UBCO - world’s first production 2WD electric moto

[Chris S]

I got taken out on an UBCO electric 2WD in an NZ trail park last week.
It’s the world’s first production 2WD electric bike - a battery-powered ag bike or utility aimed at farmers, rangers, hunters and forestry, but also being bought for urban deliveries and just plain off-road fun. It’s classified as a moped restricted to 30mph, so no bike licence needed in most territories.
In NZ and Oz it costs $8000 - about £4200. More in the US and about the same price as a KTM full suspension e-bike MTB I saw in an NZ shop window.

At 2.4kw it has less poke than a Fizzie but according to the specs, puts out 20 more Nm than a Husky 701. And all that torque is delivered instantly to each wheel so both will spin as you pull away on loose dirt.

We set off along an overgrown MTB trail and as you’d expect, at just 65kg it’s effortless to ride.
No clutch or gears, no heat or chains or noise, plus hydraulic MTB brakes and speed-calibrated regen braking, low CoG and seat.
With the nicely modulated throttle response it means you can concentrate fully on dodging giant ferns and where to put the front wheel.
Even with my weight, the suspension was well suited to the bike’s speed potential and the terrain we rode, but it’ll only climb 1:4 at which point the short-action throttle is pinned. Tbh, I couldn’t have used more power anyway without wearing myself out.

Can’t say I noticed the 2WD, but it rode as on rails, despite the 17-inch Kenda trials pattern tyres at road pressures. The 2WD had no negative effect on the steering and as you can see, the motors aren’t fazed by water crossings. The full-on off-roading we did would give you about 40 miles range – you’ll get twice that on a flat road at 20mph and the regen means coming off a long pass actually adds a bit of charge. The dash info is basic – it includes the temperature of each hub motor – but you can change or monitor various functions with a smartphone app. Lights are LEDs up to 2200+ lumens.

The next version will have quicker charging (now: 6 hrs) and traction control (some say TC tech contributed to curtailing the development of 2WD on road bikes). When you look at all the mechanical or hydraulic 2WD contraptions over the years – see youtube compilations – a battery with a cable feeding each hub motor is the most elegant way of doing it. Ask Nasa.

Clearly it won’t make an autonomous travel bike but I’ve always liked the rugged, chuckable functionality of ag bikes.
At the end of the ride I was able to nose the front wheel against the back of the trailer, turn the handle and it drove itself up and on. But even without the 2WD element, the UBCO is a cool-looking utility, and in the right setting would be a great way of nipping around without frightening the horses.

Long version on my website: https://wp.me/p25l5L-di6

[Mike54]

Interesting looking thing but my god why do they design it to be so small and low

and imagine how so many things will change when batteries can actually deal with a real range of a couple of hundred miles

[daveuprite]

Interesting looking thing but my god why do they design it to be so small and low

and imagine how so many things will change when batteries can actually deal with a real range of a couple of hundred miles

It's getting there, Mike. For a decent day of hooning about greenlaning on an enduro-style bike, we basically need a real world 100kms range spent at 30-80% 'throttle' and we are on our way. The Alta Redshift is perhaps the closest. It's absolutely as capable off road as a KTM exc, WRF, Beta or Huskie. But the current range is a real world 50-60kms. So it won't be long before the bike I want (personally) is available, and then two or three years later it'll be at tempting secondhand prices.

For the road the range is better already, although only realistically for an 80-100km one way commute or similar. Bikes from Zero can do that right now. Of course a modular battery pack exchange scheme at filling stations would transform it all, but that looks to be a long way off and will depend upon the makers agreeing an industry standard pack - not something that we are used to right now!

But it'll be entry into the market from the big 4 Jap manufacturers, and a few others, that will change the game completely. The cars are pretty much there already. For example a Jaguar E-Pace is a properly quick, fairly large SUV with amazing torque and very good acceleration - and a 400km range with ultra-fast charge up. I've driven an E-Golf and it was SO impressive. Day to day running costs are peanuts compared with ICE, performance similar to a GTI and a true 160km range without sparing the ponies. The main obstacle for most people is the cost new, which is still about 20% more than the diesel equivalents, but it is already possible to buy a 3 year old E-Golf for 15k euros.

Unfortunately it's harder to make high density output lithium packs that are compact enough for a bike. But every day that passes the tech improves at a startling rate. The bigger manufacturers are all a bit scared to jump first I think, but when they finally engage with the future properly the prices will come down and the range will go up. I'm really looking forward to it.

[catcitrus]

My take on it is that there is a limit(more or less) on stored energy density--kWh/m3, unless we find some new element!. The most eco friendly are the hybrids--basically a really quiet and efficient "generator" running at constant speed and load, and a battery pack to take the variable output--then there is no range limit--and that concept dates back to the 70s when prototypes were running around--albeit with heavy and low energy density batteries. The other thing to bear in my mind is that Li-iron batteries have a limited number of charge/discharge cycles, unlike lead -acid--so if you buy one shift it on after a couple of years or so because the battery pack is a major cost