What’s New at Currie Technologies - IZIP & EZIP

TWIN LAKES — At 51, Lin Dohse’s knees aren’t what they used to be, but she still likes riding bicycles.

Which is one reason she loves her 2008 eZip Trailz , an electric bike. Another has to do with her grandson, Zach, 8, and the hilly land hereabouts, including a short but fairly steep incline just east of the home where she and husband Dennis live at the corner of Mueller and Park.

“It doesn’t hurt my knees when I ride, and I can ride with my grandson,” Dohse said, breaking into a wide smile, as she frequently does. “If my knees have had it, if my knee is hurting, I can kick in the electric motor and get some help. He tells me, ‘Grandma, you’re cheating.’ But 8-year-old knees can do these hills.”

Dohse can pedal the electric bicycle

built by California-based Currie Technologies the same as her 3-speed AMF Roadmaster. She likes that option for the health benefits. “I do pedal. I don’t have this (the motor) on all the time,” she said.

Then there’s the savings in fuel costs from not having to drive to the hardware store, library and grocery store, or run various other errands fewer than 10 miles roundtrip, all of which comprise the majority of her frequent bicycling trips outside of her jaunts with Zach.

“It’s funny coming home with a pumpkin in the basket. Sometimes, I have to break the groceries up into three trips. But so what — I’m not using any gas. It doesn’t take any gas!” she said, laughing. “What’s not to love? Last year, I figured I saved over two fill-ups. So, that was $100. It’s great for older riders. Only thing is, it’s heavy (66 pounds, including motor and battery). But with the battery on it, who cares?

“If you’re really far away, and the battery dies, you can just pedal home. Or you can do what I do,” Dohse added, pretending to hold a phone to her ear, “‘Honey, can you come get me?’”

Fed up with skyrocketing prices at the fuel pump, the mother of three adult daughters found the 2008 women’s model Trailz selling for about $300 online at Walmart, although it is sold elsewhere as well and can be ordered direct from ezipusa.com. That’s pretty much the bottom range in pricing for electric bicycles, which are made by a surprising number of U.S. manufacturers and list as high as $15,000, though most run between $400 and $2,500.

“I got it last year at the end of May when the gas prices started to go up. Two weeks after I bought it, they were sold out,” Dohse said. “I should be a marketer for this. I take it to yard sales all over town and people say, ‘Where did you get that?’”

It shipped assembly required, but Dohse said her husband put it together in 20 minutes. It features a rear luggage rack, with a rechargeable 24-volt battery pack mounted on the side. The 450-watt DC motor bolts on near the left rear hub, with power transferred via chain-drive to the axle. On the opposite side, there’s a 7-speed Shimano freewheel and rear derailleur. The steel frame includes bosses (where water bottle holders are bolted), fender and rack mounts. There’s a comfort seat and a suspension fork. Controls are on the handlebar grips, as are the brake levers and gear shifter.

On its own, the battery provides a range of 15 to 22 miles at speeds of 15 to 18 mph. Adding human pedal power extends the range between charges and can boost the speed according to the rider’s capability.

While the trend is catching on here, in China electric bike sales (including scooter-style bikes) have exploded to well over 10 million since 1995. Given their ease of use, no licensing requirements, cheap operational cost, ability to navigate even the narrowest streets and pathways, and parking convenience, it’s easy to appreciate their popularity.

Of course, navigating Twin Lakes is a far cry from wending through teeming Beijing, but Dohse finds her eZip Trailz appealing for many of the same reasons, aside from it just being plain fun to ride. The only shortcoming has nothing to do with the bike itself.

“There’s only one place in town that has a bike rack. That’s the library,” she said. “It would be nice if they had one at the hardware store and the grocery store. More people are riding bikes these days.”

Tags: Electric Bikes, Mountain Electric Bikes, Women Electric Bikes

Apr 27th 2009
From Economist.com

Electric bicycles and scooters are relatively cheap, can ease congestion and are pleasant to ride

ELECTRIC cars are all the rage. Every big carmaker seems to be developing one, and governments are vying with each other to support them. Although such vehicles are more environmentally friendly than their petrol counterparts, there is a greener option that many governments seem to have overlooked: the electric bicycle.

Like electric cars, electric bicycles are classified as zero-emission vehicles, meaning they emit no exhaust gases. Emissions, however, are produced elsewhere, when the electricity used to power the vehicles is generated. Even taking that into account, though, an electric bicyle wins out handsomely in the emission competition with a petrol-driven car, as it is 15-20 times more efficient. Moreover, making an electric bicycle uses far less energy than making an electric car.

Some 21m electric bicycles were sold in China in 2008, according to Frank Jamerson, author of Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports. The figure has doubled since 2005. In Shanghai alone there are an estimated 1m electric bicycles. Some 800,000 are also sold each year in South East Asia, he says, where they replace the noisy and smelly petrol scooters that are ubiquitous in many places.

