Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Solar, On Two Wheels
The Electrobike Pi: pretty cool and really expensive
Let me get this fact off my chest before I write anything else: this thing is flippin' expensive! Alright, now that we're through with that, let's analyze this electric bike, known as Pi. The frame is an aluminum monocoque, meaning that it is a single piece made up of metal which is all a similar thickness. Moving on to the electrics, the batteries are nickel metal hydride, not the better-but-pricier lithium ion. The motor is a 36-volt brushless DC model which produces about 1 horsepower, or 750 watts. Of course, add your human power to that power amount if you are willing to pedal. In case you were wondering, you are capable of producing much less than one horsepower! If you are willing to pay the $7,500 (!) asking price, you can find the bike at Design Within Reach.
If you do manage to cough up the money, you will be rewarded with an electric bike capable of less than 30 miles per hour box-stock. The bike has the power to go faster and can be geared to do so, but you'll need a motorcycle license for that. The asking price does include a designer helmet... The circular frame is probably where the name came from, you think?
One very cool piece of technology buried in that aluminum frame is the NuVinci planetary gearbox. This piece of hardware allows the bike to change gear ratios without actually manually switching gears. Click here for more on that. If you can afford the bike, you may also be able to spend the extra $1,800 for the solar charger, which further lowers your carbon footprint. Speaking of that footprint, just about any electric bike will offer similar CO2 output, but the Pi from Electrobike is designed with the reduction of emissions in mind, so you can feel good about that. Unless you get the gas/electric hybrid model (which will get its very own dedicated post later), which seems to fly in the face of the rest of the concept. If anybody actually does get one of these, make sure to let us know about it. It'd be interesting to compare it with a Segway, which is another really expensive way to get from point A to point B.
Related:[Source: Electrobike and LA Times, Thanks for the tip, Domenick!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alex 10:41AM (9/28/2007)
I never understood Design Within Reach. The name (to me) implies that their products are affordable. They are not.
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Andrew Spence 7:16AM (11/16/2007)
This bike is utterly pointless and makes a nonsense of what good industrial design is all about - to wit, delivering excellent solutions to real-world problems at affordable prices. The product fails miserably on both scores.
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Manjoor 4:28AM (6/20/2008)
Manufacturer of worm gear boxes, helical gear boxes, right angle gear boxes, gear reduction boxes, industrial gearboxes, worm wheel and worm shaft, worm gear, spur, helical and bevel gear, racks and pinion, other mechanical engineering power transmission equipment
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GREG 8:04PM (12/04/2008)
I have been in the bicycle industry since 92, and invented the changable gearing system that is used on this over-priced P.O.S. It's too bad that investors are still giving this guy money to waste on a project that will never make it!
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George 1:31PM (1/06/2009)
I love how they installed the solar panels, thin films are the least efficient and in this configuration you would need sunlight from 3 directions for about 20 hours to get a full charge.
Why not go for the Optibike http://www.optibike.com/ at 12k or if you do not collect Ferrari's and 25 million dollar paintings go for a more common sense eZee TorQ electric bike, http://nycewheels.com/ezee-torq-electric-bike.html
I hear these electric bikes are really worth the money and my next choice when my I-Zip crap's out the next time which should be really soon again.
Ivy 9:45PM (4/01/2009)
This is good ,more please visit: http://www.jb-electricbikes.com/
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