We check out Japan’s zecOO, the black-and-gold electric “Akira bike”, at Tokyo Motor Show【Pics】

04:12 cherishe 0 Comments

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The zecOO electric bike made a splash online when it officially went on sale earlier this year, though it’s been known by people all around the world as the Akira bike for a few years now.

It’s still a little pricey at 8.88 million yen (roughly US$73,600), so we doubt any of our staff will be cruising around town on this bad boy until we’ve filled up a few more piggy banks, but fortunately the electric vehicle was on display at the Tokyo Motor Show and our very own Mr. Sato was able to check it out in person.

Take a look at his photos below and find out what clever new addition the bike is now sporting!

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The zecOO featured at Tokyo Motor Show this year is pictured above, in all its black-and-gold glory! It looks more like something out of Tron than Akira with this particular paint job, but either way, the bike positively oozes “futuristic” out of every surface! The fact that it runs on electricity, which means full torque basically instantly, is just a nice side benefit. But aside from a color-scheme at home in a Batman film, what else is new about the bike?

We’ll give you a hint: It has something to with a company called TS Tech.

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Admittedly, that’s a pretty horrible hint unless you know that TS Tech specializes in making seats. At this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, the company was showing off prototypes meant for the self-driving cars of our (hopefully) near future. Apparently the experimental seats read people’s brainwaves and change colors, in addition to making other adjustments, based on the driver and passenger’s relationship.

Of course, the zecOO doesn’t look like it’s designed for passengers, so what is TS Tech offering? Take a look the two photos below…

▼ Notice that the seat-back on the right of the image is lowered here…

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▼ …and raised here!

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As you can imagine, as the bike speeds up, the rider tends to move backwards in the seat, often at an uncomfortable angle. As the bike gets faster, the seat back actually rises, helping keeping the rider in place. It’s an unusual design but seems perfect for a bike that looks as if it were yanked out of Akira.

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Mr. Sato is clearly in love with this bike, but there’s only one problem for our handsome writer: he still doesn’t have a license! Though we’re not sure he has the savings for it yet either…

▼ Here’s a video of Mr. Sato astride the real Akira bike!