Here’s a form of electric transportation you might not have considered before: Moonbike. It’s a new snow electric bike, and it’s now officially headed to the United States.
This concept is simple. Provides quiet and reliable snow transport by bicycle form. Chrysler tried to do the same thing in the late 1970s and early 1980s with its Sno-Runner, but some flaws have left Sno-Runner with no power in the market.
Theoretically, the Moonbike should run on snow with relative ease. Its propulsion system is capable of taking the bike to a top speed of 26 mph. Since it’s electric, you’ll experience the full Moonbike’s 125 lb-ft of torque thrust the moment you hit the throttle.
When it comes to scope, there are two the battery optional package. The standard Moonbike comes with a single rated 2.5 kWh battery first hours of use in “Sport” mode or 1 hour and 30 minutes in “Eco” mode. The optional dual 5 kWh battery model doubles those range numbers, so you can get up to 3 hours on a single charge with that model. Moonbike says these times are estimated with a 175-pound rider and assume you’re on a well-groomed trail. Add weight or go in a deeper layer of dough, and we’re sure your range will suffer.
If those times aren’t enough, Moonbike says you can bring a spare battery for the journey. You can swap them out “in less than 5 minutes,” according to the company. That said, each battery weighs about 27 pounds, so you’ll have to shoulder a lot of weight if you carry a spare battery. Plug in the Moonbike (with a standard battery pack) and it will take 5 hours and 45 minutes to fully charge. An optional fast charger reduces that time to 3 hours.
Overall, the standard Moonbike weighs 192 pounds and the dual-battery model weighs 220 pounds. You can ride it through a maximum snowpowder depth of 12 inches, and if the trail is groomed, it will increase scores by up to 40%. The electrical system itself is rated to operate in temperatures as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit.
If all of the above sounds appealing to you, Moonbikes are starting to go on sale in the US right now, and prices start at $8,500. It’s been sold in Europe before, so it’s a big expansion for Moonbikes. Assembly is outsourced to Bosch in France and maintenance is promised to be minimal, which is something the old Chysler Sno-Runner can’t say.
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