Manta5 Hydrofoiler: an electric bike you can ride on water
The Hydrofoiler can pedal and plane through open bodies of water, from ocean shorelines to lakes and rivers.
We usually associate electric bikes with riding on the road on terra firma. However, a New Zealand firm, Manta5, has produced an electric bike you can pedal on water.
It’s called the Hydrofoiler XE-1 and it’s proving one of the stars of the show at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. It was on display at the conference’s Showstoppers event and is a candidate for the coolest gadget at CES, having achieved a massive following on social media. One Facebook post attracted 350 million views.
Riders can pedal and plane through open bodies of water, from ocean shorelines to lakes and rivers, and reach speeds of around 20km/hr. Manta5 says the motor produces no more than a quiet hum and that the Hydrofoiler has a buoyancy module so it floats.
It takes on the less environmentally friendly Jet Ski as a new form of near-shore transport.
The Hydrofoiler has been under development for seven years and Manta5 has just delivered its first batch to customers in New Zealand, where the company is based. International orders are to follow.
Chief executive Greg Johnston says the Hydrofoiler is the brainchild of Guy Howard-Willis, the founder of the largest outdoor retailer in New Zealand, and is the result of a dream.
“He literally had a dream where he pushed off from his holiday home and he was riding what he otherwise described as a bike on the water. The dream was so profound to him.”
The project to build a water bound electric bike began around 2013 and for two and a half years was secret. Then followed private pool testing, a series of prototypes and optimising the user experience. “We got a whole bunch of people from New Zealand to come and try it. And then it was all about design for manufacture.”
He says the project received a research grant from the New Zealand government and an aeronautical engineer was engaged to design the foils and propeller so that the finished product offered the natural intuitive feel of cycling. He says the two horizontal foils offer stability as you glide across the water.
The Hydrofoiler began as a regular bicycle on water, but along the way Manta5 added a battery so more people could ride it. Mr Johnston says it’s tough pedalling in the water unaided.
The bike is made from carbon fibre and aircraft-grade aluminium that is resistant to saltwater and corrosion. The seat on the Hydrofoiler looks like a standard bicycle seat and there’s those familiar pedals. The resemblance ends there.
Hydrofoiler now has a fully submersible, IP68 rated waterproof battery housing system. The battery takes five hours to charge and offers up to 460 watts of pedal assist power and up to 60 minutes run time on maximum assist level. There is a heads-up display for controlling and monitoring power usage.
Mr Johnston says the Hydrofoiler weighs 28kg, but can be disassembled and transported in a sedan car.
Getting going takes a bit of practice. You can hop onto the Hydrofoiler in the sand, lean forward and take off. Alternatively you can launch it from a pontoon or dock, or from the back of a boat. You need to balance your weight towards the back of the bike to take off. It then takes just one pedal stroke to start planeing.
So what about handling the waves? Mr Johnston says the bike automatically adjusts the rider’s angle as it bobs up and down over waves. What happens if it gets rough? The rule of thumb is that if you won’t swim at a location, you shouldn’t plane there.
But he says that if you come off, there’s no need to panic. “If you fall off in deep water, you can do what we call a submerged launch. You push the bike underneath you, put it up on the right angle and as you start pedalling, you come out of the water and plane again.”
So what happens if the battery runs out? He says you can pedal without power but it isn’t so easy. Riders are given multiple warnings as the battery capacity dwindles so this shouldn’t happen. You can however travel about 10km on one charge. You can too be on the heavy side. He says the water bike already has supported riders of up to 110kg in weight.
Manta5 is excited that after years of development, the Hydrofoiler is finally coming to market. However Australians will be waiting to get one. The company’s initial production run was sold out in six months and even some international runs this year are sold out.
Mr Johnston says there is great interest in Hydrofoiler in the US, Canada, UK and Europe, where the company is chasing sales. He says the Hydrofoiler will be available to Australians in time for next summer, at about $US9000 ($13,100) plus delivery. That may sound a lot, but you can pay $13K for a high end regular bike.
So what’s next? Bike paths in the sea, across Sydney Harbour or across Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne? We’ll have to wait and see.
Chris Griffith is attending CES in Las Vegas courtesy of Hisense Australia.
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