Urban cargo solutions and last-mile delivery are quickly undergoing rapid electrification. Since large delivery vans and trucks don’t work well in crowded cities, many operators are moving towards cargo e-bikes and scooters. But what happens when those solutions just aren’t big enough? Then you may want to check out the PNY Ponie, an electric cargo motorcycle designed for heavy hauling in tight spaces.
First and foremost, the PNY Ponie is designed for cargo duty and delivery applications. It can carry up to 120 kg (265 lb) of cargo and has 400 liters (14 cubic feet) of storage space on board. For comparison, a city car’s trunk often has around 300 liters or less of space.
You know those insulated food bags you often see delivery riders carrying on a bike? The PNY Ponie can carry three of them. It also has an optional hardcase storage trunk filling the entire center section of the frame – still leaving room for another insulated bag on the rear rack
But even though it is built for cargo, the Ponie is still a motorcycle in many regards. It can reach speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph) and has a range of up to 150 km (93 miles) on a single charge from its 6.7 kWh CATL battery. The Ponie uses a powerful 4,000 Watt continuous-rated rear hub motor, helping to free up even more space in the frame for storage.
The motorbikes feature ABS brakes, a CarPlay-ready 7-inch color screen, and include a glovebox with a USB port for charging electronics like the user’s phone.
To learn more about these impressive machines, I spoke to the company’s founder and CEO, Netzah Sadeh, earlier today at the 2023 EICMA Milan Motorcycle Show.
“They are ideal for situations where an e-bike or scooter isn’t enough, but a delivery van would be too much,” Sadeh explained. “We’re already working with postal services and supermarkets that deliver groceries.”
We’ve often seen cargo e-trikes and pedal cars used for urban delivery solutions, and those work great in slow-speed areas or where bike lanes are prevalent. But their top speeds of 15-20 mph (25-40 km/h) limit the areas they can safely operate. PNY’s vehicles, on the other hand, can travel up to 100 km/h (62 mph), meaning they can take shortcuts through urban highways and then cut back into dense urban centers, all with the same vehicle and cargo load.
In areas that allow lane splitting, like most rational countries do, these cargo motorcycles can carry as much as a car’s trunk, yet don’t get stuck in traffic like a car. Instead, they can simply slip past traffic to make more deliveries in less time and traverse a city faster.
The PNY Ponie 2, a two-wheeler version, has been homologated for use in Europe as an L3e class motorcycle for A1 license holders. The Ponie 3, a three-wheeled variant, is still undergoing testing. The Ponie 2 is now slated for production with deliveries likely to begin in Q2 2024.
What do you think? Would you like to see your groceries delivered on a Ponie? Or do you prefer your ice cream melted?
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