Typically, an electric bike can run for 30-50 kilometres (20-30 miles) between charges. Recharging a battery can take 5-8 hours, but costs only a few cents a day. But some advanced new bicycles can store energy when they brake, meaning they can go many times further, and some advanced new batteries can charge up in a fraction of the time.

Your correspondent borrowed the new electric bicycle

andreas vollenweider-kryptos download from Ultra Motors, a British firm, and took it for a spin in London. The ease with which you can slip in and out of traffic, without breaking into a sweat, is intoxicating. The pedals are there should you wish to use them. And there is no battle of wills between pedestrian and cyclist. It is no sweat to restart, so the temptation to zip through a red traffic light, menacing people as you do so, is removed. A twist of throttle sends the A2B silently zipping away at speeds of up to 25kph. There are no more scary moments when, as a cyclist, you struggle to gain the necessary speed to cope in busy traffic. The A2B is at the top end of the market at £1,949 ($2,850), but there is a huge variety of electric bikes available, starting from only £600.

So why don’t more people use them in America and Europe? The reason is that western governments are not much interested bicycles. If more road space were given over to them, and roads were designed with two-wheeled transport in mind, that might change. Safe places to park and recharge are also needed. All these measures would be far less costly than subsidies proposed for electric cars. The British government, for example, announced recently that, in a few years, motorists will be able to get up to £5,000 in incentives to buy an electric car.

Such bribes would not be necessary to encourage people to switch to electric bicycles. People actually love the idea of a bicycle that does not need pedalling. The point is that everything else needs to be made easy. As your correspondent waits at a light, a fit pedal cyclist pulls up beside her. “What is it? An electric? Is it for very lazy people?” Yes, it is. For very lazy people indeed.

Tags: Electric bike, ezip Electric Bike, izip electric bike

Detroit may be the land of the automobile, but the rising cost of gasoline and state emphasis on eco-friendly technology has some Michiganians investing in a two-wheeled, rechargeable means of transportation — the electric bicycle.

It may be the dead of winter, but this battery-powered ride is getting a warm reception here, turning the heads of preteens, 30-somethings and seniors alike who are looking for a cost-effective alternative that’ll get them to school, work or the corner store.

The outlook is good news for eCo Wheelz, a new electric bike retailer in downtown Plymouth that’s hoping to carve its niche for what they believe is an untapped market in the tri-state area. Experts say their timing is right: More Americans are looking to pinch pennies, do their part to promote green technologies and do away with the rigorous physical demand of conventional bikes.

“Anything that gets Metro Detroiters out of cars and trucks and into more efficient modes of transportation is encouraging from both an environmental and road congestion point of view,” said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., a spokesman for the Michigan Environmental Council. “If this shop is unique and one of the first of its kind, it might represent a niche that Michigan companies and workers can fill as part of diversifying the state’s economy.”

The product — a huge commuting tool for decades in China, Europe and Japan — broke onto the scene in warm-weather states like Florida and California in the mid-90s, but just started gaining attention in Michigan over the past year.

Light Electric Vehicle Association Founder Ed Benjamin said Detroit, a flat city on the edge of water with nasty winters, has as good of a chance as any state for this market.

There are plenty of people hoping to reduce their carbon footprint and save on the cost of transportation or invest in electrics for novelty reasons.

Colleen Robbins is finding plenty of uses for the $900 electric bike she bought her preteen Chaz a couple of months ago.

The 37-year-old Canton Township resident might even use it to commute the eight miles to her job as an accountant at a local manufacturing plant or for quick errands.

“You don’t have to take a car or balance groceries on a regular bike,” she said. “You can just charge it and run up to Family Dollar or Kroger to pick up a couple things and run home.”

At first glance, most electrics aren’t much different than a regular bike. The wheels, handlebars, seat and basic frame are the same. But depending on the model, it’s the battery, motor and throttle that make the difference.

Some types have a removable 17-pound battery latched on, while newer versions have batteries built into the frame — with an outlet for charging. Riders can pedal manually or kick on the throttle, and because federal law limits electric bikes to 20 mph, they can be ridden wherever regular bikes are used, said Jeremy Panizzoli, president and co-founder of eCo Wheelz.

“As soon as people get on, they are sold,” Panizzoli said. “They are a lot of fun, easy to operate and a great alternative.”

Although eCo Wheelz declined to site specific sales figures, in their first few months they said in-store and online purchases have steadily increased. [ More.. ]

[ Via The Detroit News

]

Tags: automobile, battery-powered ride, eCo Wheelz, electric bicycle, izip, rechargeable, transportation, two-wheeled

January 28th, 2009

By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

People going green are turning to gasoline-electric hybrid automobiles like the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight or any number of hybrids offered by General Motors for transportation. But folks really serious about saving gasoline and money will want to consider the latest alternatives to gasoline-electric hybrids: sweat-electric hybrids.

