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singular_me
19th January 2015, 06:32 AM
awesome!!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX143tyNq-0#t=201

Published on Jan 11, 2015

The ZEPPELIN by The Future People is a human electric hybrid vehicle. It is powered by two riders in combination with a 750w electric rear motor and achieves a cruising speed of 25 mph on flat ground. Using bicycle technology and constructed of aluminum and polycarbonate it weighs just 270 lbs., has a 20 mile electric range, and achieves 700 MPG equivalent. The ZEPPELIN meets the legal definition of a bicycle at the federal level and in many states, making it street legal with no additional license, registration, or insurance required.


The Future Cycles project was born from the realization that the American transportation infrastructure will far outlive the gasoline-powered vehicles that we currently use on it. Our question is, “What transportation alternatives could replace these vehicles that would deal with shifting energy availability and still provide the kind of independent travel that our infrastructure requires?”

New alternatives would need to be much lighter in weight, highly efficient, use only local sustainable energy, and be inexpensive to own and maintain. The Future Cycles project proposes vehicles that combine the weather protection and carrying capacity of a car with the efficiency of a bike. Our goal is to create a car like experience in a vehicle that is human powered and legally defined as a bicycle.

Through the design, fabrication, and demonstration of these vehicles we hope to challenge the American public to consider the use of human energy and the resource of time as alternative options to fossil fuels.

Neuro
19th January 2015, 03:01 PM
I think that is cool. However, at those speeds it is really not necessary with the streamlined shape since wind resistance is less of an issue and I would add a solar panel roof on it to charge the battery, and leave the backside open for more loading capacity. Since it has a 20 mile electric range and it does 25 mph with a 750 Watt engine, I would assume it is using one normal car lead acid battery for energy storage (60Ah x 12v=840 Wh). I think I would go with a four wheel design too!

chad
19th January 2015, 03:21 PM
i see the point and it's pretty cool, but all of this tech is useless unless you live in a city center. it's a 42 mile round trip for me to town and back. they need to drastically improve the range on these things for them to be at all marketable on a large scale.

osoab
19th January 2015, 03:56 PM
I don't think it would take a pothole very well.

Dogman
19th January 2015, 03:59 PM
These would be great for inter city use.

Lot's of stop an go driving which eats gas big time!

Sunny streets would make a solar charger helpful.

Neuro
19th January 2015, 05:13 PM
I don't think it would take a pothole very well.
Neither do I, the chassi seemed very flimsy!

Neuro
19th January 2015, 05:15 PM
i see the point and it's pretty cool, but all of this tech is useless unless you live in a city center. it's a 42 mile round trip for me to town and back. they need to drastically improve the range on these things for them to be at all marketable on a large scale.
I think 42 mile round trip is doable if you want to chip in with some muscle power, or you can add another battery!

Glass
19th January 2015, 06:17 PM
does it work with only one person? Seems to make reasonable speed. We have a lot of electrically assisted bicycles here. You can get up to about 30kph or around 20mph. 400Watts maximum power assistance allowed.

You could tack a small trailer on the back. There's plenty of those kinds of options.

I think these are more for the Euro towns and cities as they are more compact than US, Canada, Australia etc. I would be up for it when the gasoline runs out.

Neuro
22nd January 2015, 10:09 AM
I think that is cool. However, at those speeds it is really not necessary with the streamlined shape since wind resistance is less of an issue and I would add a solar panel roof on it to charge the battery, and leave the backside open for more loading capacity. Since it has a 20 mile electric range and it does 25 mph with a 750 Watt engine, I would assume it is using one normal car lead acid battery for energy storage (60Ah x 12v=840 Wh). I think I would go with a four wheel design too!
Something like this, but with a solar panel roof instead of canvas, and replace the front wheels with 1 kW hub electric wheels and build a rack at the back for transportation and something to attach a smaller trailer at the back. Probably could get it up to around 30-35 mph with pedaling and 2 kW of electric wheels. Would like to have a battery bank for 1.5-2 hours of electric drive. Let's say 3 kWh at 60 volts that's 50 Ah. I think I should go with Lithium Ion to keep weight down. A windshield should be good too...
http://www.internationalsurreyco.com/four-wheel-bikes/surrey-bike/
http://internationalsurreyco.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/blue-surrey.jpg