I just saw this interesting idea over at Metropolis Magazine. It’s called the Copenhagen Wheel and it’s a prototype electric powered wheel for your bike which not only pushes you along it also gathers data about your ride and the environments you ride through. The wheel sends the date to a special iphone app and then onto the web. Creating a layered map of date from all the Copenhagen wheels in your city. Pretty interesting. I think I would buy one. I didn’t find any information about the size of the electric motor or how you charge it or how fast it goes. I also didn’t see any wires, so maybe it’s just an electric assist and not a full electric bike.
The Copenhagen Wheel turns the bike you already own, quickly and easily into an electric bike with regeneration and real-time environmental sensing capabilities. The wheel harvests the energy you input while braking and cycling and stores it for when you need a bit of a boost. At the same time, sensors in the wheel are collecting information about air and noise pollution, congestion and road conditions.
I have been waiting and waiting for a real electric motor bike to hit the market. Now finally an Oregon based company called Brammo is coming out with a bike called the Empulse, that goes over 100 mph and can go 100+ miles before needing to recharge. Sounds perfect, now what will this thing cost right? Well, its up there but so are most super bikes. There will be three models coming out in 2011, ranging in price from $10k to $14k. Not bad, since you never need gas and maintenance will be next to nothing. Would you buy one?
Now that I actually own my own electric powered bike (The Ultramotor A2B) and love it, I am obsessed with finding an even better bike. One that will go over 100 miles on a charge and at speeds up to 40 miles an hour, plus able to pull a bikewagon. I know California State law requires you to have a license if the bike goes over 20 miles per hour, but if they could design it with a switch, to let me choose, I would buy it. 20 Miles per hour is fine, but only for local trips. If I have to go all the way down town, I would never make it on my A2B.
So, today I came across this little modern looking electric bike from Yamaha, the Divide. It was announced back in 2003 so I very very late, in this discovery, but I don’t know what happened. Did it ever make it in to production? The Divide I guess is a scooter, not a bike, but it seems to be very small and even folds up. If your a boy from Texas, like me, you probly know Yamaha as the maker of motor dirt bikes. I personally owned a Yellow YZ 80, which I road endlessly. So I am guessing they know how to make a pretty cool scooter.
If you’re looking for a new, zero-emission way to get from A to B, check out the new Swissbikeboard. The Swissbikeboard combines two popular “toys” (a skateboard and a bicycle), powers up with two rechargeable, lithium-polymer batteries, and sends you on your way for up to 30 miles on one charge. The style is reminiscent of Sharper Image’s Razor scooter, but looks a bit more like a popular 1950s toy scooter (remember that thing from “Back to the Future”?).
The Swissbikeboard is not your average scooter, though. It offers a juiced up suspension that allows for some radical on-street usage, meaning that it can be used for more than commuting. It is super quiet and, according to Swissbikeboard’s website, it can be used indoors. It provides a powerful braking system that makes it safe – along with a bit of user attentiveness. And it also comes in models that allow serious downhill adventure, snowboarding, and wakeboard-style water fun.
Commuting in a car here in the United States just plain sucks. Not only does it suck the fun out of your waking hours, it sucks the good air right out of the atmosphere (or releases bad air… whatever, semantics, and that doesn’t work as well for my lead).
Matra Manufacturing and Services may have an answer to your Commuter Sucking Blues. (Which is far different than the Toe Sucking Blues). Matra MS, formerly a motor sports design leader with their hands in Formula 1 and Le Mans, has come out with a line of Light Electric Vehicles consisting of high-performance electric bicycles and quadricyles, available in Europe this spring for around $5,000 USD.
There are a lot of emerging electric bikes out there, but most of them match cheap heavy steel frames bikes with equally cheap lead acid battery/ low powered electric motor systems. Yes, they might only cost $500 but believe me, they suck. Okay maybe saying they suck is too strong. They are fine if you are only going a few miles, once in a while. But when it comes to really replacing your car, with a bike, you might want something like the Scorpion FX.
The conveniently foldable touring trike has been designed by HP Velotechnik’s engineers especially with the needs of commuters and touring cyclists in mind. The seat height of the Scorpion fx is noticeably higher and more upright compared to its more sporty fellow Scorpion, offering great outlook and a good view in traffic. The higher seat also allows for an additional lowrider rack behind the seat. Its solid design allows for a safe transport of a pair of front panniers. Together with the robust rear rack, you can thus transport up to 50 kg of luggage in four panniers. For a stable ride, all racks are positioned close to your body and your trike’s center of gravity. Once you are loaded that high, you’ll value our optional 81 speed gear system that will give you your extra low gear when pedaling the really steep challenges.
