This Multi-Wheel Vehicle Can Lean into Corners and Filter
It’s built by ÆMotion, powered by batteries and claimed to offer all the benefits of bikes and cars.
A French firm thinks it might have reinvented the wheel of urban mobility, with a leaning four-wheeler that is narrow enough to filter through congested streets.
Maybe we should tell them a thing called a motorcycle already exists?
The company behind the creation is ÆMotion, and while not totally groundbreaking, we’ve had leaning four-wheel machines like the Quadro already, it is an interesting take on the theme.
For those who don’t remember the brand, Quadro (above) made maxi scooters with an extra wheel in front and back. Think of them like a Vespa MP3 with an extra hoop at the rear. This new machine from ÆMotion is a slightly different proposition. For starters, it features fully enclosed bodywork, meaning you are shrouded from the weather and protected more in a crash. It’s also fully electric, making it a cleaner alternative to a petrol-powered bike in already congested city streets.
Power comes from either removable batteries, giving a claimed range of 43 miles, or a larger fixed battery, boosting range to a claimed 125 miles. The top speed is pegged at a shade over 70mph, so it should (if it makes production) give you some motorway and dual-carriageway ability too.
The design of the machine’s chassis provides it with a maximum lean angle of 35 degrees on both sides, while four-point harnesses inside keep the pilot and passenger in place should everything suddenly go upside down!
In its native France, the as-yet-unnamed machine will be usable by people holding a B-class car licence and not a bike licence. That is provided that the user undertakes a seven-hour training course before hitting the road.
The price for the vehicle isn’t yet known, although New Atlas reports that instead of allowing people to buy them outright, ÆMotion is instead eyeing a move into the burgeoning vehicle leasing market, where the new machine will set you back a reported €200 (£170) per month. There’s also no word on whether the bike will make it across the channel and across Europe, although a first batch of units is expected to arrive in France later this year.
More information can be found on the official website.
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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!
