Audi e-bike glides in to Worthersee

Audi e-bike - a desirable object

The Audi e-bike – a high-end pedalec – has been revealed at Worthersee and designed for sport, fun and tricks.

If you’re going to make any form of transport work with an electric motor, then it’s really only sensible to make the EV bit just one part of the equation.

That’s why range-extender cars are the only really viable alternative to a regular ICE car – if you ignore the extra cost – and why an electric bicycle makes so much sense.

And if you’re going to grab an electric bike – or ‘Pedalec’, as they’re dubbed – then you could do an awful lot worse than Audi’s latest offering – the Audi e-bike Worthersee – that’s debuted at the Worthersee Tour this week.

Audi call their e-bike a bike for tomorrow and beyond, with every component designed by Audi’s designers, from the 26″ CFRP wheels to the carbon fibre frame by way of the swinging arm for the rear wheel.

The rear wheel is driven by chain and the electric motor – which offers 184lb/ft of twist and 3bhp – sits at the lowest point of the frame and drives the bottom bracket shaft.

The lithium-ion battery is housed in the frame and can be fully charged from the mains in 2.5 hours or, very sensibly, it pops out to be replaced by a second, fully charged one.

When fully charged there are five modes to play with. Pure is for pedal power, Pedalec chucks in the electric motor allowing speeds of up to 50mph for a range of up to 44 miles and eGrip is just the electric motor allowing speeds of up to 31mph.

Perhaps the most interesting modes are Power Wheelie and Balanced Wheelie. These allow the e-bike to perform wheelies with the wheelie angle adjustable to suit and, in Balanced Wheelie Mode, the e-bike actually controls your balance for you.

With a touchscreen display and an onboard computer for riding mode selection and stuff like recording trick sequences – never mind an App to communicate with the e-bike from a Smartphone – the Audi e-bike seems to offer huge potential as urban transport.

We want one.

By Cars UK