If your a G/Style queen, this might just be the electric bike for you. The French have come to your rescue, jumping in the electric bike market with the E-Solex 2, which has a blood line running back over 60 years. The first version was the VeloSoleX a 50cc gas fueled motorized bicycle, which rolled out in 1946 in Paris. The new E-Solex drops the gas motor for an electric one, with 400 watts of power pushing this bike up to 21 mph in fast mode. There is also an option to run in eco mode, which brings the speed down to around 16 mph and will get you driving distance of 37 miles before needing a charge. The battery is a rechargeable Lithium-ion, which keeps the weight down and enables quick recharging.
This sexy little electric bike cost around $2100, but we couldn’t find it for sale in the United States yet. Maybe someone should bug their local bike store to carry oh so sexy thing of a bike. I think this would be a hit with college and high school students, who know how to live a G Life.
What is a new green mom to do? Before the new g/baby popped out, she could jump on her bike and head on down to the farmers market carefree. But now that the bundle of joy has arrive, she has to think of safety first. That is what the Angelino Assista electric bike is all about. In Japan, this bike is taking off because of the integrated child child seat and safety systems. It’s like the Volvo of electric bikes.
Here are a few of the cool features on this very affordable (only $1312.00) electric bike:
Before we get into the details, I would like to just say I think the ELMOTO H2 looks pretty cool. It has the fat tires, front and rear shocks all geared toward giving you a smooth safe ride. But the short distance between the seat and handle bars, seems like it wouldn’t put you in a comfortable position. But that is a minor issue. My real concern is the price vs power the bike delivers. Electric bikes which have pedals, don’t require the rider to have a license, but the governments tops their speed at 20 miles per hour. You can use the pedals to get over that cap. But bikes with no pedals, like this ELMOTO, does require a motorcycle license and can go at any speed it wants. So, when I saw the top speed was 30 miles an hour and the bike cost around $5k, I just didn’t see that value.
If you are going to make it a scooter or motorcycle, it needs to go much faster to make it worth the hassle and cost of getting a license and insurance.
I think I will stick with my A2B Ultra Motor Electric bike which cost only $2700 and goes 20 miles an hours. Plus no license or insurance required.
I am always on the look out for alternative ways to use electric motors. Big small used new, no matter, give me some electric between my legs and I am a happy monkie. Okay I stoled that line from a girl friend of mine, and she wasn’t talking about electric bikes. But she had never seen the Sparta Ion. An electric retro styled hybrid bike which would even make the coolest urban goth chick re-think their favorite electric appliance.
This hybrid electric / peddle bike with the retro details in all the right places, might just be my new favorite. Look at the back wheel with its wrap around mud guard and the clear protector over the chain. That is just screaming Portland, isn’t it. The only down side for the lazy among us, is that you have to peddle this thing. Yes, peddle an electric bike! I know, what the hell are they thinking. Don’t they know, only us lazy twig leg people are willing to fork over the big bucks to look like dorks in public. And dorks don’t want to peddle.
I am writing a full post about my new A2B Ultramotor electric bike later this week, but for now here are some images. I decked the bike out with tons of bags, lights and even a wagon. My idea is to use this as my main vehicle, and I am a SUV kind of guy, so this is my SUV electric bike.
My Bike is made by Ultramotor Wagon by Wike Wagon is a custom version of the garden wagon. This is my way of going green. Tons of photos after the jump.
This is a story about how I found the perfect bike wagon for my Electric A2B Bike. The wagon is made by the Canadian company Wike.
Okay, look I am an American and even worse I grew up in Texas. I am not saying being an American or even a Texan is a bad thing, I am just saying growing up in the land of over sized egos and pickup trucks makes an impact.
The impact for me was a strange desire to never be without a vehicle which could haul anything, any time to anywhere! The one odd twist, was also the vehicle has to have some kind of style. That definitly isn’t a Texas thing, so I don’t know where that slipped in. Maybe because I also lived in Europe as a kid. Anyways, back to my SUV obsession.
Throughout my life I have owned different types of trucks and Jeeps, but as soon as I was financially able, I put on my running shoes and dashed over to the Land Rover dealer and bought my first Land Rover, a Discovery 2. A stylish but practical vehicle. I was in SUV, go anywhere with style heaven. Well, relative heaven, because I was also stuck in the middle of a massive city, working non-stop, so I wasn’t really going anywhere and as soon as the gas prices shot up to $9000 a gallon, my heaven was starting to look a little like hell. The truth is, for the most part, I only use the Land Rover to go to Whole Foods and farmers market once a week, really. So I guess that is a wee bit over kill.
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