Automotive Engineering - October 2021 - 8

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
ELECTRIFICATION
New Zapp electric
scooter: just 200 pounds,
200 components
Continental's core business made news at IAA in announcing a significant step toward sustainable
tires. In lengthy development, Conti's Green Concept tire uses 35% renewable raw materials including
natural rubber from dandelions, silicate from the ashes of rice husks, and various vegetable oils and
resins, which reduce the amount of crude oil-based materials. The new tire formula also uses 17%
recycled materials including a first for Conti: polyester from recycled PET bottles in the casing, along
with processed steel and carbon black. A special lightweight design allowed tire engineers to reduce
the concept tire's weight and rolling resistance by about 25% compared with a tire with class-A rolling
resistance according to the EU tire label-the best in this area.
alleged brainwave-control for certain
cabin functions.
Volkswagen AG's focus was on ID.2, ID.3
and ID.4 and ID.Life, a new low cost crossover
SUV that will debut in the next couple
of years, the company indicates. Aiming
for a base price of 20,000 euros, ID.Life
uses a front-drive MEB platform and high
content of PET in its body. ID.Buzz (or
Bulli, or whatever they're calling the new
EV version of the Bus) was not present.
Audi took the uber-luxury-EV stage with
its Grandsphere, a sleek 17.5-ft.-long (5.3
m) AWD flagship sedan underpinned by
VW's Premium Platform Electric (PPE).
Porsche underwhelmed with an electric
racecar, the Mission R, that might be
sold to customers. Renault launched its
new Megane EV. Polestar showed two
cars. Ford of Europe had a couple of
Mustang Mach-Es at a coffee bar. Tesla,
now a formidable new German industrial
'citizen,' didn't feel a need to participate.
Reportedly Stellantis and
Toyota dropped out at the 11th hour.
So, a bit uneven re-start for in-person,
major auto/mobility/industry trade
shows. But the rationale to continue
was clearly there on many fronts. IAA
Munich 2021 showed the right direction
for reinvention. Hopefully more OEMs
will be convinced of the event's value
8 October 2021
Introducing to the media the new i300
electric step-through scooter that
promises high-performance urban mobility
and attractive ease of ownership,
Zapp board member and investor Tony
Posawatz said the bike is a premium
transportation solution for congested
cities, particularly those with looming
bans on combustion engines and all
vehicle emissions. The scooter's advanced
design features removable lithium-ion
battery packs, and Posawatz is
particularly keen about its comparative
engineering simplicity versus today's
internal-combustion (IC) rivals. The
Zapp i300 has barely more than 200
total components and a curb weight of
slightly more than 200 lb (96 kg) with
batteries.
Posawatz, recent former CEO of
Yes, BMW's original Isetta bubble car, with its
single door and front entry, wouldn't appear to be
worth reviving from a crash-safety perspective. But
that's what Swiss family Wim, Oliver and Merlin
Ouboter, inventors of the Kick scooter, are doing
with their Microlino 2.0. One of the coolest vehicles
on display at IAA, the Micro bubble features a steel
structure and 25-hp traction motor. Micro claims
to have over 25,000 reservations to serve when
production begins in Italy in 2022. Three available
batteries rated at 6-kWh, 10.5-kWh and 14 kWh
will deliver ranges of 60, 109, and 143 miles (37, 68
and 90 km) Base price: $14,000 (12,000 euro).
and rejoin in 2022. IAA's importance
goes beyond CES in featuring not only
the digital and virtual, but the mechanical
technologies that will always underpin
the electric future.
Lindsay Brooke
Fisker Automotive and vehicle line executive
(VLE) for GM's Chevrolet Volt
when it launched in 2010, said United
Kingdom-based Zapp has targeted the
high end of the powered 2-wheels
(P2W) market, focusing first on the
huge markets of Thailand and France,
where a respective 1.5 million and
250,000 units are sold annually. The
Thai P2W market, he said, represents
some $4 billion in annual revenue. In
addition, " We believe this [electric highend
scooter] will play well in European
cities, " he said, where there currently
are some 35 million IC-driven P2Ws on
the road. Many are in danger of being
banned from the very cities in which
they have long been viewed as a more
efficient and less profligate means of
getting around.
Reflecting the reality of Europe's cities
on IC transportation, Posawatz presented
data indicating the global P2W
market is fully underway in its transition
to battery-electric propulsion at a much
faster pace than passenger cars. In
Europe, the five-year combined annual
growth rate (CAGR) for electric twowheelers
was 48%.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
FROM TOP: CONTINENTAL; LINDSSAY BROOKE

Automotive Engineering - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive Engineering - October 2021