/h (22 mph). Hopping on the freeway at prime velocity is certain to drop that vary determine, but it surely’s additionally arduous to get the mail within the field precisely at freeway speeds, so riders are going to should decelerate ultimately.
The PNY Ponie P2 appears to straddle the road between bikes and scooters, providing seating of the previous with utility of the latter. A big 7-inch TFT coloration show and ABS brakes supply the sort of fashionable bike options many riders have come to count on, and there’s even a smaller glove field cargo space with an included USB charging port (very best for the rider’s personal private belongings in order that they aren’t mixing with everybody else’s packages and postcards).
The corporate was additionally exhibiting off built-in security know-how from RiderDome, a startup that makes use of AI-based laptop imaginative and prescient and sensors to offer 360-degree menace detection particularly for motorcyclists.
The identical body is designed to combine with a number of cargo equipment, together with the big middle cargo field seen on the DHL bike in addition to a number of smaller packing containers comparable to these utilized by meals supply corporations.
I’m hoping to check out one of many first 50 PNY Ponie P2 bikes that will likely be used within the upcoming pilot packages with DHL and different prospects. For now, I solely received a static take a look at on the sales space (above), however the bikes really feel surprisingly regular once you’re sitting on them. They might appear like a stretch limousine of the bike world, however they only really feel like a unadorned roadster with a snug foot-forward seating place – a minimum of, at relaxation.
The jury continues to be out on how they’ll carry out within the wild, however PNY has excessive hopes that extra cities world wide will quickly be changing lane-blocking cargo vans with lane-splitting cargo motorbikes like these.
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