An electronic device on Brompton’s new electric bike is being used as a part in drones being built for the UK military.
This has resulted in cyclists having to wait months to get their hands on the Greenford-based firm’s new £3,499 “G Line” e-bike because its supplier is too busy building drones for the Army.
It is thought these new drones are being used in Ukraine and to help the UK counter suspected Russian drone activity aimed at Ukraine’s allies.
The extraordinary revelation was made by Will Butler-Adams, chief executive of Brompton, during a recent radio discussion about the adoption of “drone racing” as a sport by the Army.
The bike part needed for the drones is a controller, or control switch, that communicates with the bike’s battery-powered motor that makes the G Line bike easier to pedal.
The controller – which is said to be remarkably quick at communicating with the motor – was designed by Brompton but its production was outsourced.
Brompton boss Will Butler-Adams (Matt Writtle)
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme on Sunday, Mr Butler-Adams said: “We make electric bikes, and inside our electric bikes we have controllers. The controller is made in the UK – designed by us and made by a British company.
“We were launching a new bike – our G line – and it was delayed by two months because a controller manufacturer was also making stuff for the MoD [Ministry of Defence].
“Actually it was making stuff for drones, and they needed a lot of drones, and therefore we got bumped down the list.”
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan owns an earlier model of a Brompton e-bike and was occasionally seen riding it to work during the pandemic.
The thighs have it: Sadiq Khan on his electric Brompton (PA)
Brompton, famous for its folding bikes, recently revealed that it had suffered a massive fall in profits due to the industry-wide downturn in demand for bikes.
They fell to just £4,602 for the year to the end of last March, compared with £10.7million for the previous year.
Sales fell by five per cent to £122.6m. But Brompton still sold a total of 84,899 bikes, down from 91,875 the year before. About 80 per cent of Brompton bikes are exported.
According to reports, Brompton’s plans to relocate to a new factory near Ashford, Kent, by 2027 have been delayed.
The firm has earmarked a 100-acre wetlands site. The new £100m headquarters has been designed as a circular building that would stand on stilts 2.2m above the flood plain, which would have been turned into a nature reserve open to the public.
Brompton’s PR agency has been approached for comment.