The automaker is expanding its global Ford Smart Mobility plan with a new experiment to study how electric bicycles can work seamlessly with cars and public transport to deliver faster and easier daily commutes and help businesses operating in urban centers. “Changing the way we think, collaborate and behave is essential to ensuring freedom of movement of both people and economies,” said Barb Samardzich, chief operating officer, Ford of Europe.
The Handle on Mobility experiment, detailed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, extends the range of transportation solutions for a connected journey that is more efficient, safer, healthier, and enables journeys to be completed with less anxiety and stress. It also marks the latest mobility project the company has announced worldwide this year as part of Ford Smart Mobility, a plan to help change the way the world moves through innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data.
Traffic problems and overly-long commutes have a significant economic and social impact in large cities. “The Ford Smart Mobility plan supports our commitment to innovation and is aimed specifically at developing smarter transportation systems that take the worry and anxiety out of journey planning and improve the quality of life in busy cities,” added Samardzich.
As a starting point for the experiment, Ford challenged employees around the world to submit designs for e-bikes. The prototype MoDe:Me and MoDe:Pro e-bikes presented in Barcelona are among the top designs from more than 100 submitted. Both e-bikes are equipped with a 200-watt motor with 9-amp-hour battery that provides electric pedal assist for speeds of up to 25 km/h. The prototype e-bikes offer technology inspired by the automotive industry including, for example, a rear-facing ultrasonic sensor.
Source: Ford
