The booming electric micromobility market has enabled a revolution in zero emission personal transport options such as e-bikes, and while they are predominantly used for completely legal purposes, such as commuting and getting around town, they also lend themselves well to criminal activities due to their speed, easy accessibility, and near-silent operation.
“Basically, it interferes with the electric motor, to trick the electric motor into thinking it is overheating. It sends a signal to confuse the electric motor. All these electric motors apparently have an inbuilt safety system that if it thinks it’s overheating, it shuts down. At the minute, it’s like a ginormous backpack.” — Gavin Stephens
Not to be too big of a downer, but I believe that shutting down an e-bike motor doesn’t actually stop the bike, it just stops the electric assistance, which might slow the chase but probably not end it outright. However, I could be wrong, and perhaps their device would make the motor actually seize up, which would indeed stop the bike.
The money quote from the article, though, is this one: “Police hope the device will be harmless to humans and other devices.” Ah yes, good old hope — it’s what keeps humans safe from law enforcement. I’m wondering what will happen the first time this gets used in public and an entire block’s worth of smartphones accidentally get bricked. Thoughts and prayers, probably.
Derek lives in southwestern New Mexico and digs bicycles, simple living, fungi, organic gardening, sustainable lifestyle design, bouldering, and permaculture. He loves fresh roasted chiles, peanut butter on everything, and buckets of coffee.