Stroking The Ego Energica Ego

The future of the internal combustion engine is in doubt and bikes such as these are leading the charge….

- Harry Fisher

People are often uncomfortable with change; it takes them away from the familiar upon which they have built experience. There is also the perception that anything new is to be mistrusted, especially when it threatens the status quo.

That one day we will have to abandon fossil fuels is a given but where once that day was way off in a future that we thought we were never likely to see, now that future is here almost before we are ready to accept it.

It’s not so much the dwindling fossil fuels that has brought this change about but an increasing awareness of our environment. Evermore the internal combustion engine is being strangled, with various countries and car manufacturers pledging to abandon it in the coming decades.

So, where does that leave us? Hydrogen power has been touted as the saviour of internal combustion but increasingly, it is electricity that is, at present, the ‘fuel’ of the future. There seems to be a lot of resistance to this, in part because of the lack of progress in terms of making an electric bike go further than its petrol-powered counterpart on a single charge and due to the overly long charge times from empty to full.

However, that hasn’t stopped the innovation and, more importantly, it hasn’t diminished the experience of riding an electric bike. If we put practicality to one side for the moment, electricity provides a completely different riding experience to petrol, without losing any of the inherent fun. If anything, the differences add to the fun.