Mobility Scooter Caravan

The £5,500 QTvan is the world’s smallest caravan and is so named because it caters to three peculiarly British obsessions: queuing, tea and caravans. Inside, there's a tea service, a 19-inch flat-screen television, radio, alarm clock book shelves, a full-sized single bed and kettle.

It might be a smashing hit since we have more senior citizens who would use mobility scooters.

"The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) developed the QTvan to highlight the estimated 220,000 people who use a mobility scooter without breakdown cover and face the prospect of a very long wait should they suffer a mechanical fault or their battery runs flat. "

I wonder if we could put this thing onto a motorcycle...Probably lose it at a first corner.... Of course this caravan will not be useful for those who use mobility scooters due to their obesity. They will not fit inside.

E-Scooter

For the Shanghai Motor Show, folks at Volkswagen brought battery powered vehicle, called the E-Scooter. The scooter is powered with a 350-watt motor and built extremely light weight.(only 44 pounds without the battery) But its performance
25 miles range per charge and a top speed of 30mph is average. Not impressive...I guess they thought so too. The VW director of design for China, Simon Loasby tells us that the scoots range could be extended with a lithium-ion battery pack and its performance could be enhanced by putting a 700-watt electric motor.
Obviously Asia is the market for this scooter for daily utility use...so VW focused on low cost, possibly becoming new electric generation of Honda Cub, thus the 350-watt motor and NiMH pack.

"Our idea was to come up with a solution for affordable mobility in megacities like Shanghai, and to give people who've never owned a car a way into the VW brand. The E-Scooter isn't covered in VW badges, but you know it's a VW from the shape of the frame, the detailing of the head- and taillight, and the premium quality of the product." says Simon Loasby.

China has already many electric scooters available and average price of such scooters is around $500. VW's E-scooter will be less than 1000 bucks, they say...so I am thinking they are gonna have hard time selling them. I would say, make it high-performance and carry the VW badge for status or make it real cheap to be competitive. The E-Scooters are scheduled to be available in China sometime in 2012.

Source: Autocar.co.uk

Power of the Sun to keep your Battery alive

Battery dies a lot on bikes. Especially during the winter for those who don't have many warm days to rev it up. Yeah, trickle chargers are supposed to be attached during the hibernation, but that seems waste to me like having a cell phone charger permanently plugged into an outlet.

The best thing to do is riding, I don't remember who said it, but "Bikes deteriorate more while sitting in a storage than being ridden" is really true. Well, you can keep trickle charging your battery if there are lights. I stumbled upon this product and thought about getting it one time.
"Velleman's SOL5N 12 VDC solar cell trickle charger is great for keeping an automotive or motorcycle battery fresh and charged while the vehicle is parked outside. The solar cell produces up to 1-1/2 watts of power, so there is no worry of overcharging and battery damage. A built-in protection circuit guards against current reversal. Included with the solar cell trickle charger is a cigarette lighter plug with lead wires for temporary charging, two battery clamps with lead wires for long term charging, and four suction cups for vehicle window mounting). Specifications: *Maximum voltage output: 14.5 VDC *Maximum current output: 125 mA *Maximum power output: 1.5 watts *Dimensions: 4.7" H x 13.4" W x 0.6" D."

If you are interested, it is about 30 bucks with life time tech support. Good folks at parts express sell them. I buy almost all of wiring stuff from them and they have always reasonable prices.
Parts Express- solar cell trickle charger

Yeah yeah, this can be stolen when it is on bikes but that is always true on any bike parts if you park your bike unattended, out on crowded public. I got my bike kicked by some mindless coward and got fin broken the other day while I had my bike parked outside of the garage.

GM's EN-V

EN-V is a two-seat electric vehicle that was designed to alleviate concerns surrounding traffic congestion, parking availability, air quality and affordability for tomorrow’s cities.
"EN-V is propelled by electric motors in each of its two driving-mode wheels. Dynamic stabilization technology empowers EN-V, giving it the unique ability to carry two passengers and light cargo in a footprint that’s about a third of a traditional vehicle. It can literally “turn on a dime” within its own operating envelope. In addition, everything in EN-V is drive-by-wire, supporting its ability to operate autonomously or under manual control. The motors not only provide power for acceleration, but also bring the vehicle to a stop.
Power for the motors is provided by lithium-ion batteries that produce zero emissions. Recharging can occur from a conventional wall outlet using standard household power, allowing EN-V to travel at least 40 kilometers on a single charge. EN-V can also improve the efficiency of the public electric infrastructure since the vehicle can communicate with the electric grid to determine the best time to recharge based on overall usage.
By combining the Global Positioning System (GPS) with vehicle-to-vehicle communications and distance-sensing technologies, the EN-V concept can be driven both manually and autonomously. "


They look like amusement park ride and might not be fun to drive at all, but as long as I got my motorbikes (electric or not) I would be fine with this thing. Seems smaller for 1/3 of the US population (obese people), but this thing can be for single person ride and I have seen those electric shopping carts hauling a whale in a grocery stores, so it is possible for power-wise, I assume....

Via Super Punch

Miluira

I have talked about a small electric car from Japan before. This one is called Miluira from Hamamatsu, Japan, where company like Yamaha industry, Suzuki motors headquartered. Honda motors also started there.
It is fully electric, sealed deep circle battery operated. It features many modern technology into this retro looking small vehicle. It can be charged from typical household outlet and one charge let you drive around for 35km, which isn't much. Unfortunately Unlike Qvolt, it costs whipping 6,300,000 yen, which is like $75,100. Mainly because it utilizes materials and parts from Hahamatsu and assembled in Hamamatsu as well. It is 95 % made in Hamamatsu. This dinky car made me think about how expensive things could be if no any cheap material/labor are available from overseas....

