Vittoria Industries to re-invent the wheel with Zehus e-hub investment

Tyre giant Vittoria has further broadened its investment pool with a stake in Milan’s Zehus, a maker of an innovative power-assist bicycle hub.

The Italian start-up has enjoyed strong early industry interest, already found specced as an OEM piece on bikes from the likes of Nolobi, among others.

“Rather than simply a plug-powered recharging mechanism, humans will need to use and recharge energy as they ride, for the most eco-friendly solution”, says Rudie Campagne, Chairman and President of Vittoria.

Suggesting that it anticipates the market for “smart wheel” to dramatically increase in the coming years, Vittoria’s investment was made on the back of a forecast for demand in both established and emerging markets for efficient urban mobility.

The statement suggests a slight re-invention of the wheel, offering:

“Together with Zehus, Vittoria will create a complete product offering, consisting of a smart wheel system (Zehus all-in-one system, built in a Vittoria wheel), complete with Vittoria Graphene tires, optimized as a perfect match for green urban mobility.

“Out of the box, this system will be ready for installation on consumer bicycles, as well as on the assembly lines of bicycle makers around the world.”

Zehus and Vittoria will set up a new company (VZ Industries LTD) in Taiwan for the production of Zehus power units. The first Zehus hubs will exit the new Taiwanese production line in September 2016.

Vittoria has in recent times been quite pro-active with its investments, pioneering the use of Graphene in its tyres last year with an exclusive Directa Plus arrangement.

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