SEM looks to bring monster 4,000-watt dual-drive e-mountainbike to US

This mud-flinging off-road monster is a prototype by an Italian company, SEM, that's looking to do some business in the USA. With its massive grunt and interesting double drive system, it would be an absolute brute on the trails.

Named the "Moto-Bike" – and it might as well be a small dirtbike – this thing uses a strong aluminum e-mtb frame with an integrated 4-kW motor and a big ol' 52-V, 17.5-Ah battery capable of storing around 910 watt-hours of energy.

On the right side of the bike, there's a standard 11-speed mountain bike gearset. On the left side, there's a belt drive straight back from the motor to the back wheel, thus neatly avoiding the tendency powerful mid-drive e-bikes can have of chewing out your chains and sprockets, at the cost of a little extra complexity. Personally I think it's a great idea, even if it means the motor no longer runs through the gears.

Range is rated around 50 km (30 miles), although you could realistically expect well more than double that if you went easy on the throttle. It rocks a regenerative braking system, which are rare on e-bikes thus far, and it'd be interesting to see just how much that kind of thing could put back into the battery, especially on big downhill sections.

There are disc brakes and suspension front and back; the forks are full-length ground pounders that look like they could take some proper jumping. This thing's built for serious, hardcore trail work, however much you might want to use it to wheelie your way to work.

SEM is hoping to get a few of these into American bike shops, and is looking for collaborations to help take things further. We haven't seen any pricing information, but at this level of specification you're probably talking small dirtbike money.

Source: SEM