Futuristic Ford bicycle makes for transportation versatility

I'm here with the newly announced Ford MoDe:Flex. This is actually a bicycle not a car and it follows on a couple of bicycles that Ford announced earlier this year, the MoDe:Pro and the MoDe:Me. Now what Ford is looking at here is the different ways we'll get around in the future in an urban environment including buses and trains and cars as well. The mode-flex has a lot of features that make it a very technological bike. Making it a future of cycling. We have a rear light. We see that on a lot of bikes today, but this one actually gives you a brake light when you pull the brake lever. we also have turn signals, up on the ends of the handlebars here. By just pushing this little toggle switch On the handlebar, that actually lights up the turn signal, lets people know that I'm turning. So I don't have to do hand signals anymore. Up front here, we also have a headlight. That's a nice bright light, and that actually uses lighting technology out of the Ford F-150. Up on the handlebars, I have a mount for a smartphone, and they actually have a special smartphone app for this that controls a lot of the lights and a lot of the aspects Of the bicycle but, this also ties into the electric assist system. This bicycle has a mid-drive electric motor mounted near the crankshaft here and it's got a lithium-ion battery in the middle. So that powers that. It gives you an electric assist for getting up hills or if you're getting a little tired on the ride. That's a Ford MoDe bikes, including the Flex, have one really important feature that makes them part of the whole Ford transportation ecosystem You can break them down and stow them into any Ford vehicle. This one is designed for the front piece to come off the center section. The rear piece can even come off of here, and the idea is you can break it apart, put it in the back of your Fiesta or in the back of your F-150 and that feature also makes it modular so you can put different pieces on the central core. You could actually have a mountain bike front end, or a road bike front end and sort of change the type of bicycle you have Based on the center core and the components you add to it. Now, the mode flex is simply a concept at this point, but it's one way for looking at the way we can get around in the future in our urban area. I'm Wayne Cunningham, for C Net.