January 11, 2018
THE WITNESS
|
15
MOTORING
www.witness.co.za
Transport trends in 2018 ALWYN VILJOEN predicts which innovations at the annual Consumer Electronics Show will impact our commute and delivery habits OVER the last 50 years, the world’s larg est electronics trade show — the Con sumer Electronics Show or CES, in Las Vegas, has each year devoted many stands to new transport trends that all promised to disrupt the industry. This year, that promise seems ready to finally come true, thanks to electric and hydrogen vehicles that range from onewheelers to trucks. Witness Wheels collected the innova tions we deem will have the most impact on transport as we know it. ROBOT VANS AND MINIBUSES South Africa’s infamous taxi drivers bet ter take heed — several selfdriving little robotbuses have been tested around the world since 2015 and the segment looks ready to come of age this year. Even the most conservative of companies, Toyo ta, have entered the fray with its ePallet. The robot vans and minibuses are de signed to trundle the same route every day, stopping for passengers or to deliver a 20foot container to a depot. The technology driving and steering these delivery boxes on wheels have now been tested for almost a decade on giant robot trucks in mines in Australia and Chile. One controller, who may be sitting thousands of kilometres away, can mon itor and control several of these selfdriv ing container delivery platforms, as Ein ride is proving in Sweden. Because a robot van or bus is basically breadbin on top of a flat battery pack with wheels powered by hub motors, the interiors can be fitted with seats or shelves, as did U.S.based RoboMart with their grocery deliver cart. Remember those many wheelbarrow sellers of fresh produce that helped make the initial money of many a now very wealthy KZN families? Robomart’s little truck adds an elec tric golf cart to the wheelbarrow and air cooled shelves to deliver veggies to the housewife, who will summon the fresh produce using an app. Robomart said it is seeking an Auton omous Vehicle Testing Permit from Cal ifornia’s Department of Motor Vehicles to test the first prototype this year. The company’s next step will be to build fully functional versions of the Robomart and begin commercial pilot programmes in the San Francisco Bay Area. ROBO BAKKIES AND TRUCKS Cities around the world are phasing in a ban on diesel engines, but diesel trucks will still be required to carry heavy loads between the cities for decades to come. For there is no battery technology even on the horizon that can cover dis tance as cheaply as fossilfuelled engines do, which is all good news for mechanics who are worrying about their jobs. These mechanics will do well, howev er, to start learning about battery tech. For to meet the demands of the diesel ban, several companies, from estab lished names like Cummins to newcom ers like U.S.based Workhorse, Nikola and Tesla, are preparing a range of all electric or hydrogen trucks and bakkies. The Bison from Canada’s Havelaar is the latest allelectric bakkie. Never mind the roomy cabin and impressive payload. All you need to know is this beast does 0100 in six seconds, thanks to a 40 kW/h battery pack that drives a motor making 220 kW and 510 Nm torque. Driven normally without a load, Have laar claims a range of some 200 km. Havelaar plans to build the first 100 production models for fleet operators and municipalities by 2020. A consumer version is expected to fol low in 2021 and the base model Bison will sell for around $45 000 (about R560 000). With backing by a consorti um of Dutch, Chinese and Canadian partners, Witness Wheels predict they will achieve this aim, unlike Tesla Mo tors, which consistently fails to meets its own production targets. BIKES In South Africa at the moment, two wheeled transport is strictly for those too poor to get four wheels or those rich enough to spend serious money on fast machines. Electric bicycles have the potential to change all this, as it offers Africa’s crea tive mechanics lots of scope to weld fan tastic creations using offtheshelf parts. And don’t think electric bikes are all off the sedate situpandbeg, pedalas sist variety either. Brushless motors in the hub delivers all the torque from start, which means even a small motor have a pulloff that feels blistering fast. The speed is as high as the magnets are powerful and with enough kiloWatt hours in the battery, these bikes goes for over 100 km on a charge, without pedal assist. In Europe and the U.S., many bike builders are already designing true beauts, but our current fave is Poland’s retro fusion of leather, wood and metal into the streamlined Avionics V1. Its motor makes five kiloWatts — which sounds puny compared to the 15 kW from a typical 250 cc motorbike, but bear in mind ebikes are limited to just 0,7 kW tops in Europe. Those 5 000 Watts in the Avionics are good for a steady 58 km/h, which is plenty fast on a cruiser bicycle, and a large 24Ah lithiumion battery give a,
range of 120 km. The V1 is currently on the Indiegogo crowdfunding site for an eyewatering $6 550, but this is still $2 930 less than the planned $9 480 (al most R118 000) when it launches offi cially later this year. For those on a budget, riding a scooter is cheaper than taking a Siyaya taxi, but because of our taxi drivers’ reputation, many attempts to launch cheap motor bikes and scooters for SA’s commuters have failed. Hence Sri Lanka’s Gogoro interconnected allelectric scooters, which system now sets the bar for quick and cheap city mobility, will not be feasi ble until the Centennials (who are in high school today) discover the quick mobility of a small scooter. If they instead discover the compen sating joys of a big cruiser, we predict an electric cruiser like the Tacita TCruise from Italy will be very popular. The TCruise was first unveiled at the AIMExpo show in Columbus, Ohio in September last year and makes 30 kW and 70 Nm from zero revs — numbers which will make even KTM snobs drool. A belt or chain drives the rear wheel through Tacita’s proprietary fivespeed gear box and three different 120 Volt lithiumpolymer battery packs, starting with the 7,5 kW/h base kit for 81 km and topping out with a 27 kW/h battery good for 270 km. SELFBALANCERS Apart from a few Segways carrying secu rity officers in shopping malls, the slew of selfbalancing vehicles have never caught on in South Africa. This is mainly because we cannot af ford to buy these pricey “lastmile” vehi cles that are designed to shorten the route between the bus stop or station and home. The OneWheel XR may change this, as a team of XR riders rode a threeday, 480km ride from Palm Springs to Las Vegas to show that XR is built for big adventures. The XR is up for preorder from March for R22 500 (excluding delivery). It is still a lot for a onewheel skateboard, but it shows in which direction younger commuters are, ahem, leaning.
