Science and Technology

LOCATION: BIRMINGHAM
AUDIO:ENGLISHLANGUAGE WITH NATURAL SOUND
CATEGORY: SCIENCE
INDEX NO. S0403410
SLUG: The eco bike has arrived! Several different successful designs for power assisted solo travel have been unveiled at the Gadget Show in Birmingham this week.

DURATION: 2.54"

SUGGESTED INTRO
A whole new class is coming of age in the world of personal transport. The demand for new ways to travel cheaply and in an eco friendly manner has produced a huge growth in designs of power assisted bikes. Here’s a look at some of the market leaders.

SCRIPT

Cycling to work has always put people off because it can be tiring, especially when there are hills to climb. However the market for these powered 2 wheelers is growing fast. The Yike Bike, comes from new Zealand. It uses smart technology to solve the problems of our increasingly congested, polluted, stressful cities. It’s electric powered motor is very quiet and resolves the problems of  many countries which have taxes, fuel charges and  certification for its road vehicles. The Yike Bike requires none of these. It is also the first commercial expression of the mini-farthing concept -  it seems to be much easier to ride – for most people, and it’s both fun and practical.

A  machine from the UK  goes down a different route – this is the A2B, which instead of using an add on  motor, simply builds it into the bike itself.

INTERVIEW MARKLOVERRIDGE, SALES DIRECTOR ULTRA MOTORS

We use some patented technology. So we use our own technology, our own motors and the controller is in built  are all mounted into the rear hub whereas on some other bikes the electronics are separated into other parts of the bike we keep it  all simple and in one place.
Simply in the past everyone’s seen the idea of electric bikes and they’ve thought great. They’ve seen the bikes their grandparents are riding and thought I see the idea but I don’t see the bike I want to ride so what we’ve actually done is we’ve taken that concept, we’ve built a bike that the younger community want to ride as well

Technology and computers now makes it possible for  these cycle engines to be intelligent  - they read the speed and weight of the bike  and apply or remove the correct amount of energy to the motor automatically. There are now 250,000electric bikes in Holland and 125,000 in Germany. And  A2B are  themselves are in France, Germany, Egypt and America and Holland.

The British designed  Cytronex is a popular choice because it looks like an ordinary bike, but really isn’t....it’s extremely light,  and  very fast

INTERVIEW MARK SEARLES, DESIGNER, CYTRONEX

We designed the system for commuters to get people to cycle to work instead of to drive and people like that. What’s different   about Cytronex is that it is the only electric bike system that looks exactly like a manual  bike , you can’t tell it’s electric, and we achieve that stealth look in a number of ways. Firstly we have a water bottle battery – it looks as though it’s your water bottle – secondly we have a motor which is the size of a Hub Dynamo – all the other electronics on the bike are concealed

but  for those with an adventurous personality, motors can now, it seems, be added on to almost anything...even this skateboard