NSR: A man who tried to cross the US on an electric MC

enzomatic · Post by **enzomatic** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 6:52 pm

http://tinyurl.com/yjbsbmx

from wired magazine's 'autopia', good story. It's really too bad that he went down, riding on the fwy can be scary especially when you can't go faster than the cages around you.

Cheshire · Post by **Cheshire** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:41 pm

That gave me flashbacks. I hope he pulls through with minimal long-term damage.

Roose Hurro · Post by **Roose Hurro** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:16 am

Cheshire wrote:That gave me flashbacks. I hope he pulls through with minimal long-term damage.

Same here...

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jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:10 am

Reading that gave me the chills. That has to be a horrifying call to get as a parent. I certainly hope he has a full recovery. I can't imagine a life without two wheels.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:09 am

Godspeed a full recovery to Mr Abbott. Damned if I don't want one of those Enertia's now though, pretty cool!

Roose Hurro · Post by **Roose Hurro** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 6:52 am

fretman wrote:Godspeed a full recovery to Mr Abbott. Damned if I don't want one of those Enertia's now though, pretty cool!

Despite their limited range, out of all the electric bikes I've seen, this one is of the greatest interest... especially since they lowered the price.

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fretman · Post by **fretman** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 1:37 am

Roose Hurro wrote:
fretman wrote:Godspeed a full recovery to Mr Abbott. Damned if I don't want one of those Enertia's now though, pretty cool!
Despite their limited range, out of all the electric bikes I've seen, this one is of the greatest interest... especially since they lowered the price.
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Yeah, this thread is the first I'd seen it, and it piqued my interest. If they could double the range, and add 10 or 15 mph's to the top speed, I'd lay out my $8000.00 right now.

p.s. Please forgive the thread hijack...

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:05 am

This is a really interesting—and heartbreaking—story. It's impossible for us to know at this point whether the crash had anything to do with the bike's top speed. I don't agree with the statements in the story that 60mph top speed is sufficient for a freeway of any type, though. That's 60mph under optimum circumstances. On a bike loaded with touring gear, etc., riding against a headwind, etc. it was probably going slower, WOT.

The Brammo is a very interesting bike; I saw it at the motorcycle show this weekend. There are several state and federal tax incentives that may apply to this vehicle. Someone figured out that you could get one in CO and it would only cost $2500.

Here's the story of a guy who did cross the country on an electric motorcycle—the first person to do so: http://www.evmc2.com/
He rode a Honda he modified using parts that are apparently quite common.

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:24 am

ericalm wrote:...Here's the story of a guy who did cross the country on an electric motorcycle—the first person to do so: http://www.evmc2.com/
He rode a Honda he modified using parts that are apparently quite common.

That's really fascinating stuff (to me). As this technology gets better and cheaper, I think some really nice things are in store. And self charging batteries (solar, wind, wheel, etc..) can't be too far off, eh?

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 6:01 pm

fretman wrote:
ericalm wrote:...Here's the story of a guy who did cross the country on an electric motorcycle—the first person to do so: http://www.evmc2.com/
He rode a Honda he modified using parts that are apparently quite common.
That's really fascinating stuff (to me). As this technology gets better and cheaper, I think some really nice things are in store. And self charging batteries (solar, wind, wheel, etc..) can't be too far off, eh?

The problem with self charging is form and weight. Regenerative braking (braking helps recharge the batteries) is practical for cars like the Prius but at this point is too heavy for two wheelers. If you had a vehicle with a range of, say, 80 miles, you couldn't collect enough energy via solar or wind to come close to replenishing the battery while riding, so you'd have to be able to collect is and store it while it was parked. I think what we'll see are charging stations that use renewable energy sources like solar and wind. That was the vehicles could stay as light and small as possible. My hope is to have a solar or wind array on my garage roof within 5 years for just this purpose!

fretman · Post by **fretman** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:02 pm

ericalm wrote: The problem with self charging is form and weight. Regenerative braking (braking helps recharge the batteries) is practical for cars like the Prius but at this point is too heavy for two wheelers. If you had a vehicle with a range of, say, 80 miles, you couldn't collect enough energy via solar or wind to come close to replenishing the battery while riding, so you'd have to be able to collect is and store it while it was parked. I think what we'll see are charging stations that use renewable energy sources like solar and wind. That was the vehicles could stay as light and small as possible. My hope is to have a solar or wind array on my garage roof within 5 years for just this purpose!

Interesting. I know essentially zip about any of this, but I'm fascinated by the possibilities. Perhaps the weight of these devices is too much now, but in 5,10,20 years I imagine many advances will be in place. What about the energy created by the spinning wheels - could that add anything useful to the self charging scenario?

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 2:52 am

fretman wrote:
ericalm wrote: The problem with self charging is form and weight. Regenerative braking (braking helps recharge the batteries) is practical for cars like the Prius but at this point is too heavy for two wheelers. If you had a vehicle with a range of, say, 80 miles, you couldn't collect enough energy via solar or wind to come close to replenishing the battery while riding, so you'd have to be able to collect is and store it while it was parked. I think what we'll see are charging stations that use renewable energy sources like solar and wind. That was the vehicles could stay as light and small as possible. My hope is to have a solar or wind array on my garage roof within 5 years for just this purpose!
Interesting. I know essentially zip about any of this, but I'm fascinated by the possibilities. Perhaps the weight of these devices is too much now, but in 5,10,20 years I imagine many advances will be in place. What about the energy created by the spinning wheels - could that add anything useful to the self charging scenario?

Basically, taking energy from spinning wheels will slow them, requiring you to put more energy in to make them spin. That's what's great about regenerative braking on cars like the Prius—extract energy while slowing the wheels.

One thing you can do now: Use solar to power any accessories you're running. It's not going to save much energy on your scooter, but can prevent you from having to plug your phone, iPod, GPS or whatever in at home or work. There are a lot of small solar chargers, some of which even fold up. They even make bags and backpacks with solar panels on them now. I don't know how good any of these things are, but there are probably reviews online.