These Bikes Will Give You A Shock

With electricity now steadily taking over from internal combustion, you might be wondering what else can be electrified. Well, quite a lot actually.

In addition to electrifying all kinds of cars ranging from the tiniest city runabout to the most ferocious supercar, the list of electric movable objects is growing by the day.

The current global trend leader is Norway, where electric vehicles account for nearly 30% of new car sales. To be fair, the Norwegian government makes it hard not to go the electric route thanks to incentives and tax cuts. According to Norway’s climate and environment minister, Ola Elvestuen, it should be cheaper overall to own an electric car, so he goes out of his way to make life easier for the people who buy them. Our minister of environmental affairs, Nomvula Mokonyane, on the other hand, is allegedly one of the many politicians who got caught with her hand in the Bosasa cookie jar.

It would have been nice if our government was as concerned about progressing towards an electric future but at least we have a host of manufacturers working towards that goal. Jaguar’s I-Pace is now available, as is its large network of charging stations. Within the next few months we’ll be getting both Audi and Mercedes electric SUVs.

But to focus solely on cars would be a disservice, because there are plenty of other electric options out there. This month we focus on motorcycles, of which there are a wide variety available.

GOGORO SMARTSCOOTER 2

Don’t want to pay nearly R100k for a funky electric runabout?

Allow us to introduce you to Taiwan’s answer to the Vespa, the Gogoro Smartscooter 2.

The styling is superb. It’s what the Vespa would look like if a well-dressed industrial designer with thin spectacles dragged it into the modern world. That solitary headlight looks like Robocop’s famous visor and who wouldn’t want to ride around feeling like one of the most famous characters from the ’90s?