BEAM ME UP SCOTTIE: Wheels predict selfflying drone taxis like this Volocopter over Dubai will spread to cities before the end of the decade as people use an app to summon a robocopter to whisk them over roads literally swarming with selfdriving vehicles. Such selfdriving drones are as close as humans are likely to get to teleportation. PHOTO: VOLOCOPTER
TAKING TO SKIES Drones that carry people is an obvious next step in transport, with the U.S. Ar my testing a flying ambulance, Work horse selling a drone alongside its all electric bakkie and Dubai already testing a selfflying twoseater, 18rotor drone from Germany’s Volocopter. Their longest (official) flight to date is 27 minutes at a speed of 50 km/h and a height of 25 metres. The maximum speed of small copter is 100 km/h and it can carry 160 kg. Now Volocopter has revealed at CES that Intel CEO Brian Krzanich rode aboard the aircraft as its very first pas senger in Germany last month. “That was the best flight I have ever had. Every body will fly one of these someday,” he said. Wheels predicts this will start hap pening before 2020. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
Robomart hopes to do for its fortunes with its automated groceries delivery cart what many very wealthy KZN families first did with wheelbarrow loads of fresh veggies. PHOTO: ROBOMART Toyota plans for the ePalette to be made in three sizes with lengths varying from four to seven metres, and can fit anything from bus seats to a mobile pizza oven. PHOTO: TOYOTA
EAST COAST
ENGINE IMPORTS
QUALITY USED LOW MILEAGE ENGINES AND GEABOXES
WE OFFER DELIVERY INTO DURBAN AND PMB ON ENGINE AND GEARBOX PURCHASES
Brand New Turbos for most makes of vehicles
FOR THE LEXUS V8 ENTHUSIASTS WE OFFER • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 1UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Pre-Wired Lexus V8 3UZ VVTI complete with automatic gearbox • Brand new and second hand original spares and service parts • Our pre-wired original OEM mnagement is ready for installation with only 6 wires to connect • All units are bench tested
The XR goes 30 km at 19 km/h and shows in which direction young commuters are leaning. PHOTO: ONEWHEEL
• Top Quality used low mileage engines and gearboxes for most makes and models of cars and light delivery vehicles • Heads • Turbos • Diffs • Lexus spares • New and Second hand • We stock local stock as well
A model poses with the allelectric Tacita TCruise at its launch at the AIMExpo 2017 show in Columbus, Ohio. PHOTO: TACITA The Avionics V1 from Poland will cost over R117 900, which sounds a lot if one looks at this as a bicycle with battery assist. Seen as a handmade fusion of leather, wood and steel in the everclassic Steampunk style, with a battery pack so powerful it has to be detuned to be legal in Europe, this price is beer money for what is already a collectors’ motorbike. PHOTO: HAVELAAR
dly sales s team m is s equip pped to de eal with h all en nqu uiries and ha ave a Our friend weallth of know wledg ge in the moto orin ng field d. We pride e ou ursellves in n deliveriing exception nal serv rviice and d products to o our clie ents and thereforre have a stringent qua ality check process s in plac ce to make sure that every produc ct complies s with our requirem ments an nd is in to op order. Tel:
035 789 0464 Unit 1 No 13 Dianne 071 677 0799 035 789 0754 Betastraal Street Ntuthuko 082 704 5330 Craigh: 084 357 1082 Alton, Richards Bay Fax 086 459 6725 eastcoastengines@gmail.com