Matra MS1 (old) news

[Matra et Alpine]

The Matra MS1 Electric Bike

September 30th, 2007


This could be a great commuting machine — it’s an electric-powered bike designed by the French company Matra. The bike was recently introduced at the Paris Motorshow. It has a range of 60 miles, in addition to the mileage you add by using pedal power. It has a top speed of 30 miles per hour, but this is an artificial limit set on the motor.



It can be rigged to go faster, but officially, you’d have to get a license to drive it, because it would be considered a moped. The bike also incorporates disc brakes and a regenerative braking system — nice.
This bike should be available for sale in Europe in the not-too-distant future, but no word on whether it’ll make it to the States. It will probably be priced around $5000.

[faksta]

Didn't Matra go down the drain before the end of 2007?

[Cyco]

Brakes are too big for the bike, otherwise, cool

[digitalcraft]

Little too expensive. I could get a cheap car for that and go way faster than 30 and not have to pedal ever. If it was more like $2000 I'd totally be into it though. Would be wonderful for work commute.

[Dino Scuderia]

I have $4,000 in my mtn. bike and it's 100% pedal power.

[Matra et Alpine]

Matra split up at the lip of the drain
The car design/protoype group went to Pininfarina.
There were another couple of spinf-off specialists formed.
I'm guessing the bike is from the Matra Pinin design group using Matra's prototype/small volume manufacturing line.
The "big" brakes are on the radial outside of regenerative hubs. The hubs have to be big and so the discs end up looking big too.
Mind you with the speeds capable then it really needs the larger disc sizes to keep it all cool

Note that it is a legal limiter applied to the bike. So a few minutes with a soldering iron or PROM programmer and coudl be going Optibike speeds --- ie faster than pedalling !

Price is "high", but all the smart electric bikes rae that way.
SPeed, accelerate, regenerative braking and combine pedal/battery propulsion is expensive from all the suppliers to date. This certainly looks a LOT nicer than the Optibike imho.

[dydzi]

too tricky design -> too complicated -> too expensive -> french failed again

[Matra et Alpine]

dydzi, what's "tricky" ?
Where is it "too complicated" ??
Expensive ? Well as stated it's priced alongside the other combined pedal/electric capable bikes

No doubt it will fail as the battery will turn out to be a size determiend by the left ankle of Louis XIVths second mistress

Seriouslu though, I'd buy this before the Optibike just on aesthetics !!