Click above for more shots of the Erockit electric bike

The debate over serial and parallel hybrid rages on, with Toyota and Honda placing their bets on the parallel model where both the gasoline engine and electric motor power the wheels directly. General Motors has placed a huge bet on the serial hybrid approach, where the second-fiddle powertrain serves only to extend the range of the predominately electric vehicle. There are numerous ideas as to what makes a good range extender. Hydrogen fuel cells and small gas or diesel engines are the most popular choices, but have you ever considered just using your legs?

Erockit has made a new electric bike which is capable of going fifty miles per hour and reportedly has strong acceleration. The range can be extended by pedaling along, though your strokes don't actually ever make it to the wheels in a conventional way. Instead, your legs turn a small generator which adds a bit of juice to the battery. The company has plans for a limited model release starting next year.


[Source: Erockit via Hell For Leather]

Before 1979 became a hit song by the Smashing Pumpkins, it was the "International Year of the Child" as well as the year of the Three Mile Island incident. Sid Vicious died (though "punk" didn't) in '79 and president Jimmy Carter was attacked by a swamp rabbit. It was also the year that Mother Earth News, magazine of choice for sustainable-living enthusiasts, published the story of a man who built his own 75 mile per gallon serial hybrid with regenerative braking. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet and online back issues we can now, 29 years later, read all about this cool Opel GT (pictured above).

So you may be asking yourself, "If we could do this back in the '70s, where the heck is this car today? Did the oil companies suppress this technology too?" Well, after reading the article we think this car may be parked in a garage furnished with a long shelf lined with 100 mpg carburetors of the same vintage. In other words, we're a tad skeptical of the real-world practicality of the vehicle. According to the article, the car used a 5 hp lawnmower engine to charge up 4 lead acid 12 volt batteries that sent power to a 400 amp DC motor. Now, the car might actually have moved along near the 50 mph charge-sustaining top speed claimed but we suspect the batteries would have had an extremely short life-span. Of course, you may deduce differently, so read the three-page article and tell us what you think. Alternately, you could go all out and build your own, since plans for the car are still available through Mother Earth News.

[Source: Mother Earth News]

From time to time we get questions about the status of Neil Young's Linc-Volt project, the transformation, nay, transmogrification of the rock icon's gas guzzling '59 Lincoln Continental into a sweet serial-electric hybrid by John Goodwin. There have been a few teasers and the odd announcement made but now, thanks to shoe-leather reporting by The Wichita Eagle, we are happy to disclose to you that the Linc Volt lives! Though not completed, Young and Goodwin were able to take it for a successful 12 mile spin under, what sounds like, electric power. Young described the car as quiet and powerful, though apparently as there is no accelerator pedal or power steering yet, and Goodwin was applying the juice via a knob located somewhere in the back seat, the short trip almost ended in disaster. As they approached an entrance ramp, the knob was twisted the wrong way and they found themselves hurtling toward the backside of another vehicle. Fortunately, Neil still has good reflexes and he reached over with his foot from the passenger side to stomp down hard on the brake. Disaster averted.

No completion date was mentioned in the article or accompanying video but hopefully it will be finished soon. The pair are planning on making a road trip to Washington, DC and across California as part of a promotional tour. The trip should generate lots of press as well as footage for a documentary being filmed about the project. It will also give Goodwin the chance to actually listen to Neil Young's music, which he admits, he still hasn't heard. It will also give the oddball pair an opportunity to discuss future plans to extend the scope of their venture.

[Source: The Wichita Eagle]

The Opel Flextreme diesel electric concept got a visit from reporters in a studio setting instead of at a busy car show. The video above and the one below the fold are very quiet, thoughtful looks at European's E-flex concept without the usual busy car show in the background. The videos include a great look at the car's doors, which open when you touch them, and rear view cameras replacements for the rear view mirror. Many of the ideas on the car are already in several vehicles you can buy today, so it's very possible you could see something like the Flextreme coming from GM very soon.

[Source: YouTube]

In a presentation at Gadgetoff 2007, Howard Morgan, co-founder of Idealab, says the Aptera (an Idealab company) will have a range of 1,000 miles in series hybrid mode. You can watch a video of Howard's presentation below the fold. Howard also says the Aptera will be a quarter to a third the price of the Tesla but it certainly does not look like Tesla.

Recently, I wrote about comments by Tesla co-founder, Martin Eberhard, on a mystery electric car in Martin's Gadgetoff 2007 presentation. Martin later commented it was actually in response to a dig at Tesla by Idealab. Howard and Martin, I hope this small, public fight is good natured ribbing. Variety in the market place is what makes it work.

[Source: YouTube]

The video above is of an Electrathon racer on display at AltWheels Boston 2007. Electrathon racers travel 50 miles in an hour using a kilowatt/hour of electricity: That's the equivalent of 1,500 MPG at highway speeds on the power of a hair dryer. The next stop for that Electrathon racer is the Red Bull Soapbox Race, a sort of frat party on wheels.

Below the fold are two more videos I shot at AltWheels. One shows the Microfurthur, a series hybrid made from an old farm work vehicle. The other is about the eMotive, a university project that hopes to bring electric cars to the third world.

How cool is this! Here we have a hybridized robot, which uses a small four-stroke engine made by Subaru/Robin powering an automobile alternator which in-turn offers up the power for the robot. A small 12-volt battery pack smooths out the voltage to the motors. The alternator reportedly puts out at least 25 amps, which is more than enough to power a small outdoor robot such as this one. For those keeping track of such things, this robot is an example of a series hybrid, like the proposed Chevy Volt and various trains. Unlike a parallel hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius, the engine has no mechanical connection to the wheels and is therefore not capable of providing any direct power to the wheels. Which approach is better is a topic in and of itself, and the reason the serial approach was chosen for this robot is for simplicity.

This robot, built by Ken Gracey, is going to be featured in the fall '07 edition of Robot magazine. A video clip of the robot is available here.

[Source: Hack A Day]

We have written about PML FlightLink's mini before. The news report in the video above has a few more details and a look under the hood, so we thought we would give you a look. The mini has four in-wheel motors and a battery under the hood. It also has a gas engine in the back that recharges the battery. This gives the car a 900 mile range. Zap liked that so much they ordered $10 M's worth for the Zap-X.

A few facts from the video. The battery is lithium. The gas engine in the back is smaller than a motorbike engine. It has regenerative braking. Learning computers, based on neural networks, control the motors and make 4,000 calculations a second. The car hits the test track this Summer. Chris Newman of PML claims a fourth of cars will be electric drive in five years.

He says every car company has looked at this and found it to the best model for cars. GM is developing the Volt which has a very similar set up. Even Toyota may follow suit, showing off a plug-in model recently. Is a serial Toyota hybrid far behind? Is the series hybrid the car of the future? Hard to argue with a 900-mile range. The series hybrid's time may have come.

[Source: YouTube]