Electric Bikes - Green Wheel sees Red

The MIT electronic wheel showed up last Feb. on the radar: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/18/green-wheel-bike.html

The recent summit in Copenhagen seems to have brought it back to the fore however with a new name, different look and a higher price point projected. http://web.mit.edu/press/2009/copenhagen-wheel.html I am assuming that the red comes from Ducati's involvement with the project.

The initial press release sure sounded a lot better than the current one. Ability to recharge by plugging it in vs. only by regenerative braking (unlikely to be very effective since cyclists already try to minimize braking), option to build the hub into your own wheel, and a lower price. In exchange, the recent announcement has added a lot of fluff such as pollution monitoring and smart phone control.

ah like it.. ah like it a lot!

The MIT electronic wheel showed up last Feb. on the radar: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/18/green-wheel-bike.html

The recent summit in Copenhagen seems to have brought it back to the fore however with a new name, different look and a higher price point projected. http://web.mit.edu/press/2009/copenhagen-wheel.html I am assuming that the red comes from Ducati's involvement with the project.

I believe that this hub motor doesn't have a lot of torque for those of us living in hilly areas. If it is ever brought to market, and that's a big "if," I suspect it will be hard pressed to succeed against cheaper hub and non-hub motors that have good torque. Look for it to be something installed on expensive, ready-made e-bikes. I don't think average e-bike enthusiasts who convert their bikes will be interested in this unless its torque is improved.

The initial press release sure sounded a lot better than the current one. Ability to recharge by plugging it in vs. only by regenerative braking (unlikely to be very effective since cyclists already try to minimize braking), option to build the hub into your own wheel, and a lower price. In exchange, the recent announcement has added a lot of fluff such as pollution monitoring and smart phone control.

That is pretty much what my take on it is also. Also not sure what happened to the original students that were listed as developers either. Seems like one guy who was not named earlier is grabbing the ring now? I was much more excited about the prospects of this when I saw it last winter for sure. I was also alot more excited about the thought of some "change" too:notamused:

And as far as torque goes who knows how much torque it has? There have been no specs released that I have seen regarding that but quite frankly any EU/Asia compliant 250w setup will not be a torque monster as a hub motor. The Panasonic/Yamaha drives do better with that size motor because they sync with the gearing of the bike. However here in the US with fed regs set at 750w you can get a motor that will provide plenty enough torque for the hillier areas. And you can always just pedal also:innocent:

The Copenhagen Wheel is not made in Copenhagen, but the Copenhagen Wheel is completely compatible with Copenhagen Wheel apps. The Copenhagen Wheel is such a profound invention that it cannot be referred to with mere pronouns. Therefore, the Copenhagen Wheel must be referred to as the Copenhagen Wheel at the beginning of every sentence, so you will never forget the marvel of the name Copenhagen Wheel.

Are I-Phones weather proof...I'm not sure if the system is designed to run in the rain if not. Also, with minimal battery capacity, it seems the weight of hauling the motor of any hill will far exceed the energy skimmed from regen braking (considering wind resistance is a large drain on energy on downhills, there won't be much extra for the wheel to take). It seems to me the wheel wouldn't even be able to meet the most minimal requirement of all motorized vehicle: to be able to haul it's own weight let alone a portion of the weight of the rider and bicycle.

The Copenhagen Wheel is such a profound invention that it cannot be referred to with mere pronouns. Therefore, the Copenhagen Wheel must be referred to as the Copenhagen Wheel at the beginning of every sentence, so you will never forget the marvel of the name Copenhagen Wheel.

:lol: Right you are.

The Copenhagen Wheel is a hub motor with the batteries inside. Whoa!

Just sounds to me like that limits their battery pack to a fairly small amp capacity.