Miluira.com

MXB MotoCross Board

MXB Motocross board is an electric-powered cross between a snowboard and a dirtbike that has an average range of 18 miles, recharges in two hours. The two-wheeled MXB Shocker features a 1,500-watt, 48-volt brushless motor producing almost 5 lb/ft of torque at around 43amps, which is enough to propel the board to over 35 mph(56 km/h).

Via Gizmag

Qvolt

Qvolt is an electric car that was designed by a famous Japanese cartoonist, Akira Toriyama( the creator of "Dragon Ball Z" and many) Toriyama's love of motorvehicles is quite well-known. The car was build with a collaboration of a toy company Takara, who produces ChoroQ- cartoony miniature car that runs with coil-spring pullback motors, marketed as "Penny Racers" in the West.
It is street legal, single seat car and said to possess the performance of 50cc scooter. Top speed 31mph, and range of 50miles per a charge- about an electric golf cart's performance, So that is not much more than an expensive toy- it was sold around 19,000 USD in 2005 and there are only 9 of them made. The company, CQ motors has made other cute models. It might not be a bad vehicle to have in Japan since it is crowded, and owning a regular car is a luxury; it requires inspection fee, weight tax, vehicle tax, and proof of parking space, which is not required for these small electric cars.

Elmoto Electric Bike

I have been waiting for electric motorcycles to be as exciting as gas-powered motorcycles. It seems that will not happen too soon. I like the fact that many different companies are putting out various type of electric bikes, though.

I found this one called Elmoto created by two German engineers, who managed to develop the bike without any external tech and financial support. My hats off to those guys...
The bike is powered by a 2KW motor and its lithium battery packs in a single change for a range up to 70km(46.6 miles) . And the charge will cost only around $1. It weight just 45kg(99lb) thanks its aluminum frame, max speed at 45km/h(30mph). It costs $5,700.

2000 bucks cheaper but a lot slower than Blammo bike

So far, I still like the e-Rockit best.

Shrub Rover

A project by Justin Shull.

I like the fact that you can camp anywhere in urban area with this thing. You might want to pick a nice neighborhood, though... Crappy areas don't really take care of yards and lawns.

I wonder how this thing holds in heavy rain and extreme heat.




"The Terrestrial Shrub Rover presents the opportunity to explore terrestrial and social environments back on Earth from within a manned, foliage bedecked, solar electric powered rover. (also in development is an unmanned, remotely controlled, webcam version)" - Justin Shull

He has got more fun stuff at his website. http://www.justinshull.us/

Electric KTM

Austrian motorcycle KTM has announced in their website that Their "Zero Emission" dirt bike is on its way to Tokyo. KTM has been experimenting with electric models with collaboration with Arsenal, the Austrian Institute of Technology. Their electric bikes will be unveiled at Tokyo Motorcycle Show 2010 on March 26th.

Until then, we will not know much about their bikes. I would like to find out what kind of performance this bike got. I have not been too impressed with electric bikes on the market so far. I am gonna talk to my cousin to see if he would like to check it out at the show...

Via Nieuwsmotor

Brammo Electric Motorcycle

If you want affordable electric bikes, you can get Brammo Enertia for less than 8 grand. It certainly look more like a motorcycle and folks at Best Buy sell them. It is plug-in electric bike.

Then again, you would wonder how fast and long you can go? Unfortunately it is about 60mph and 40 miles range depending on the road condition, your size and weight and takes 4 hours to charge. If you are zipping at 60mph, it will be out of juice in only 20 miles ( means 20 minutes). So, if you are not using it for urban commuting, you don't have much use for it. I must say I prefer e Rockit. At least with e Rockit as long as you pedal, it will go on...As for the green part of it, if you have this in States like Virginia, might as well own a 150cc scooter since the state burn more to create electricity; the carbon footprint would be bigger with this bike in the state than an efficient regular scooter. You might want to invest on wind mill or solar energy to power this bike.

However, it is still beginning of this kinds of bikes. There is bunch more room to improve. And I like their spirit trying out one of Isle of Man races, The inaugural TT Xtreme Grand Prix, the first no-emissions motorcycle race in the world with their own electric racing bike, which looks pretty nice. The top speed was bit over 100mph.

Listening to the motor noise, it reminded me of the day I was racing electric radio control cars...

If you are really interested or more info, visit their site: Brammo

e Rockit electric bike

As I was thinking about Copenhagen wheel, I remembered there is a Berlin inventor who has come up with an electric bike which you power by pedaling that can reach speeds of 50 mph.

Stefan Gulas has developed a system that amplifies the effort you put in by a factor of 50, meaning you can accelerate quickly and maintain high speeds with very little effort. " The faster you pedal, the faster the 12 horsepower electric motor rotates"

The problem with this bike is that, it is a new technology so it is expensive for general public. Stefan must have invested tons of money to make this thing possible.

It costed 44 grand US bucks. And if you wanted it, you had to put half of them as deposit. That is more than 2 brand new 2010 Ducati 1198S....I hear the price has been reduced to around 18 grand as of 2010. But still more than most of brand new mid size cars...

Also, I would like it go faster than 50mph/ 80kph, can't get on high way with confidence unless it can do 70mph or so. Maybe front wheel can have the Copenhagen wheel to make it 2WD to help out....