E-bikes, am I right? The Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas is this week, so we aren’t too surprised to have our inbox inundated with all things that need to be plugged in. That said, Panasonic surprised us a bit with a new lightweight pedal-assist system, two performance e-bikes from Van Dessel, plus a return of Univega USA, and even an electric motorcycle.
Panasonic e-bikes for Van Dessel & Univega
Panasonic happens to be the biggest auto battery in the world, but is going full speed onto two wheels now too. The electronic giant’s partnership with the largest US bike producer Kent International is bringing a new GX0 pedal-assist drive system to Van Dessel‘s new Passepartout gravel & Captain Shred mountain e-bikes. Claiming to be lighter than any other 250W drive motor on the market and with leading 90Nm of torque, it is positioning itself as an industry power:weight ratio leader.
The e-gravel Passepartout promises huge 700c or 650b tire clearance, and alloy frame with semi-integrated battery, and complete bike pricing from $5500.
The eMTB Captain Shred packs in 140mm of rear wheel travel, 150mm forks, 29×2.5″ or 27.5×2.8″ tire clearance, a full carbon frame, and prices starting at $7500 complete. It even has ambitions of racing this coming season’s inaugural UCI eMountain Bike World Championship Series.
For the return of Univega USA, Panasonic has a heavier, less torquey motor to put in the Univega USA UVG-1 touring commuter e-bike.
All three of the new bikes will be assembled in South Carolina by parent corp Kent from Asian-made frames and components. Full details on all of the new Panasonic-powered e-bikes is available over at e-Bikerumor.com.
Panasonic-powered electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorcycle too
And now for something completely off-topic… talking about Panasonic electric motors in two-wheelers at CES, Harley-Davidson just unveiled their fully electric LiveWire cruiser. It’s not a bicycle, but we thought that it looked cool. More deets over at eBR, too.
