This is an electric bike unlike any we’ve yet seen. “Avionics VM disrupts the standard way to ride a bike with its unique and striking form built to be reliable and withstand time,” says the bumf. It’s the most hipster-y piece of transport ever, says us.
Just 52 will be made, and it sits somewhere between the worlds of pedal bikes and motorbikes. An electric motor provides 7hp but a more relevant 125Nm of torque, enabling a 58kph top speed and range of up to 120km. You can charge it back up in a couple of hours via domestic plug socket or even USB.
But what’s most interesting is when you run out with no sockets at all nearby. This bike still has pedals “to get back home the old-fashioned way.” That’s one way to beat range anxiety...
We’d forgive you if you bought one just to plonk in front of your pop-up kombucha bar, though. It’s a brilliant-looking thing, a mix of traditional craftmanship and new-fangled 3D-printing. So, you’ve a wooden box that houses the battery and the immobilizer, complemented by a frame made from corrosion-resistant chromium-molybdenum steel.
“It takes approximately six months to design and produce an Avionics electric bike with the longest and most demanding stage in the process being the electronics and the shortest assembling the bike, which takes a week,” says the company.
And if you’re not sold on biking, then fear not: This is just the beginning for Avionics, with a plane apparently also on its to-do list. Probably without a pedal-powered fail-safe, though…
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