The latest generation of electric-hybrid bicycles is arriving at a bike shop near you. Major bicycle makers Giant and Schwinn (who can forget the Stingray?) have recently introduced cutting-edge hybrid bikes that seamlessly harness battery power and pedal power, making biking to work easy as the breeze in your hair.

The new offerings from the bike big boys promise to nudge so-called e-bikes from the eddy of the eccentric into the mainstream. E-Bike sales in the US are projected to hit 220,000 units in 2009, up 83 percent from 2007 sales, according to the Electric Bikes Worldwide Report, 2008 Update. In Europe, sales this year are expected to hit 750,000 - three times 2007 sales.

“We’re seeing huge growth,” says Pantea Mavaddat, marketing director of Currie Technologies

, maker of the Izip line of hybrid bikes.

An e-bike isn’t an electric scooter. You still have to pedal to get somewhere. But the electric motor makes pedaling much easier; making uphill rides less daunting and flat roads effortless.

“It changes your psyche,” says Brown Loper, co-owner of an Atlanta-area bike shop and sole owner of a Giant Twist e-bike.

Loper’s commute to work is just a mile and a half, but it’s nearly all up hill.

“So, even me, on my other bike, I get to work and I’m puffing and feel like I need to take a shower,” Loper says.

The battery boost of the Giant Twist

flattens the hill, Loper says, so now most days he rides his e-bike to work. And he is using it often to make a run to the nearby grocery store or video rental store.

“I’m not saying it will take the place of a car, but if you can get out of your car two or three times a week, it’s worth it,” Loper says.

A calculator found on the Schwinn electric bike website helps you figure the impact of riding a hybrid bike instead of driving your car. For example, you drive 1,000 miles a month in an automobile getting 20 mpg and paying (for now, anyway) $2 a gallon for gasoline. If you ride your hybrid bike for 20 percent of those miles, you’ll save $20 in cash money and cut your CO2 emissions by 388 pounds. You’ll also burn about 5,580 calories.

“You can get a workout on the bike if you want to,” says Loper, noting that you can ride without turning on the engine.

The design of the Giant Twist and Schwinn Tailwind (pictured) have the battery packs hanging on the rear wheel like saddlebags. The motor drives the front wheel. Each has a similar range - 30 miles. A twin-battery version of the Twist has a range of 60-70 miles. Recharging the Twist’s lithium ion battery takes about four hours. Schwinn says you can recharge its Toshiba Super Charge ion Battery in just 30 minutes.

Cutting-edge hybrid technology - even in a bicycle - comes at a premium. The Giant Twist runs about $2,000. The Schwinn Tailwind - demonstrated earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas - has a suggested retail price of $3,199.99. The Currie Technologies Express, promising speeds of up to 20 mph, will set you back $2,999 when it goes on sale in April.

That’s more than the $400 or so for a good quality, old-fashioned cruiser bike, but it’s a lot less than a second car. And when gasoline hits $4 a gallon again - and it will - it will seem like a good investment.

(photos courtesy Giant, at far top; Schwinn, above)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

The U.S. market for e-bikes continues to grow. Even with a struggling economy, 2009 is expected to be a record year for electric bike sales, with projections of 170,000 units. Although this is a vast improvement over 120,000 units in 2008, it pales in comparison to European and Asian markets where electric bikes have received widespread acceptance for years. But Panizzoli believes that a bad economy and an uncertain economic outlook will be the driving force for continued growth in the year to come.

“With fear and uncertainty in the air, consumers are looking for ways to cutback. It’s likely many people will be forced to give up their car or search for new ways to save money. Electric bikes provide an excellent alternative and can help struggling families (or individuals) during tough economic times. As the economy continues to suffer, its likely people will continue to search for ways to cut expenses. It’s our job to make sure they know about our products and the bikes will sell themselves.”

Although traffic is likely to slow down over the winter months, eCo Wheelz is expecting spring to be a huge success for their retail store. In the mean time, the eCo Wheelz website is up-and-running all year round and traffic continues to grow (even over the Winter) as consumers in warmer states search for their products online. Choose from a wide variety of electric bikes and scooters, electric mopeds or install one of their electric bike kits.

To learn more about eCo Wheelz and see a full list products, visit: http://www.eco-wheelz.com

Or contact:
Jeremy Panizzoli
eCo Wheelz, Inc.
198 S. Main Street
Plymouth, MI 48170
(734)453-3359

Tags: Economy, electric bicycle, Electric bike, gas prices

There has been a lot written lately about the coming demise of America’s suburbs. The general thesis is that without cheap fuels for cars, lawnmowers and heating, suburban living will become untenable.

