swedish brand CAKE will start using paper materials in electric motorcycles
technological partnership
swedish brand CAKE imagines itself at the forefront of the global transition to a zero-emission society by taking concrete actions over its text-based mission. for years, the electric bike company has produced lightweight and sustainable-infused electric motorcycles as part of its belief in sharing the environment with respect by riding a motorcycle without air or sound pollution. on march 24th, it took its mission to greater heights by saying goodbye to plastic as a material used in its products, anchoring the aim of bringing about a sustainable option to plastics suitable for use in the vehicle industry.
the swedish maker has announced a technological partnership with ‘papershell’ in carrying out the revisited frontier. it has begun evaluating paper as a replacement for the plastics used in its electric motorcycles. ‘CAKE was founded to inspire a zero-emission society and this naturally involves carefully investigating the best possible materials for use in our electric bikes. we are excited to work with papershell and hope that we can play a crucial part in finding a material that can minimize or even eradicate the use of conventional plastics in our motorcycles. this is a collaboration that ultimately will benefit the entire vehicle industry and beyond,’ says stefan ytterborn, founder and CEO of CAKE.
images courtesy of CAKE
natural fiber
papershell’s natural fiber composite makes it stronger than plastic with a significantly lower climate impact, 0.65kg co2e per functional unit (kg) of material, compared to polypropylene (4.95 kg co2e) or fiberglass (25.05 kg co2e). CAKE will work together with papershell to evaluate the properties of the material and its potential use as an alternative to certain plastics currently used in the production of premium electric motorcycles.
‘we are happy to partner with CAKE and look forward to further evolving papershell into a material that will make the use of plastic a thing of the past. we cannot think of a more perfectly challenging testbed for our material than the industry-leading electric off-road motorcycle and look forward to developing further papershell’s inherent resistance to fluids, uv-radiation, weather, and fire,’ says anders breitholtz, ceo at papershell.
kalk :work series
sharing a sustainable perspective
the idea behind papershell started in 2018 with the core belief that nature holds the key to the solution to the climate crisis and sustainable management of resources. the company targets to build paper back into a more resistant version of wood. it has been slowing down the paper cycle as it pays tribute to the high-tech found in forests and creates components that store bio-carbon instead of wasting it on single-use items or biofuels.
CAKE shares the same perspectives as it gears toward a zero-emission society by combining excitement and responsibility in its development of light, quiet, and clean high-performance electric motorcycles and mopeds. as an active guardian of accelerating and improving initiatives to minimize footprint, CAKE recognizes that it will not be able to unveil its mission overnight, but through a process where people and organizations that share the same ethos also help to move forward and towards the end goal.
electric bush bike
electric bush bike model
from the :work series
riding sample of CAKE’s electric motorcycles
project info:
name: CAKE and papershell partnership
companies: CAKE and papershell
matthew burgos | designboom
mar 30, 2022
