GreenWheel Gives any Bicycle an Electric Boost
Posted By Jorge Chapa On February 24, 2009 @ 2:30 pm In Green Transportation,TransportationTuesday | 7 Comments
[4]
Researchers at MIT [5] recently revealed an elegant solution for anyone looking to get a little more power out of their bicycle [6]. Developed by MIT’s Smart Cities programs [7], the GreenWheel [8] is a self-contained electric wheel that can turn any pedal-powered bike [9] into a fully-electric bicycle [10]!
The GreenWheel is essentially a bicycle wheel that has an electric motor and batteries embedded within it. The full casing is quite small and is able to be retrofitted to any bike [11]. Simply twist the handle mounted throttle and a bluetooth connection tells the electric motor to provide thrust. The wheel can be charged by plugging to the grid or by pedaling, and a full charge will give the motor a range of roughly 25 miles.
The GreenWheel was developed by Ryan Chin and Michael Chia-Lian Lin as part of MIT’s Smart Cities programs [7]. The objective is to create a working prototype that can be installed and retroffited to any bike. The team is also thinking for the long term – they estimate that the batteries for the GreenWheel will last around 40,000 miles, or about 8 years worth of travelling.
Via MSNBC [8]
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URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/green-wheel-turns-any-bicycle-electrics/
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[3] Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/green-wheel-turns-any-bicycle-electrics/
[4] Image: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/24/green-wheel-turns-any-bicycle-electrics/
[5] MIT: http://web.mit.edu/
[6] bicycle: http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/08/28/transportation-tuesday-top-6-sexiest-cycles/
[7] Smart Cities programs: http://cities.media.mit.edu/
[8] GreenWheel : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29259226/
[9] bike: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/13/moof-bike-by-ties-carlier/
[10] fully-electric bicycle: http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/12/09/yamaha-pas-city-c-electric-bike/
[11] bike: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/01/13/swivel-mode-bike-by-mark-sanders/
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