New Yamaha Electric Bike Goes Twice as Far Per Charge

Yamaha Motors is making a good thing even better by debuting an extended range version of the PAS Brace, an electric bike equipped with an assistance system that controls how much electrical power to send to the motor depending on what gear the bike is in. Once a top speed of about 24 km/h is reached, the electric system shuts down. An eight-speed rear hub allows shifting at any time, even from a dead stop.

In Japan, electric bikes are a common sight – you’ll see them whizzing past you in every major city, and most of the smaller cities as well. They’re also enjoying a major surge of popularity in China. They’re definitely an efficient way to get around, taking the convenience and earth-friendliness of a bicycle and giving it a big boost of extra power.

The Yamaha PAS Brace-L is expected to hit stores on July 1st at the very affordable price of roughly $1,500.

Link [EcoFriend]

18-Year-Old Invents Bad Ass Electric Bike to Combat Pollution

Cliched as it sounds, sometimes the youth really does have a fresh creative edge over the rest of the population. 18 year old Ben Gulak of Canada has spent the last few years creating a futuristic looking electric bike designed to reduce pollution. That’s right, he’s been working on this thing since he was a mere 14-15 years old.

The Telegraph has it:

Although it resembles a unicycle, the Uno has two wheels side by side and uses gyroscopic technology to stay upright.

Ben Gulak, 18, spent several years building the machine. The rider leans forward to accelerate to speeds of 25mph, and backwards to slow down.

Mr Gulak, from Canada, said: “I was inspired to make the bike after visiting China a few years ago and seeing all the smog. They all drive little bikes that are really polluting and I wanted to make something to combat that.”

Weighing 120lb, the bike is light enough to be taken indoors to be charged up, and runs for 2.5 hours.

Don’t you want one? When I saw the photo, the ‘Jetsons’ theme song instantly started playing in my head. When I was a little girl, I was under the impression that by the time I was in my 20’s we’d be living in a Jetsons-style futuristic world, and of course we’re nowhere near that, but cool inventions like this make it seem closer. I just hope that more of the inventions to come are as eco-friendly as this one.

Link [The Telegraph]

Photo credit: Motorcycle Mojo