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A Smart Electric Bike: Taking the Copenhagen Wheel Out For a Spin
New submitter mlamonica writes Bikes are a great way to get around the city. But what if it's just too hilly or far to commute by bike? That's where Superpedestrian wants to come in. With a license from MIT's Senseable City Lab, they're commercializing the Copenhagen Wheel, a bike wheel replacement that gives riders electric assist, and through 12 embedded sensors, lots of information on a smart phone app. I took the bike for a ride at the Cambridge office and offer this review.
Electric bikes are not just for long distances, but also for hilly areas or strong winds.
Under those circumstances, unless 1) you're young and strong and 2) can ride to work in lycra, EVs are the solution.
Incidently, in the Netherlands and its strong winds, 20% of new bikes are EVs.
Peak oil will take of this.
What "sneak"?
Electric drive systems are usually rated by power (in Watts). The motor is usually 90% efficient.
Common power limits in various jurisdictions are 250W, 500W and 1000W.
For your reference, 500W is around 1/2 horsepower (0.68). That is enough to propel a rider at 20mph. However, getting to that speed costs power.
Yes, most ebikes are made in China. At the end of 2013, an estimated 181 million ebikes were on in use in China, with sales of 37 million units.
This Copenhagen Wheel? Will be a small blip in the market.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
In many jurisdictions it is ILLEGAL for a power-assisted bicycles to exceed 30km/h. If something goes faster and is power-assisted, it is no longer considered a bicycle (or power assisted bicycle), but a motorcycle (or scooter or whatever), and different laws and licensing requirements govern said vehicle.
Exactly. In the United States, the speed limit is 20mph. What you buy is often capable of more than that as a top speed (to deal with steep hills,etc) but the speed is artificially limited
There is also different sub-categories which can vary considerably depending on state
e.g.
"Electric-assist" bicycle (where the user still needs to pedal to some extent keep accelerating)
"Motorized bicycle" where it can be self-propelled (controlled by throttle) after a the user used the pedals from a stop
"Motor-Driven cycle" can be self-propelled from a start, and often allows a higher top-speed but must be smaller than a motorcycle. Per State, may or may not require a full motorcycle license and/or follow motorcycle safety regulations.
See Wikipedia for more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
A pedal-assist system (one that only helps, but will never do all the work), can be just the boost that some people need to start exercising.
The gentleman that I bought my used electric-assist bike from was so weak that he was unable to cycle any reasonable distance without assistance. After using the assisted bike (with a custom rack for his oxygen tank!) for a year and a half, he decided to switch to a regular bicycle.