Drone maker DJI has made a surprise move into the world of land-based transportation. No, you’re not going to get a carbon fibre e-bike directly from the company, pre-fitted with an excellent camera and gimbal (though that would be awesome). You might find yourself on a similar vehicle propelled by the Chinese company’s tech.
It’s not the first oddball choice DJI has made in recent months. The company has also launched its own series of backup batteries, though we’ve yet to see these turn up here in South Africa. Hopefully we’ll see a bicycle toting the company’s Avinox Drive System at some point as well.
DJI Avinox
It might be a while. The Avinox Drive System is expected to first appear in a bike called the Amflow PL, a new e-bike brand powered by DJI. Avinox is supposed to offer riders 105Nm of maximum torque while adding a total of 5.4kg to the Amflow PL’s frame. That’s relatively lightweight for an e-bike. Traditional Chinese margins might make the Amflow PL affordable as well. Again, this is a relative thing.
See, the Amflow PL will start at R140,000 (roughly — there’s no official price here in SA) and climbs as high as R240,000 for a fully loaded version of the bike. That buys you an e-bike that weighs just shy of twenty kilograms with its own 2in touchscreen display for swiping through the various assist modes. Auto, Eco Trail, and Turbo are the available options, though we’re not sure what the (unassisted) top speed will be.
DJI includes gallium nitride (GaN) charging tech, allowing its pricier 800Wh Avinox system (the smaller option is just 600Wh) to reach a 75% charge in just over an hour and a half. If you really must justify the price of a second-hand car for this bike, it also arrives with “Bluetooth-enabled Wireless Controllers that connect wirelessly to the control display”. We have to assume these are fixed to the handlebars. Anything else is just silly.
Also included is app support, anti-theft functions, and remote tracking of your extremely valuable mountain bike in the event it goes walkies without you.
If you want one, however, you might be in for a wait. The Amflow PL releases in Europe first before heading elsewhere. On the official website, South Africa… isn’t one of the geographical options yet. That doesn’t bode well for any e-bike fans looking to spend large sums of money on a new one.