Motorcycle from manufacturer from the Philippines has just announced a new electric motorcycle, that redefines sustainable. The manufacturer that goes by the name of Banatti Motorcycles has designed an electric bike with a bamboo body shell that weighs a marginal 6.5 kilos.
The Banatti is capable of doing 120 kmph, although in the interest of safety the speed has been limited to 96.5kmph. Banatti will call this first bike the Green Falcon. Banatti is owned by Meep Inc. (an acronym for Modular Energy Efficient Portage) and according to Meep CEO and Design Director Christopher Paris Lacson, the weight of The Green Falcon is markedly less than what it would weigh if made of fibreglass.
Lacson is a man with a plan, he says that the Philippines government has mandated the planting of 10 million hectares of bamboo by 2020.
In the time that the Bamboo takes to grow which is three years, Meep wanted to use the time till 2020 to come up with a use and application for the organic material that has the strength ‘similar to steel’, but he does point out that when composited, bamboo becomes incredibly strong.
After opening the floor to designers and engineers to come forward with innovative things that can be built from Bamboo, the Banatti Green Falcon was born. Only to be showcased at the Manila Fame Show held in October 2017.
The two layered Bamboo structure of The Green Falcon is laminated with marine grade epoxy and covers the bike’s batteries and electric motor.
Lacson says the bike has a range of around 43-49 km on a single charge. As of now, the Green Falcon is still a concept, and intends to be an inspiration to others more than a competitive product in the market.
Given the number of man hours that go into manufacturing these, it’s unlikely to be commercially viable. What is it is a statement, that maybe we can look to alternative for a more sustainable future for our kids.
