Electric concept swaps plastic for flax in sustainability push
Indian EV brand Ather explores flax-fibre body panels as manufacturers increasingly look beyond batteries in the race to cut emissions.
Swiss materials specialist Bcomp has teamed up with Indian electric scooter firm Ather Energy to produce a new concept two-wheeler designed to explore how sustainable materials could shape future electric bikes and scooters.
Called Redux, the concept sits somewhere between a scooter and a motorcycle, with Ather describing it as a ‘motor-scooter’. It’s not intended for production, but rather as a rolling test bed for new ideas around materials, packaging and design — specifically the use of flax-fibre composites in place of conventional plastics.
At the centre of the project is ampliTex, Bcomp’s woven composite made from flax fibres. The panels are mounted to a lightweight aluminium frame and are designed to be both structural and visible, rather than hidden beneath paint or plastic cladding. According to Bcomp, the material offers a significantly lower carbon footprint than ABS, glass fibre or carbon fibre, with claims of up to an 85 per cent CO₂ reduction compared to carbon fibre equivalents.
That push towards alternative materials mirrors what we’re starting to see elsewhere in the motorcycle industry. Honda, for example, has been steadily expanding its use of Durabio — a plant-based engineering plastic — along with recycled plastics on production motorcycles. The goal there isn’t just greener marketing, but reducing lifecycle emissions while maintaining durability and finish. Redux takes a similar idea, but pushes it further by making the material itself a key part of the bike’s visual identity.
Ather says the flax composite brings benefits beyond sustainability, including vibration damping and more predictable behaviour under stress. The exposed woven finish also fits with the company’s ‘inside-out’ design philosophy, where components are meant to look engineered rather than hidden.
Founded in 2013 in Bengaluru, Ather was one of India’s early electric scooter startups and has sold more than 5,000 scooters to date. Redux is described as a “living laboratory”, feeding data and experience into future platforms rather than previewing a specific model.
Bikash Jyoti Biswas, Head of Design at Ather Energy, said the project was about balancing environmental responsibility with everyday usability, stiffness and durability — areas where eco-materials have traditionally struggled.
Bcomp, meanwhile, is keen to stress that sustainability wasn’t the only reason Ather chose ampliTex. The material’s structural performance and distinctive appearance were just as important.
Redux won’t be heading to showrooms any time soon, but it does underline a broader shift, as electric bikes mature, the focus is moving beyond batteries and motors to include how bikes are built, and what they’re built from.
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Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!