[8345]

first post?

The last company I've heard about was Zapp, based in Sebastopol, Ca. I think they either went under or got bought up by someone who's waiting for a resergence of electric vehicles.

I sure would like to see something other than gasoline do the trick.

Frank

 

[rsheidler]

MZ sells an electric scooter -- not quite a butch as the Baghira Street Moto but what the hell....

www.motorradna.com/MODEL-CHARLY.htm

 

[longride]

Not sure electric is the way to go for the future. Batteries will be an environmental hazard, lots of energy wasted charging them, vehicle must be super light for efficiency. It looks like the hydrogen fuel cells may be the answer, but not without problems of their own. It should be very interesting in the next 50 years to see what technology takes the lead.

 

[pbx]

Well, let's see, you've got Denali , who claim their Moto-Pro "smokes a CR125 up to 40 mph." You've got Esarati, which makes a freaky-looking two-seater called the Blackhawk that looks like a cross between a Gurney Gator and a Ducati Multistrada. All sorts of moped-type things. Then I heard there's this crazy scooter where the wheels are side by side, but that'll never work! Then you've got the nutty-ass electric drag racers who are breaking 9.5 seconds in the quarter. There's an obscure Italian scooter manufacturer making an electric bike that looks really sharp. Then there's ZAP who make electric scooters and stuff.

Lots more out there, including tons of home brew.

For storage, yeah, chemical batteries do suck. What I want is flywheel batteries!

 

[The_Aerodynamic_Head]

Don't forget the "Segue". the stand-up scooterish-type-thingy that was featured on Leno. Here in Hotlanna, the pizigs (the mutha'f*n bacon, yo!)...er, the local constabulary...have purchased several to give to a new program which seeks to reestablish the use of "walking" beat cops in the revitalizing downtown/Midtown/Buckhead area.



It's got about a dozen computer controlled gyros in it, goes about 5 mph, or maybe I heard the doughnut-munchers' version will do like 14mph for "foot pursuit" and the wheels are about 12-ish inches in diameter, so the jackbooted thug in question is head-and-shoulders above the well-monitored sheep.

 

[dwr461]

I don't know for sure but this seems fishy to me. Stories abound about a carb that can get 100mpg etc. If you hear that one mentioned just keep in mind that it's a simple matter of chemistry. With all things being equal, there just isn't enough energy stored in a gallon of gas for that kind of fuel economy. The people who tell that tale rely on a lack of scientific knowledge on the listener's end. I suspect that this newspaper article is designed to generate venture capitalist's to pay to get the technology ready for the street. I.E. Give my company lots of money in the process pay my salary and in several years you will get a large return on your investment we swear. I doubt we'll ever see this go anywhere. Anyway that's just my opinion, I am a well known cynic so take it as you will.



Take care,

Dave

 

[TheFox]

They had an article in the Chicago Tribue "Cars" section a couple months back that had guys with electric cars. This one dude had built an RX-7 from the 80's into an electric and has been is commutter car since '84.



He said it was funny when he goes to the emissions testing every year and has to explain that it's converted to electrics and that no, the testing machine isn't broken.



--The Fox

 

[seruzawa]

Hydrogen fuel cells sound good.... but just wait until the inevitable problems with leakage. After all, how do you contain hydrogen?



And how do you create hydrogen? Electrolosys.



Talk about millions of fuel/air bombs just waiting to happen.

 

[jmeyn]

Right and wrong

Look at the eCycle. Regenerative braking works just fine as long as the driven wheel is rolling on the ground. Since we don't spend much time riding our bikes in stoppie mode it works just great.

The Segway only has a 20 mile range; I don't see how that helps a patrolling beat cop much. If you have a spare 5,000 dollars you can buy one on Amazon.com.

 

[TheFox]

Regenerative Braking

OK, I'm intrigued. Exactly how does regenerative braking work, and why does the drive wheel need to be on the ground even if you're not braking with it. I'm really curious.

--The Fox

 

[jmeyn]

Re: Regenerative Braking

In the eCycle, the electric motor/generator and the Yanmar diesel engine are geared together and turn a common output shaft. An electronic control unit switches the motor/generator from motor mode (accelerating the bike) to generating mode (charging the batteries) depending on the load required by the throttle-by-wire. If the bike is moving faster than 12 mph and not accelerating the engine applies enough torque to the output shaft to both maintain speed and charge the batteries. If the throttle is closed, the momentum of the bike supplies the regeneration power.

Because regeneration requires power, both the motor/generator and the engine supply engine braking. The brakes themself have nothing to do with regeneration.

 

[jmeyn]

Wrong and right

If all the weigh is on the front wheel, locking the rear wheel will have no effect whatsoever. Until you release the front brake, at which point you are toast.

The eCycle approach would have to be combined with a slipper clutch to work for racing.