Really Smart Things: An Electric Bike for All
The red hub on the back of this bike is a self-charging electric motor. Its designers wanted it to fulfill the following four criteria (which it does):
1. All of the components should fit in the hub.
2. It should be easily retrofitable and modular, so that you could plug in different components such as a bigger battery if you live near hills or environmental sensors if you’re a city looking to gather data.
3. It should be your friend, and be able to tell you how well you’re doing.
4. It should have a social component that connects with your friends and encourages you to cycle.
The hub, designed by students at SENSEable City Lab at MIT for the city of Copenhagen (currently 36% of residents ride bikes, but they want to increase that to 50%), charges itself by absorbing brake-energy and momentum. It can be adjusted through your iPhone, to help you as much as 300%, or as little as you want.
Possibly the best part is that everything you need to power this bike goes on the back wheel.
