Watch the Ninebot Segway Apex electric sportsbike in action

One to file under ‘motorcycles we never thought we’d see’ the Ninebot Apex electric sportsbike is making its bow at the Consumer Electrics Show in Las Vegas to show that even some of the quirkier brands are considering a future in the burgeoning marketplace.

While electric motorcycles are yet to grab the imagination among the big players in the industry – save for the new Harley-Davidson LiveWire – the hesitance of premium brands on determining what direction they will take in the future is opening the door for others to capitalise.

No doubt taking inspiration from Tesla, which has played a huge part in making the automotive industry sit up and take notice as to the potential of the zero tailpipe emissions market, a number of start ups and fringe manufacturers are now jostling to get a head-start.

This includes Ninebot, the Chinese owners of Segway – manufacturers of the two-wheel self-balancing transportation device – which have thrown its hat into the ring with the Apex concept bike, which shows what it can potentially bring to the market.

Strictly a concept bike that Ninebot admits is only a design study for the time being, the Apex claims to have a 0-60 time of 2.9secs and go all the way to 125mph, though it doesn’t reveal what kind of range we can expect from that.

It’s a smart looking machine for a first attempt, appearing in our eyes like a scaled down version of the much-missed KTM RC8.

Ninebot have even produced a video which shows the machine in action with plenty of low level, swooping angles that perhaps accentuate the speed. However, if your ears are offended by the shrill of an electric motor whirring away, we’d suggest popping this on mute…