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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1406705
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 BCBUSINESS 29 P O W E R M O V E Rather than rely on a third-party vendor to provide motors for its performance e-bikes, Rocky Moun- tain Bicycles has designed and built its own unique powertrains since 2017. "The architecture of our motor is completely different from everyone else's," says chief product officer Alex Cogger. Starting with just three models, the Vancouver-headquartered company saw total sales increase 25 percent overnight. It now offers 14 different e-bikes that represent 40 percent of revenue. Rocky Mountain's Taiwan-made motor is also more powerful than most other brands', providing 108 newton-metres of torque versus the typical 85 to 90, so riders can climb steeper hills and accelerate faster. "We decided to go all out with a really powerful motor," Cogger says. "The first generation of mountain bikers–because mountain biking has been around since the early '80s–is getting to the point where they could definitely use a helping hand." –S.Z. E V R I D E R "No one gets in a car wondering when they're going to have an accident," Jay Giraud says. "But statisti- cally, every motorcycle has one." Giraud, who founded Vancouver-based Damon Motorcycles in 2017 with Dom Kwong, wants to leave that problem in the dust. Damon's HyperSport is the first artificial intelligence- enhanced electric motorcycle with collision warning. Powering the bike is the HyperDrive, a chassis that integrates the battery pack, frame, motor, gearbox, elec- tronics, collision warning, cloud computing, AI–and Shift, which lets a rider adjust the ergonomics to suit different terrain. Unlike other motorcycle makers, Damon can build whatever bike it wants around that core without having to design a whole new machine each time. To encourage adoption, the company is taking a page from Tesla by offering a premium product first, Giraud explains. As of August, it had received some $30 million in pre-orders for the HyperSport, which is due to hit the market next year. By 2023 and 2030, respectively, Damon plans to achieve accident pre- diction and accident avoidance–so a bike can take over steering or braking when its rider doesn't react fast enough. "That's the road map from a safety perspective, to get a motorcycle to the point of being as safe as a car," Giraud says. –N.R. The provincial government is also encouraging the use of electric vehicles, having mandated that, by 2040, every new car sold in B.C. will be zero-emission. To help make that happen, the CleanBC plan offers EV rebates for consumers and businesses. At the same time, the province aims to capitalize on B.C.'s 25-year his- tory as a centre for hydrogen fuel-cell innovation. This past summer, it unveiled a strategy for the sector whose early goals include scaling up production of renewable hydrogen, creating regional hydrogen hubs, and deploying medium- and heavy-duty fuel-cell vehicles. Micromobility is a key piece of the move toward multimodal, greener cities. Electric bikes and scooters offer a zero-emission option for shorter commutes, but it might be a while before we can share e-scooters, given that the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act forbids them on roads and sidewalks. However, six municipalities recently started working with Victoria on pilot projects. The pandemic shifted mobility trends away from public transit, with ridership dropping by 78 percent in Metro Vancouver in June 2021 com- pared to before COVID, according to a report by Movmi Shared Transporta- tion Services, a consulting firm that provides organizations with mobility solutions. Instead, people opted for more individual modes of transport, such as car-shares Evo and Modo. But things are evening out. "I think in the early months, it was a 70-per- cent drop in ridership for everybody," says Sandra Phillips, founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Movmi. "Most of them have come back, if not to pre-COVID levels, close to pre-COVID levels, with the exception of public transport. They're still catching up." With public transit still feeling COVID's fallout, Phillips believes the big takeaway should be to further integrate alternate forms of transporta- tion such as bike- and car-shares. "Because then, if something else hap- pens, and maybe we have another wave of pandemic, people still can stay within that ecosystem even if they don't feel safe going on a bus any- more," she explains. "But they will stay within, rather than going to buy a vehicle," Phillips reckons. "Because if they buy a vehicle, they are out of your ecosystem for the next 10 years, or five years at minimum." As these changes unfold, B.C. companies and researchers keep churn- ing out innovative ways for us to get around while reducing congestion and carbon emissions. Here's a look at what's currently on the road—and what's coming. –S.Z. Damon's HyperSport, the first AI-enhanced electric motorcycle A Rocky Mountain e-bike in action