Stuff is no stranger to motorcycles, most recently taming the Apache RR310. It’s for that reason that Arc Ride, a Kenyan mobility company focused on bikes, caught our eye. The company entered South Africa earlier this year and has now followed up with the Panther — a fully electric bike ‘built for Africa.’
Swap meet?
Arc Ride emphasises the importance of getting its infrastructure right. Back in its home country, it champions the battery-as-a-service model, allowing riders to quickly swap out a battery at a designated station, rather than sitting out the long charge times. The thinking is to have these swap stations fixed onto petrol stations. The company’s website claims that there are more than 200 such stations in operation at the time of writing.
The launch will hinge on replicating that infrastructure locally. The Panther is available for a cool starting price of R22,500. The bike employs 72V 30Ah batteries, which are removable and can be swapped in for a fresh pack at speed. According to BusinessDay, owners will pay R50 per battery swap, with each new one netting the rider another 110km on a single charge. That, it seems, is why the Panther can afford to be reasonably inexpensive.
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As far as we can tell, the Panther relies entirely on the battery-as-a-service model, with no option to charge up at home. We could see the company debuting something along those lines later, with a higher starting price attached. The bike appears quite capable, powered by a 5.1kW continuous-output electric motor, delivering 11kW of power and 65Nm of torque. It’ll top out at a speed of approximately 90km/h, the company reckons.
The Panther isn’t like other electric bikes. For one thing, it’s tougher than most, featuring a 290kg payload capacity. 17in aluminium wheels come standard here, as do the hydraulic disc and CBS brakes located on both the front and rear wheels. Rounding it all off is full LED lighting. Not a bad deal, if you live near a swap-station.
