AN interesting new bike has been unveiled at the CES tech show in America, as the ICOMA Tatamel folding electric motorcycle is launched.
If the Tatamel looks familiar to you, you are probably thinking back to the quirky Honda Motocompo, a moped that could fit into the boot of a compact car. That bike never quite changed the game as Honda would have hoped, although it has since gained a kind of cult status, pushing up prices of the interesting machine.
But the theory behind the Motocompo concept was sound enough, and that is something that a tech firm ICOMA has picked up on. At the CES show in Las Vegas, it revealed a small, lightweight electric bike that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Motocompo. It is small, lightweight, and can be folded down for easier transportation. But it might not be the car boot where the Tatamel is looking to reside, as we think this bike could be a city commuter's dream.
Take for instance my own commute to the office. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour ride from Coventry to central London, or an hour and a quarter on a train and then a 40-minute walk. Financial implications aside (the train does cost much more than the fuel in the bike) a little, lightweight motorcycle I could take on the train with me, would mean I could be in the office in around 10 minutes, as opposed to forty. And when I get to work, I can carry the bike up and into the office, pop it on charge and be sure I have enough range for the return journey to the station, and to home, once I get back to Coventry.
When you look at the bike simply as a tool for a very select type of journey and rider, it looks pretty much bang on. It’s got a top speed of 25mph, just under 20 miles of range, weighs 50kg, charges on a three-pin plug and can be recharged in around three hours. If you were looking to make a bike for the type of journey I mention in the paragraph above, those are about the numbers you would shoot for.
What we don’t have yet is whether or not the bike will make it into production, or what it will cost. If other electric motorcycles are anything to go by, you might be better off sticking to a more conventional form of transport.
