Looking at the Future of Smart Bicycles from the Tokyo Motor Show

At the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show held at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center from December 2nd to 11th, 2012, it seems that the number of electric bicycles and self-driving bicycles exhibited this year has significantly increased compared to previous years. “Connected Bicycles” is a new generation of travel tools jointly developed by Toyota and Yamaha. In its booth, the concept models of electric motorcycles and electric bicycles are mainly introduced. With smart phones, you can network with the Toyota Intelligent Center to get the location of the charging station, the status of the queue, and even the notification of the completion of charging. Honda demonstrated the “MOTOR COMPO” (similar to the previous MOTOCOMPO models) and the three-wheeled motorcycle “E-CANOPY”. The design of these two vehicles is also based on the use of smartphones.

In addition, there is the “POWERIDE Touring” hybrid bicycle that is integrated with electric bicycles, self-driving bicycles, and bicycles. This bicycle was launched by ecomo, which specializes in designing a new generation of travel tools. It has been put into use in South Korea.

The popularization of smart bicycles, such as electric mobility tools, of course requires the improvement of infrastructure such as charging stations, but it is also indispensable to obtain information on charging stations through the Internet of Things. Therefore, the networking of vehicles will undoubtedly become more and more important. The design of smart bicycles now depends on smartphones for receiving information. However, if smart bicycles become popular as automobiles in the future, professional information receiving devices such as car navigation systems may also appear.