124 Miles Range on a Single Charge , New Rapid K-1988 Concept
- 10 days ago
Thai manufacturer Rapid hopes to achieve exactly this with its electric motorcycle called K-1988. Right now it's just a concept, but Rapid's owner Smartech Motor has made it clear that it plans to market the K-1988 as a production model, even displaying it at the recently concluded Bangkok International Auto Show.
Taking a closer look at the styling, it's clear that K-1988 is inspired by the Akira series, but most likely not licensed. Rapid has clearly done some work to differentiate the K-1988 from the Akira bike. For starters, it's obviously not red and it's not as low as the hero motorcycle from the Anime series.
The name of the bike is an Easter egg; K probably stands for Kaneda, and 1988 was the year the movie Akira was released.
For starters, the K-1988 is an electric motorcycle. It rocks a 15 kW electric motor with a power output of around 20 ponies. This gives the bike a top speed of around 87 miles per hour, which is actually technically pretty impressive for an electric scooter. In terms of range, the Rapid claims to travel 124 miles on a single charge, so it's best suited for urban missions thanks to its limited range. Rapid says a full charge takes about two hours.
Like most other electric bikes on the market, the K-1988 features a number of modern technologies. Traction control, ABS and not one but two full-colour TFTs all come as standard. There is also an LED headlight carefully placed behind the windshield of the motorcycle, just like the real Akira motorcycle.
Source: https://www.rideapart.com/news/716522/rapid-k1988-electric-akira-bike/
Taking a closer look at the styling, it's clear that K-1988 is inspired by the Akira series, but most likely not licensed. Rapid has clearly done some work to differentiate the K-1988 from the Akira bike. For starters, it's obviously not red and it's not as low as the hero motorcycle from the Anime series.
The name of the bike is an Easter egg; K probably stands for Kaneda, and 1988 was the year the movie Akira was released.
For starters, the K-1988 is an electric motorcycle. It rocks a 15 kW electric motor with a power output of around 20 ponies. This gives the bike a top speed of around 87 miles per hour, which is actually technically pretty impressive for an electric scooter. In terms of range, the Rapid claims to travel 124 miles on a single charge, so it's best suited for urban missions thanks to its limited range. Rapid says a full charge takes about two hours.
Like most other electric bikes on the market, the K-1988 features a number of modern technologies. Traction control, ABS and not one but two full-colour TFTs all come as standard. There is also an LED headlight carefully placed behind the windshield of the motorcycle, just like the real Akira motorcycle.
Source: https://www.rideapart.com/news/716522/rapid-k1988-electric-akira-bike/