New electric bike - 100lb/ft @ 0rpm!!!

FFS with Zero emmissions this IS SOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING Where does the power come from? A power station, which burns what and produces a LOT of what?

Then there is the extra losses, through the power grid, charging, battery storage, converting electric to kinetic and then the rest that a normal bike has.

Then there is the fact that if you plan on doing more than 150 miles in one run you have to have 4 hour toilet brakes. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[BigFootIsBlurry]

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

now what if you could just drop your battery off in a recharge station, pick another one up and carry on?

That needs all manufacturers to use the same battery, which at the minute seems unlikely. Good idea in principle though,

[flymo]

Originally Posted by Viney

Hydrogen is where its gonna be. All this money is being wasted on electric anything. Honda have the FCX Clarity and thats where the future is.

+1, no doubt about it

[flymo]

I'm not sure that it would be totally desirable to have maximum torque at all revs, particularly when feathering the throttle at full lean.

I'ld be interested to feel how it would deliver the power.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Personally, as you dont need to have gear box, hence no need for the motor to be where the engine would be, I would rather see "pancake" motors used at the hubs of the wheels for the motive power.

And yes, I said wheels, front and rear wheel drive please.

Would 2wd make it easier or harder to ride?
It would need some trick traction control.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Personally, as you dont need to have gear box, hence no need for the motor to be where the engine would be, I would rather see "pancake" motors used at the hubs of the wheels for the motive power.

And yes, I said wheels, front and rear wheel drive please.

The problem with this approach is that you will severly effect the level of grip due to all the unsprung weight it would add. Better for the motor to be in the main chassis at the optimum center of gravity to aid handling.

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

the station is but you have to convert the power from the station to the powerline 400kV, then 33kV local distribution, then 240V household, then charge a battery with it, then discharge the battery with it

that's only 4 conversions, even if each one is 90% efficient that'll leave you with less than 60% of the energy you had when it left the power station

You think that petrol engines are that efficient? They are like 30%-40% efficient, even without the distribution, mining, storage costs that you factored in.

Originally Posted by mototech

the only way electric bikes or cars are every going to catch on is if they perfect the hydrogen making process, people just arnt going to put up with having to recharge every 150mls.

Making hydrogen is easy. Water plus electricity = hydrogen + oxygen. It is the storage and distribution that is tricky.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Personally, as you dont need to have gear box, hence no need for the motor to be where the engine would be, I would rather see "pancake" motors used at the hubs of the wheels for the motive power.

And yes, I said wheels, front and rear wheel drive please.

I presume they use a CVT gearbox so they can maintain the revs at the maximum efficiency point for extra range. And surely pancake motors would significantly add to unsprung weight.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by flymo

+1, no doubt about it

hydrogen isn't a fuel, it's an energy storage medium - you don't produce hydrogen but rather split water into hydrogen and oxygen, these then recombine to produce water and give off energy in the process

the kicker is that it takes at least as much energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen as you get back out when you recombine them, in reality you'll lose energy in the processes, so it's better to just use that evergy to power the vehicle in the first place if you can, if you can't it might provide an efficient way of storing energy, but it's not a fuel like petrol that you can dig from the ground

i'm voting for "Iron Man" style personal nuclear generators

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by sinbad

Would 2wd make it easier or harder to ride?
It would need some trick traction control.

Yamaha tried this using a hydraulic front wheel drive - they called it 2-Trac and fitted it to a crosser AND an R1.... They even put the Crosser on the market as the Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac (MCN Austrailia Review)

KTM also played with it.

Originally Posted by From the Yamaha article above

How it works
The patented 2-Trac system uses a hydraulic pump located above the gear box, and driven by a chain (in an oil bath) driven from the gear box.
The system comprises a pump connected by flexible hoses to a hydraulic engine located in the hub of the front wheel. The 2-trac is a closed loop system equipped with filtration system and is a self-regulated compact unit. The hydraulic pressure transmitted to the front wheel is proportional to the speed of the rear wheel: the more the rear wheel loses traction, the more the hydraulic system compensates by increasing the traction power to the front wheel. The distribution of the power between the front and rear wheels is variable in order to optimize traction. The front wheel can never turn quicker than the rear wheel, and the power transmitted to the front wheel is never higher than that used for the rear. This self-regulated system also allows for the conditions, so that the power to the front wheel is slowly reduced so that the rear wheel "recovers" traction.
When the throttle is closed, no power is transmitted to the front wheel, but if the throttle is opened abruptly and that the rear wheel starts to lose grip, the sudden increase in pump revs increases the hydraulic pressure of the system and a higher proportion of engine power is transmitted to the front wheel. If the rear wheel continues to spin, more power is sent to the front wheel. The proportion of the engine power provided to the front wheel is hence controlled by both the throttle and the traction of the rear wheel.

similar to the HFT stuff they put in the DN01