People will be forced to abandon their homes and make their way to cities, small towns or rural communities where they can survive without gasoline. There is, of course, another side to this coin.

I will be the among the first to grant that suburbia is a creature of cheap energy, particularly gasoline, and unless there are some radical changes in the way we power our homes, feed and clothe ourselves and move about, there will be great difficulties ahead. There are two major problems that need to be solved in order to keep the widely scattered housing of suburbia habitable without cheap energy — transportation and excessive residential consumption of energy.

Not everything about the suburbs will be a downside when the era of cheap fossil fuel comes to an end. Nearly all suburban dwellings have broad roofs and yards that are suitable for collecting some form of solar or in some places wind energy. In many cases, suburban yards are suitable for growing food or perhaps even raising poultry or other small livestock. Most have yards allowing for easy access to subsurface geothermal energy. They are clean and have adequate sources of water and a means to handle sewage. These are not inconsequential assets when trying to maintain large numbers of people in some form of civilization in the face of dwindling supplies of energy. There are already places in Asia that are facing life-threatening water and sanitation problems due to the lack of electricity to run the pumps.

For the immediate future, an unappreciated aspect of suburban homes is easy access to a source of electricity for recharging electric vehicles. Wiring of urban streets and parking areas for recharging plug-in electric cars will cost billions and likely take decades. This week’s Detroit automobile show stands as a monument to the closing era of the internal combustion engine. Nearly every automobile manufacturer is showing some form of electric powered vehicle that should be available, for those that can still afford them, in three or four years.

Some, with good reason, doubt that there will be enough resources, energy, and money to replace the 250 million passenger cars and trucks that we have in America so that we can continue motoring with electricity rather than gasoline. These skeptics are probably right if one assumes that the motor vehicles of the future will be electric clones of the of the 3-6,000 pound behemoths that are clogging the roads today.

Transportation to, from and around suburbia ten or 20 years from now will have to be markedly different than today. While some will have plug-in electric cars, it is unlikely that electricity will continue to be cheap in an era of dwindling fossil fuel supplies, carbon caps and emission taxes. Wasting energy will become a thing of the past. Driving to work or the store in a 4,000 pound electric car will simply become too expensive for most. In place of today’s ubiquitous automobile will be a variety of light electric vehicles, ranging from electric bicycles, tricycles, and scooters, to very small cars that will be inexpensive to produce, use minimal amounts of electric energy and provide much of the mobility that will be required for everyday life… [ More ]

[ Via Falls Church News Press Online ]

Tags: Bicycle, cheap fuels, Detroit automobile show, efficient electric vehicle, electric car, gasoline, suburbia

How many tourists in Times Square does it take to light up the “2009″ sign on New Year’s Eve?

137,228.

That’s how many people it took to generate enough electricity to light up the numerical display that will blaze after the clock strikes midnight and the ball drops over Times Square in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

Beginning Dec. 2, holiday visitors stopping by the Charmin public restrooms on Broadway and 45th Street could ride the escalator two flights up and hop on one of six stationary bicycles that looked like snowmobiles and were rigged to electric generators. The generators charged a set of four large batteries that will light the sign and help green the annual event.

Duracell, the battery manufacturing company that set up the “power lodge

,” said the electricity was generated using rotary technology — pedal power and spinning wheels, similar to systems used on wind farms.

By Dec. 27, the original goal of 230 pedaled hours had been surpassed by more than 20 percent. On Sunday, the batteries were transported to a new location for safekeeping until Wednesday night.

Some visitors to the power lodge Monday, like Megan Coakley, 13, were disappointed they were too late to help fuel Wednesday’s festivities. “It would’ve been awesome to try the bikes,” said Miss Coakley, who traveled from Tinton Falls, N.J., with her twin sister and parents, Beth and John, to visit New York for the day.

Although the bikes are no longer in use and now available for viewing only, visitors to Duracell’s hub can still recharge gadgets at power terminals, hang out in front of an artificial fireplace or play one of several Nintendo Wiis stationed in the lodge. Ms. Coakley and her family declined to linger, saying they had game consoles at home.

Jeremy French, 21, a field manager for Gigunda, the marketing team staffing Duracell’s lodge, said that the facilities were even popular with local Manhattanites. “A group of elderly women came in several times to ride the bike,” said Mr. French. “They brought water bottles and would go at it for 20 minutes or so a day.”

The “2009” sign is made up of 608 halogen bulbs that will require 7.25 kilowatt-hours of electricity to light up after the famous ball drop. By comparison, in 2006, the average residence in the United States consumed 920 kilowatt-hours per month.. [ More ]

[ Via The New York Times

]

Tags: People Power, Times Square