Electrobike Pi Gives You 3.14 Reasons to Get Rid of Your Car
via Gizmodo
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Hop on the Electrobike Pi, and through the courtesy of your two feet and its 1hp motor, no one will ever be able to blame you for global warming again. Three reasons? It's efficient, it's fun, it's socially responsible and it looks cool. Okay, maybe the cool look is the ".14" reason. It still has a carbon footprint (a minuscule 210 pounds a year if you ride it 100 miles a week), but reduce that number to zero (for $1800 extra) by attaching its giant arch-shaped solar charger, and after an eight-hour day in the sun (or 2.5 hours plugged in) that battery is good for another 25 miles, even if you don't pedal at all.
Let's get this straight: In its stock form, this is not exactly a racing bike—its top speed using just its nickel hydride batteries powering its 750-watt electric motor is only 20 mph, and it weighs about the same as an anvil, a hefty 58 pounds without your butt gracing its seat. But it's efficient, working like a hybrid car with its flywheel that charges up the battery when you apply the bike's brakes. We're also hearing you can hop up the thing with some aftermarket modifications, goosing its top speed up to 46 mph. No word on how long the batteries will last at that hasty clip.
Now the bad news: You'll drop $7,500 for the Electrobike Pi, and extra batteries, each good for 200 charge cycles, are $750. To be available at Design Within Reach studios in the United States, there will be just 500 of these electric bikes sold. Could be the first batch of many. Sure beats a Segway.
More photographs of the pielectrobike here
