Zec00 electric bike

Over the past few years we've seen electric motorcycle design gravitates more and more towards a 'traditional' platform, but this Japanese design definitely breaks the mould.

The zec00, made by Tokyo firm Znug Design, is cut from an entirely different cloth with a strange-looking hub steering setup and a  fantasy design which is right up Japan's futuristic alley. The front of the zec00 is bulbous and layered at the front – culminating in a massive tinted screen – before moving into a minimalist rear: basically a seat, shock, swingarm and belt-driven wheel.

The hub steering has been designed to accommodate the battery’s weight, "maintaining steerability without changes in riding posture".
The wheelbase is massive, 1830mm, which also will have some say in "steerability" , while the bike uses the excellent Zero Motorcycles motor found in that firm's Zero SR (review here).

The SR is appreciably lighter than the zec00, by 92kg, but the Japanese machine should still have plenty of mumbo off the lights – more than enough on the car-saturated Tokyo roads. Znug Design quotes a top speed of 160km/h and a range of about 160km before the lithium ion battery requires recharging. There's also regenerative braking.

Price is steep, the equivalent of about $A95,000, and the electric bike can be used with a standard motorcycle license in Japan.

Only 49 zec00s will be hand-made, and it's possible to for buyers to customise the colour – probably the least they can do for $95K...