ONE MOTO Floors the Electric Pedal

INTERVIEW

ONE MOTO Floors the Electric Pedal Adam Ridgway, CEO of ONE MOTO, talks to The Sustainabilist, about the electric motorcycle brand that’s driving the extra mile on the road to sustainability

What is the EVRT and what does it mean to ONE MOTO to be the first ever electric motorcycle to enter the EVRT Dubai event? Although we’ve been following the Electric Vehicle Road Trip (EVRT) journey for the past three years, we wanted to wait to launch with exceptional, highly tested vehicles. 2020 is our year. We are honoured to be invited and work with the team to showcase the future of mobility.

EVRT and Generation E are truly world class pioneers of the industry, their dedication is compelling and empowering. We believe we are in the age of collaboration and doing. Too many talk about what they will or plan to 36 do – whereas EVRT and ONE MOTO are actually already there, doing what we believe in, following our passions and truly making a difference.

What vehicles will embark on the EVRT Dubai trip? This year we will have the Deliva Mobicool, our flatbed, pick up and grocery vehicle, with a 200-kilometre range; then we’ll be saddling this with two byka, the delivery motorcycles designed to change the last-mile delivery industry both financially and environmentally; and I’ll be following on the electa, the modern classic moped, loaded with chrome and full options. We cannot wait to join the trip.

We’ve recently partnered with Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Dubai to create The ONE MOTO Academy working with three disciplines of students namely Business, IT, and Engineering to further develop a fleet of UAE-designed and built vehicles.

We’ve also been following the kick scooter and micro-mobility trends and have created a solution to eliminate the issues surrounding this market, such as scooter graveyards, abandonment, and maintenance. Our solution entails the utilisation of a customised Deliva pickup to collect, charge, and redeposit scooters in designated areas, ensuring consistent mobility.

Insurance to address the fears of accidents surrounding micro-mobility by providing insurance for scooter owners, the same as any vehicle insurance. This is another first for the industry.The charging ecosystem of infrastructure has always been regarded as an issue when adopting EVs in cities. ONE MOTO has targeted this from the design stage. Our vehicles don’t need separate charging stations, we offer swappable battery systems and 3-pin charging, making EVs convenient, finally.

The leading solution to underline convenience and collaboration is working with the RTA to provide mobile battery banks to all ONE MOTO vehicle owners. We’re developing modules to carry 50 batteries at a time and users can ride up, swap their depleted batteries for fullycharged ones, and carry on. Although we can calculate the cost-savings with EVs to the operator and environment, calculating the ‘downtime’ for servicing, maintenance, and refuelling is challenging. We believe this is the solution that will add convenience to switching to EVs.

How do the ONE MOTO vehicles distinguish themselves from traditional ones? We have built our business and vehicles on modular foundations, eliminating the unnecessary and ensuring quality, affordability, and convenience throughout. We are not in the market to build high-end two-wheeled motorcycles. We are focussed on providing vehicles to serve a purpose and solve a problem. There are several ways to create propulsion through the wheels, and we’ve opted for direct-to-wheel – which limits the speed, yet ensures a positive change right now. Fewer parts equals less servicing and maintenance resulting in greater productivity and lower costs to operators.

I personally believe this is a foundation to help achieve the potential of an autonomous mobility environment. At some point in the next 10 years, I don’t believe we’ll have as many vehicle models as we do today, we’ll have five models per manufacturer, all vehicles will deliver the same speed, range, and price, which is great for autonomy and monitoring. The only differences will be the driving experience of comfort and convenience. Those first to the market, who are building their reputation now, will succeed. Customers are far more willing to invest in environmental, sustainable brands and this will only flourish – the future of consumerism is community focussed.

How is ONE MOTO contributing to the development of smart cities in the UAE? As a team of avid riders, we are aware of the issues surrounding safety of motorcycle riders, so we’ve developed a solution for this too. Delivered through tech and an inter-connected vehicle eco-system, ONE MOTO is developing an app to understand riding styles, behaviours, and much more to advise operators to further train and develop their staff. The pressure to deliver high volumes of orders each shift will be reduced by eliminating the downtime, but also encouraging the delivery companies to all pay base salaries without reduction of fuel and servicing. Would you prefer to order from a company with sustainable values and who invest in their riders’ safety?

WHAT DOES 16,560 TONNES OF CO 2 EQUATE TO?

TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE THE FACT THAT 12,000 PETROL DELIVERY MOTORCYCLES IN THE UAE PRODUCE MORE THAN 16,000 TONNES PER YEAR, HERE IS WHAT THIS AMOUNT EQUATES TO:

3,440 PASSENGER VEHICLES DRIVEN FOR ONE YEAR OR 64,694,974 KM DRIVEN BY AN AVERAGE PASSENGER VEHICLE

2,743 HOMES’ ELECTRICITY USE FOR ONE YEAR

CARBON SEQUESTERED BY 272,831 TREE SEEDLINGS GROWN FOR 10 YEARS

21,157 ACRES OF FORESTS COULD HAVE BEEN PROTECTED IN ONE YEAR

37,507 BARRELS OF OIL CONSUMED