Blog 28 4/11/11

Hola Peeps!

Any talk about concept cars would not be complete without touching on personal transportation.

I believe in the future we will be moving towards more personal methods of transportation, much like in Japan. So here are some personal transportation concepts. Just like last week, choose one and tell me why it would be your pick.

All stories / picks originally published in GizMag, which (even though it's blocked here at school) is one of the best places to look at new tech.

1. YikeBike The Yikebike is a miniature, electric penny farthing made of carbon fiber and now it's on sale, it is quickly gathering a cult early-adopter following thanks to its weight of 10.8 kilograms, that it folds so small it can fit in a backpack, and that it will run at 25km/h (15 mph). Until now, it has ticked all the boxes except one – its limited range of just 10 kilometers. Now it has released an extender battery pack so you can add additional 10 kilometer increments to the range of your YikeBike. Each battery costs US$195 and weighs 1.95kg and there's a special backpack to carry multiple batteries so it becomes a very practical solution that offers the Yikebike unsurpassed bang-per-kilogram and versatility as a commuting appliance. Though it's hard to equate the US$3600 price tag with primary transport, the addition of a Yikebike to any automobile storage compartment significantly extends the capabilities of both vehicles. The facility to carry secondary transportation inside cars has been explored many times in recent years by Honda and General Motors in particular … and it makes a lot of sense. Gizmag's editor Noel McKeegan and myself both rode the YikeBike in Koln last September and were both very impressed. Normally, it takes 10 minutes or so to get acquainted with the handlebars which sit behind your hips. Noel is a keen mountain bike rider and dirt bike enthusiast and he simply got on the Yikebike and rode away, even though most folks have a few false starts. I fared slightly less well, but had it all happening within a few minutes - if you can ride a bicycle, you need to rewire the brain slightly, but it's going to be a simple job accomplished within ten minutes. Once mastered, the Yikebike offers remarkably quick transport for something that is so small – only Honda's still-unreleased U-3X (right) and Toyota's also-experimental Winglet (left) offer comparable weight-performance figures and it will be interesting to see how long these devices take to reach market and at what price point they greet the public. The Yikebike is in many ways a revolutionary device, as it is the first of a new class of vehicle which we're almost certain to see proliferate as congestion and travel times force us all to consider transportation options. It has won or been a finalist in just about every major design award on the planet for which it is eligible, including making it onto the cover of Time's Invention of the Year issue in 2009 and now a Guinness Book of World records citation as the most compact electric bike in the world. Now it's on sale, it will be interesting to watch marketplace acceptance. The electric bicycle is closer on the consumer devices family tree to a computer than it is to a motorcycle, and just as laptops have a limit to their battery capacity, small transportation devices will also have a form factor that limits battery size. While it is by no means an elegant solution, it is one to which we are accustomed thanks to laptops and cameras, and once exploited, enables much greater runtime. The Yikebike sells for US $3,595, GBP2,422, EUR2,872 and AUD $3,909. If your commuting regime involves train or road and a spot of walking, the Yikebike could be the answer.

2. The Voltitude: Like a Swiss Army Knife You Can Ride Last January, we said that the Robrady-designed db0 was one of the best folding electric bikes we'd seen. The Swiss entry into the market has turned its back on this traditional bicycle-with-motor design in favor of a folding pedal-electric assist scooter. Users are said to be able to fold or unfold the Voltitude bike in about one second, and with one hand, thanks to its unique EasyFold system. Swiss and EU legislation limits the electric assist to 15.5 mph (25 kph), although some frantic footwork could see it achieve faster speeds if required, and the onboard battery is good for between 12 and 25 miles (20 to 40 km) between charges.

3. Solowheel The fat wheeled eniCycle, the stylish and graceful U3 from Honda or the slightly scary prospect of the UnoMoto have all shared more in common than being one-wheeled, self-balancing personal transport solutions. They've all had somewhere for the user to sit. Inventist's Solowheel is a little different – you ride this electric unicycle standing upright, like a Segway or skateboard. It has a useful carry handle and fold-away foot platforms, is gyro-stabilized and the Li-ion batteries offer a range of about 12 miles between charges. For those who work in the city but don't actually live there, leaving the car at home and getting to the office by train, tram or bus is becoming a more attractive prospect. For those who don't relish the sometimes long walk from the station or terminus to the workplace, there are now numerous electric personal, short haul transport solutions – from the Segway to the YikeBike or even the FlyRad – to take some of the strain away. Weighing 25 pounds (11 kg), sporting folding leg platforms on each side and a carry handle on top, the 17 x 19 x 5-inch (43 x 48 x 13 cm) Solowheel from Inventist is sure to turn some heads as you trundle along at up to 12mph. The durable external housing hides a Li-ion battery that's said to be good for two hours of use between charges and a 1000-Watt electric motor, and a self-balancing gyro system. Its battery is reported to take 45 minutes to charge but a regenerative system returns energy to the battery when the rider slows down or the unit goes downhill, which could help extend the range. The electric unicycle's creators say that it's easy to use and quick to learn, the feet are quite close to the ground and the legs rest against each side of the housing which help with balance and steering. With both feet on the vehicle, you just lean forward to start going. When you want to slow down or stop, you lean back. You use the legs to steer, much as you would on the Magic Wheel.

4. Shadow Ebike Got a problem with the various gear and brake cables winding their way around your bike frame? If you're riding a standard pedal-powered bike, the answer is probably 'no.' But if you're one of the increasing numbers of people getting around town on an electric bike than your answer may be different, with faulty wiring one of the most common sources of failures found in such vehicles. While some hide their electrical wiring away inside the frame, many e-bikes have wires running down the outside. Like so many of today's electrical devices, the new Shadow Ebike does away with this unsightly mess and potential point of weakness using wireless technology. Toronto-based Daymak Inc. has dubbed its Shadow Ebike "the world's first wireless power-assist electric bicycle." Through the integration of ISM 2.4 GHz wireless using frequency-hopping spread spectrum technology to prevent interference, the Shadow has no brake or gear cables, and no visible electric wires running from the motor to the batteries, the controller or throttle. Turning the electric motor on or off, the magnetic regenerative brakes, the throttle and the pedal assist are all controlled wirelessly via the Daymak Drive controller. What wiring and electronics there is, including the motor, lithium polymer battery and wireless Daymak Drive controller, is all packed inside the bike's front wheel, which is accommodated in a custom designed fork and frame. The wheel also includes a USB port, charging port and an LED battery power display. When the brakes are applied from the wireless throttle, the regenerative braking system kicks in to send current back to the batteries and the wheel can also be used as a generator to recharge devices via the USB port. Daymak offers the Shadow Ebike with a 250W or 350W electric motor, and a 36V 10AH lithium-ion battery, which provides an average range of around 20 to 25 km (12 to 15 miles) running on just motor power, or around 35 to 40 km (22 to 25 miles) with pedal-assist. The included battery takes around 4-5 hours to completely recharge and is good for 750 to 800 cycles. While the concept of a wireless bike throws up the possibility of interference from other wireless devices or even someone hacking into the bike's controls and slamming on the brakes to send you flying over the handlebars, Daymak says that each Shadow Ebike wireless component is paired and the odds of being affected by other means is less than one in a billion. Daymak says the use of wireless technology also means the Shadow is setup for future upgrades to interact with smartphones and even PCs – possibly to give it similar remote monitoring capabilities to the PiCycle, an electric bike that could also lay claim to the title of "world's first wireless electric bicycle" with its use of Wi-Fi-based technology. Daymak is currently taking orders of the Shadow Ebike ahead of an April 30, 2011 delivery date. It is priced at US$1,999.