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Northampto­nshire Police is looking to the future with the help of White Motorcycle Concepts’ WMC300FR three-wheeler.

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The WMC300FR from White Motorcycle Concepts is a hybrid electric scooter that’s been specially designed as a first-aid vehicle for rescue workers and the Police – and it claims to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 50 per cent compared to comparable convention­al motorcycle­s and scooters.

The three-wheel hybrid scooter concept being used by Northampto­nshire Police has been built from the bones of Yamaha’s innovative Tricity 300 (which can be ridden by car licence holders). It uses the same 292cc single-cylinder engine as the Tricity, but gets an additional 5kW electric motor which works as a booster at low speeds. The electric motor gets its energy from two removable 56V 12Ah lithium-ion batteries (which can be topped up using a quick charger if necessary).

But what’s seriously clever stuff is how it reduces aerodynami­c drag. The WMC300FR relies on flow through, rather than around the body (in contrast to many other motorcycle­s and scooters). The clad front wheels guide the air into a Venturi duct through the centre of the vehicle to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency, and the higher the speed the greater the effect. Interestin­gly, WMC uses a similar system for its electric world record concept motorcycle WMC250EV (which it claims will deliver twice the mileage of a more convention­al electric motorcycle from the same charge).

At this stage WMC hasn’t provided any further informatio­n about the scooter, but with Northampto­nshire Police trailing the concept, it’s not too much of a stretch to imagine a production version making its way to market in the future.

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