At just 24, Tamara Ivancova has got her eyes on the world. The former Formula 1 engineer and aeronautical engineering student has developed the Elecy, a prototype e-bike hybrid that aims to be a sustainable way of travelling through urban environments. The product launched at Venturefest last month, but Tamara will demonstrate its abilities next year when she takes it on a daring solo world tour.
“Even though I love cars, I hate the way the automotive industry is heading,” Tamara told ebiketips.
“They’re building bigger and heavier cars which are overkill for the majority of journeys, which are under 10 miles. I realised that we need a different way to travel, and it’s perfect for cycling, but we don’t cycle because we don’t feel safe.”
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The safety of cycling is a contentious issue, but the Elecy has been designed to enclose the driver in a resilient cocoon. Beneath it all is a load-bearing sandwich-panel chassis, like those used in F1 cars, that resists and absorbs impacts, while the aerodynamic recycled carbon fibre bodywork is estimated to be 86.5 per cent more efficient than a conventional bicycle.
The Elecy’s internal components will be off-the-shelf bicycle parts, making it easy for anyone who’s tinkered with bikes to repair and replace. Pedal assist comes courtesy of a mid-mounted motor, but if your battery runs out you can switch to full pedal power via a limited-slip differential.
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It all sounds great on paper, and the prototype Tamara unveiled at Southampton’s Venturefest looks eye-catching – but there is an angular and beige elephant in the room in the shape of the Sinclair C5. Back in the 1980s, computing pioneer Clive Sinclair had a similar idea of merging bicycle and car design to make commutes faster and more efficient, but the idea failed to take off among the British public and has been branded one of the biggest tech flops of all time.
“Fundamentally, the C5 didn’t actually have any upgrades over cycling,” Tamara says. “It was low to the ground, so you weren’t seen on the road; it was fully open, so it didn’t have any benefits in terms of the weather; the range was very low, about a maximum of 20 miles; and it didn’t have any storage space. It showed that people wanted this type of vehicle, but it just wasn’t executed very well.”
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Tamara believes she’s avoided all the pitfalls Sinclair fell into. The Elecy is about the same height as an Audi R8 sports car, so it’s visible on the roads. It includes lighting that’s closer to that found on cars than e-bikes; the fully enclosed shell keeps occupants warm and dry in winter months, while ventilation holes and a removable canopy provide airflow in warmer weather. There’s also plenty of storage space: you can fit up to six backpacks behind the driver’s seat, or add a child seat for school runs, and the Elecy gets 60 to 80 km range on one battery.
Looks are as important as functionality for modern drivers, though, and Tamara has designed the Elecy to recall the sleek lines of a sports car over the cartoony bubbles of velomobiles, which are its closest competitor. “It needs to be a vehicle that people want to be seen in,” she says. “You need to be proud of it, you want to show it off.”
The Elecy production model is currently undergoing intense testing and final designs. Once it’s ready, Tamara will demonstrate its range and practicality in the most audacious way possible with a circumnavigation of the world, taking in 21 countries and four continents.
“We need to make a big impact,” says Tamara. “I’ve mapped it out and routed it so that we pass through the biggest markets that we need to hit. That way, we’re already changing perceptions and normalising this type of vehicle before it’s even available to purchase.”
Cargo bike and recumbent aficionados may turn their noses up at the Elecy’s intrusion into cycle lanes, and its estimated £10,000 initial price tag is a little eye-watering – but anything that gets drivers out of cars and into pedal-powered pods can only be a good thing.
“It’s all about having those kinds of conversations on a global level, and getting people out of cars,” Tamara says.
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