Ferrari Designers Create an Electric Bike

Founded in 1930, the Italian design firm Pininfarina has built a reputation for excellence with its iconic car designs for Ferrari, including the record-breaking 250 GT and the era-defining Testarossa. Now, the company has turned its attention to the ever-growing world of electric bikes and recently debuted its first-ever design, the E-voluzione, at the annual Eurobike show in Germany. Pininfarina’s model has all the vital components of an electric bike—frame, battery, motor, lighting—with a sleek aesthetic that comes from decades of crafting beautifully aerodynamic vehicles.

The E-voluzione was built with a carbon frame and weighs in at just 35 pounds, making it lighter than other popular electric bikes, such as the Prodeco V3 Phantom (58 pounds) and the Pedego City Commuter Classic (51 pounds). The E-voluzione will be sold in three styles—a cruiser, a mid-level performance model, and a sporty version—but prices have not yet been released.

The E-voluzione includes a display screen.

One reason Pininfarina may have pursued the design of electric bikes is the boom in demand over the past few years, specifically in Europe. According to an annual report from Accell Group—an international firm that specializes in bicycle parts—European Union e-bike and speed e-bike sales have risen to 1.3 million units in 2015 from just 500,000 in 2010. In Italy, Pininfarina’s home country, authorities are paying attention; Roman officials, for example, have pushed for some 1,025 miles of cycling-specific lanes to be built in and around the city. This is a big change from five years ago, when the Italian capital had almost none.

For more information, visit pininfarina-evoluzioneom .