The future of motorcycles and mobility is electric power and, at the same time, more and more interaction between riders and their motorcycles. With this in mind, Italian electric motorcycle manufacturer Energica, and Samsung have come up with a new project called Smart Ride.
The first result of the Smart Ride project is the brand-new prototype bike called Bolid-E.
Energica took the retro looking Eva EsseEsse9 and gave it a complete makeover to bring this bike a step closer to the future. Not only the Bolid-E is an all-electric bike, but it also comes fitted with a set of features created in collaboration with Samsung.
For example, the rearview mirrors have been changed with Energica opting to install on both sides two units of the Samsung Galaxy A8 series. Through the use of special cameras in front and back of the Bolid-E, Energica allows the rider to see what’s going on ahead on the road, and also on his back. The cameras feature an obstacle recognition system, warning the rider of incoming dangers on the road.
Most importantly, this system recognizes pedestrians and bicycles on the road for even more safety.
But the Bolid-E goes even further!
Energica and Samsung have also worked on a new app that is able to link the Samsung Galaxy smartwatch to the bike, and with this, the user of the smartwatch is able to control the bike at distance. Not only the user can see, in real time, where the bike is, the state of the batteries and how long it will take to charge them to 100%, but it also gives the rider access to all sorts of information like GPS routes, real-time power and torque, and also the Horn feature that will activate the horn of the Bolid-E.
The Samsung Galaxy smartwatch will also be used as the ignition key, a kind of virtual key, that will allow the user and owner of the bike, to create other virtual keys and share them with friends so they can ride the bike without having the need to use a real key to start the Bolid-E and ride away.
Energica and Samsung will unveil the Smart Ride project and the Bolid-E prototype at the upcoming EICMA Milan motorcycle show.