Related Sections: Future Tech Green Tech Vehicles
Bike of the future will pay you back for all of that pedalling
This amazing bike concept is part exercise machine, part electric scooter, and will even help to pay your fare while providing a seat for the bus ride home. Designed by Mårten Wållgren, Il Choi, David Seesing, and Miika Hekkinen, it's the centerpiece of a car free concept for central London called London Garden, and winner of the Seymour Powell award in a contest called Future City Mobility.
The bike has solar panels inside the hubless wheels, which along with your pedaling power charge a battery that can drive the bike as an electric scooter. The really cool part, is that the designers also envision electric buses with docks for the folded bikes, that will tap your charged battery to help run the bus in exchange for bus fare.
The concept goes further, with tree like bus shelters where the bikes can be stored up in the air, and where the blowing breeze moving the stored bikes around will also generate electricity.
This all sounds a bit utopian, and doesn't really take into account people who aren't able to ride bikes, but 'm sure some parts of the design have real world potential.
Marten Wallgren, via TreeHugger.com
By Manuj at 1:53 PM ON 07/26/09
That's really amazing. When will it be available in India?
By 1stAngel at 3:01 PM ON 07/26/09
This is a brilliant design and would be accepted by many of the millions of bike riders around the world. Cant wait for it to be become a reality, especially now that bikes are making such a comeback
By KC at 3:07 PM ON 07/26/09
Pretty lame ending there.
Seriously millions of people ride bikes, that's why there is such a huge world wide industry. Have you heard of the Tour De France? The energy crisis is altering the way we travel right now people are turning to pedal power rather than driving, governments are now making bike tax incentives to get more people cycling and its working. Perhaps you could of mentioned that in this post.
By Mars22581 at 10:54 PM ON 07/26/09
If you didn't give the people who 'couldn't ride' the bike a choice in the matter, then we would have less fat people, and a lot more people rideing bikes!
By Tim Burt at 5:23 AM ON 07/27/09
this bike is not practical at all.. nothing beats the old school bike.. see this http://tinyurl.com/qk8gdb
By handlebar at 8:54 AM ON 07/27/09
To much complication, simple is best, cheap to service cheap to replace.
You really don't make a huge surplus of energy on a bike and the wind chime style bike racks are the daftest thing ever !
Nice bit of design twaddle from someones finals but not really anything that will ever exist in the real world.
By Eilam at 10:53 AM ON 07/27/09
Hey don't be such downers guys. I also like the concept of free bikes you can share. Why not dream a little. I don't see why at least some of this can come true and we can give back a little as well as profiting from technology.
By Kendra at 4:07 PM ON 07/31/09
You guys be realistic when that really happends then i'll apollogize ur such geeks
By Maldoror at 1:30 PM ON 08/08/09
hey guys can someone invent floors that capture the energy of people walking over them? I'd like to install them in my home in January. PLEASE. NOT A JOKE. I'M ON MY KNEES.
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
Maldoror:
hey guys can someone invent floors that capture the energy of people walking over them? I'd like to install them i...More »