$4,500 Electric Scooter Turns Smartphones Into Dashboards

While much of the focus has been on electric cars, two-wheeled electric vehicles actually stand to gain much more from electrification. America already has a few top-notch electric motorcycle manufacturers, and a Japanese startup called Terra Motors hopes to bring an innovative electric scooter to market, using smartphones to serve as the vehicle’s dashboard and infotainment center.

It’s a clever way to cash in on the popularity of smartphones in developed countries, though the $4,500 Terra Motors A400i is actually aimed at the Southeast Asia market, where scooters are far more popular than cars. While $4,500 is more than the cost of the Tata Nano, Terra thinks it could be shipping as many as 100,000 of these electric scooters per year by the end of 2015.

Why? Because their goal is to hit buyers in the top 2% to 3% of the population, which represents hundreds of millions of potential buyers. Smartphones are the hot accessory among many of the growing Asian middle classes, and a $4,500 electric scooter is pretty much the ultimate accessory.

Using a Bluetooth connection, an iPhone can be placed in a special dock, where it displays things like battery level, and even GPS directions. A small LCD screen is included for info like speed, and while it only fits iPhones for now, Terra plans to expand offerings to include other kinds of smartphones.

But even better than the smartphone connectivity is an easily-replaceable battery system. Details are still being worked out, but it could allow users to drop off deplenished batteries, and then pick up a fully charged one, at store locations like 7-11. Each battery is good for about 40 miles, and recharges in 2 to 3 hours from a normal outlet. The A4000i has a top speed of 40 mph, so at full tilt you can get about an hour of driving out of this bad boy, more than enough for most local trps.

Could a similar vehicle catch on in the U.S? I don’t see why not; cars are increasingly uncool to young people, and unaffordable regardless, but a $4,500 scooter to fit your smart phone? Sounds like a bargain if you live in a place like New York City or San Francisco.

Source: Terra Motors via The Verge

Terra Motors Unveils Electric Scooter With iPhone Dock

Terra Motors Corporation this week announced the release of its new A4000i electric scooter, which includes a smartphone connection.

The Japanese company said it is the first to mass produce a wireless, smartphone-connected scooter.

The two-person bike comes with a built-in iPhone dock, which can collect and store details like electricity consumption, remaining battery life, average speed and mileage, and navigation information. The Tokyo startup intends to learn from that data to help develop more services over time.

"Smartphone connection can provide new service to customers," the company said in a news release. "[The] electric scooter will be more than means of transportation."

Demand for scooters in Asia is especially strong — accounting for about 80 percent of the worldwide market — due to growing gas prices and high levels of air pollution. As a result, more than 30 million electric bikes are sold each year in China alone. Still, maintenance problems and supply chain issues keep electric scooters from competing with the more popular gasoline motorcycles.

Terra Motors hopes to change that with its A4000i, which will sell in mostly Asian markets for about $4,500, and is compatible with the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S, and 5. An iPhone-less A4000 model will also be available, but pricing has not yet been determined. By the end of 2015, the company aims to sell 100,000 electric scooters worldwide, including its older SEED model.

The white-and-blue motorcycle boasts an average range of about 65 km (40 miles); its removable lithium-ion battery can reportedly last up to 50,000 km (31,000 miles). A full battery charge takes about 4.5 hours.

Motorists have been traveling with smartphone-connected cars for years, but usually via an auxiliary cable and a USB charger plugged into the cigarette lighter. Apple last month introduced its solution to snaking cords: iOS in the Car — a service that integrates iOS devices with a vehicle's in-dash system.

Source: PC Magazine

Space-age electric tuk-tuk ready for taxi passengers in Philippines

Tuk-tuks are the three-wheeled passenger vehicles commonly used in Asia, and they're often noisy and most-certainly-not-emissions-free. To counter the current state, Japanese start-up company Terra Motorshas launched an electric tuk-tuk and thinks its electric tricycle will be a cost competitive taxi in Asia.

The company plans to build the car in the Philippines and start selling it later this year for about $6,300. It can go about 31 miles on a two-hour charge, which could propose a bit of a limitation for all-day taxi use. This three-wheeler ties into a national program in the Philippines to replace 100,000 gas-powered tuk-tuks with more efficient, cost-effective EVs by 2016.

Drivers can acquire the Terra tuk-tuk on a lease-to-own basis. The idea is to save drivers money by offering lower fuel costs while reducing air pollution in densely populated urban areas. The challenge is that drivers can buy a gas-powered tuk-tuk for somewhere between $1,000 and $1,500, and those don't have a 31-mile range limitation. Still, plans call for the company to expand the business to the broader Asian market while continuing to work on hitting the right price point, according to Terra Motors director of business development Tetsuya Ohashi.

Terra Motors is counting on consumers enjoying the space-age design and ample interior seating. Investors such as former top executives at Apple Japan, Google Japan, Sony and Compaq have been impressed by Terra's plans, despite a small number of Chinese companies also marketing electric tuk-tuks. Of all the e-tuk-tuk builders, Terra is considered the most ambitious and you can see a TV news report on the company's six-seat taxi video below.

News Source: TechCrunch