Electric Bicycles

[Biker Babe]

hey,
does anyone know if there is an electric/green bicycle that exists where when you pedal you are storing the motor energy rather than having to suck it from a battery?
If it exists, where would I find her in Toronto?
merci beaucoup,
BB

[jcwinnie]

Dear BB,

Well, think some more about what you ask.

Are you saying that you want a 2wheel vehicle that is propelled only by an electric motor and the electricity comes from battery storage or human generated?

Or, are you asking for a bicycle that lets you pedal and / or use an electric motor without schlepping batteries? If the latter, then from where do you get the electricity?

In either case, if you are saying that you want to generate electricity with pedal power, the friction encountered to generate the electricity, plus the weight of the generator, will make the vehicle much less efficient than the most efficient machine known: a human on a bicycle.

Another factor to consider is kinetic energy reclamation, which is one reason why there is an advantage to using electric drive for stop and go traffic like the New Flyer buses that your city's transit service has. KERS, a.k.a., "regen" is more difficult to implement on light speed vehicles, although there are some electric scooters that have it.

Theoretically, it could be done with other than electricity. Since bicycles are made with tubes, the tubes could be sealed and some sort transfer effected between low pressure and high pressure tanks. Most likely, this would the form of CAES (Compressed Air Energy Storage). The French already have invented such an "air car." I have yet to see the technology applied to bicycling.

Another approach is to provide external hill climbing conveyance for cyclists since hill climbing is most often when motor assistance is desired. Such a system is only practical where bicycle traffic and topology warrant.

Best regards (and thanks for al the pics)

[jcwinnie]

Green Wheel is an option.

[jcwinnie]

More here

jcwinnie said:

Green Wheel is an option.

[jcwinnie]

After Autoblog Green was the 3rd mention of GreenWheel that I saw in a short period of time, I decided to blog about it, too. In my post I mention Opti-Bike, which is a high peformance electric bike if you have the $$$.