Bike maker heads for electric avenue

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motor at a few trade fairs, but he lived about 125 miles outside of Moscow, far outside the mainstream of venture investing, even for Russia, according Justin Martin, Ultra Motor's marketing director.

It wasn't until 2003 that Flintstone Technologies, a British venture capital firm whose directors include a former professor of Moscow State University, funded the project. Russian Technologies, the venture arm of the Russian conglomerate Alfa Group Consortium, invested in Ultra Motor in 2004. Silicon Valley VCs met the company during a tour of Russian start-ups last September.

The motor consists of a stationary permanent magnet attached to a hub and surrounded by three pairs of electromagnets. Those magnets are embedded in a rotating cylinder, which is attached to the wheel. Rapidly changing the polarity of the electromagnets from positive to negative causes the wheel to propel itself forward.

"The power from the motor is controlled by varying the pulse duration of the voltage. As rotation speed increases, both the on and off pulses will get shorter, but the proportion increases," Martin said. "The basic principle of electromagnetic propulsion--opposite poles attract, and like poles repel each other--is true of both our e-bike motors and the Maglev magnetic trains found in Japan."

Competing electric motors also rely on electromagnetism but aren't as efficient, Ultra Motor says. The design of its engines, it claims, can generate 50 percent more torque, or force around a pivot point, than competing motors, or get the same performance on less battery power. In addition, the company's motors contain only five main components and one moving component.

Like other electric vehicles, bikes equipped with an electromagnetic motor are fairly quiet. They can also be started from a dead stop or accelerated through pedaling. In Europe, however, bikes will have to be started through pedaling: A two-wheeler that can start on its own motor typically gets classified as a motorcycle.

TI Cycles of India, based in Chennai (formerly Madras), and Avon Cycles, based in Ludhiana, are slated to release complete bikes using Ultra Motor's technology in September, Bowman said. Because the motor is fairly slim, the bikes themselves are constructed around a standard urban bike frame, he added.

At $175, the bikes will cost more than a top-of-the-line pedal cycle, which sells for about $50 in India, but will cost far less than a $500 scooter, Bowman noted. Recharging the motor is also cheaper than using diesel fuel would be.

The AH300 will be able to propel a payload of 264 pounds, Bowman said. Subsequent motors for rickshaws will be more powerful, enabling the bikes to take on more weight.

[sanenazok]

Exactly

I'll take an electric bike instead of an upright gizmo for $5,000

[Rusdude]

Cheap, Easy & Dependable

While Segway may have a cooler underlying technology, this invention underscores what really matters in the consumer products:

It's cheap so it's more or less affordable to developing nations (where most bikes are used for everyday functions);

It's easy to use and implement. It looks like a normal bicycle and no learning is required. Bicycles are popular for a reason -- people can sit on them for a long time, while standing up for a long time isn't so easy (ask any salesperson).

Lastly, it looks like it's a fairly dependable technology. Due to inherent extemes of conditions in Russia (awful roads, for example, that most non-SUV foreign cars can't handle), most products originating there are pretty tough (overused but good example would be AK weapons).

If they can get this into mass production, it might be very successful outside US. Sure, not everyone could afford one, but those a bit more wealthy who ride bikes will probably pay for convenience.

EGO Electric Bike

I'm wondering why you did not mention the EGO in your article on Elec Bikes. I been riding one for over a year with no problems.

See Egovehicles.com

[mb_96_net]

RE:EGO Electric Bike

Well, the eGO Electric Bike isn't actually a bike, it's a scooter.
Also, the eGO retails around $1200 the article says these bikes will be between $125-$300.

[heystoopid]

Question is it as good as?

Interestingly, I read an article about US MARINES TIDAL FORCE FOLDING ELECTRIC powered mountain assault bike M-750 with a 32K top speed and range the only negative I can see is the cost of these units is 10X to this bike, but is extremely rugged!