Transportation is changing. If you need proof beyond that statement, take a look at how brands like BMW envision transportation in the future. Recently, there is no shortage of two-wheeled brands that reassess the way people will move in tight urban environments, and no brand has experimented more in this area than BMW and BMW Motorrad.
The German company already showed us last week its electric competitor Honda Grom, the BMW Concept CE 02, which is aimed at younger drivers (or non-drivers) with a fun mold factory. Now the Bavarians have presented two more concepts for their arsenal of last-mile vehicles, which are called BMW i Vision AMBY and BMW Motorrad I Vision AMBY. Names that only an engineer can love.
BMW may have a hard time branding its two creations (one from BMW and the other from BMW Motorrad), but both bikes are interesting concepts that fuse the world of e-bikes and electric mopeds. The first is the brainchild of BMW Motorrad, the BMW Motorrad i Vision AMBY, a pedal-less bike that fits the form factor we see in the field of electric scooters.
On the other hand, the BMW i Vision AMBY looks more like an e-bike, but shares the same heart as its motorcycle brothers. Very much in the concept phase, here are some interesting ideas that BMW and BMW Motorrad are playing with in their designs. Both bikes have a variable powertrain, with the hope that one day geofencing can be used to determine how much power is available to the rider based on where they are riding.
In this scenario, BMW bikes are limited to 15 miles per hour on a public bike road. on a City Road, 28 miles per hour is possible; and on open roads you can get up to 37 miles per hour. BMW also sees technologies such as radar, which warns the driver when he is overtaken by another vehicle on the road, and that the headlights and taillights automatically turn on when road conditions require it. An ABS package for these lightweight machines is also part of the BMW plan, which, as far as we know, would be the first use of this exceptional technology on a bicycle.
How close is BMW to developing these two concepts? That remains to be seen. At the moment, the Germans seem to be interested in using their concepts to talk about the future of light two-wheeled vehicles. Infrastructure changes and lawful adjustments impede some of the progress proposed here and then, of course, a bit of crystal ball divination is needed to predict where the market will go in the next 5 to 10 years.
