Honda Smartphone Integration System
Instead of exploring the electric motorcycle avenue, Honda is going down the infotainment path. Team Red will introduce a new smartphone integration system developed in collaboration with Drivemode. Dubbed “Smartphone as brain”, Honda’s concept is reminiscent of an infotainment system found in a car, adapted to a motorcycle.
In the system’s preliminary introduction, Honda explains how, for instance, riders would be able to notify other connected riders of the presence of potholes. Provided they are willing to pull over to fulfill the good deed. The manufacturer will formally introduce the technology at CES so little to no further information about it is available at the moment.
Alpinestars Tech-Air 5
Alpinestars will debut a standalone airbag vest at CES. Similarly to Dainese who introduced a comparable product in the summer, Alpinestars is trying to make the technology more accessible and to a wider audience.
The vest is expected to fit under any textile jacket. Until now, the company’s airbag technology could only be paired with compatible jackets. This new model will work with any jacket—including the one potential customers already own.
Segway-Ninebot Apex
Seemingly a Yamaha R6 in disguise (according to some commenters), the Segway-Ninebot Apex has yet to reveal its secrets. The company will showcase its first electric sportbike at CES at which point we can hope to learn more in the way of specs and a potential production timeline.
Bosch Smartglasses Light Drive
While several helmet manufacturers and startups are developing “smart lids” with integrated heads up display and connectivity, Bosch is instead looking into making the technology more portable. The company will unveil the Smartglasses Light Drive which is a device designed to turn any pair of spectacles into a HUD.
The goal is to make information such as navigation instructions directly available to a driver (or a rider) without having to look away from the road.
Damon Hypersport
After announcing it was trying to make the roads safer for motorcyclists, Canadian startup Damon Motorcycles will now add an electric sportbike to its portfolio. We first documented the company when it announced it would develop a 360-degree detection and warning system for motorcycles.
Now, it will hit CES with the Hypoersport electric motorcycle equipped with the company’s CoPilot safety technology and the Shift adjustable ergonomics system. Yes, that means that you can adjust your riding position on the bike. Not only that, you can actually do it on the go. The model is expected to be introduced to the market in 2020.
NAWA Racer
French company NAWA Technologies will introduce its first electric motorcycle on the Vegas stage. The NAWA Racer uses a hybrid technology but not the type of hybrid we are used to. Instead of combining the efforts of an electric motor and an ICE, the Racer is armed with a Lithium-ion battery and ultracapacitors (not the flux kind, sadly). The company claims that its system “offers ten times more power and five times more energy than existing ultracapacitors.”
Compared to standard batteries, ultracapacitors are able to charge faster, are lighter, and less toxic the Lithium-ion units. That’s the upside. The downside is that at this stage, the technology isn’t able to store as much energy as its acid-based counterpart.
For that reason, NAWA combined the two electric technologies to take full advantage of what the two technologies have to offer—more energy storage in the Lithium-ion battery, more efficient charging and power release with the ultracapacitors. The company estimates that the vehicle will be able to reach a top speed of 99 mph and do the 0-to-62 (0 to 100 km/h) in under three seconds.
