Pedaling your bike up hill is one of the least attractive ways of getting people to give up driving their car to work. Electric bikes are an alternative, but still consume precious fossil fuel to recharge the battery. Thera-P-Products claims to solve both of these issues by introducing the first all-solar electric bike. Those shiny caps covering the spokes of the E-V Sunny aren't there to make the bike more aerodynamic, but rather are large solar collectors.
The combined surface area of the solar panels is enough to maintain a constant charge to the batteries, and the 500-watt motor can propel riders up to 19 mph, making getting over that big hill a breeze, but won't keep up with all other traffic on the road. If you want to deck out your current ride with a solar set up, it will set you back $795, or if you want one of the company's bikes, expect to pay around $1,300.
Thera-P-Products via Oh Gizmo!
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By karpet at 1:38 PM ON 09/26/07
As usual, an interesting concept but..Where is the motor on the pictured velocipede (bike)? Something tells me there really isn't a hub motor hiding under the shiny hub caps because they don't appear to have any means for transferring power to the motor or the batteries. All in all I call b.s., and the fact that the ship date is September 2006 tells me this bike is not so bright. Nice concept, call when you get a prototype working.