Ebike - Technology that's over a century old

[Ajax]

Who Knew? ;-)

Patent US552271 - ELECTRICAL BICYCLE - Google Patents

 

[flecc]

Yes, there are lots of early examples from just over a century ago onwards, but none went into proper commercial production until a German Heinzmann in 1922. Even that was hardly a success, petrol add-on bike motors being better at the time and that remained the position until the 1980s.

 

[Ajax]

Yes, there are lots of early examples from just over a century ago onwards, but none went into proper commercial production until a German Heinzmann in 1922. Even that was hardly a success, petrol add-on bike motors being better at the time and that remained the position until the 1980s.

It makes you wonder what else in those old patents couldn't be re-explored in light of the latest technologies, or the changing ecco environmental moves.

A lot of Designs are incremental based on the current designs, or else they springs from some radical new industrial processes or changes in the social environment.

This means a lot of proposed designs fall by the way because they were either ahead of their time, ie the basic idea was sound but the technology impractical, or the social environment eg competing industries, and economics ground those ideas down to favor of their own. The example being 'oil infrastructures vs electric'.

Now of course we have ecco environmental concerns, eg carbon foot print and suddenly this older technology seem viable. Of course it still needs a cultural shift in the ways we see transport like bicycles and those riding them. Countries like China have a keener since for what's at stake and so they are actively promoting the alternatives, which in the course of time the rest of the planet may benefit from.

I can see it now, a concerted advertising campaign by the cycle industry, with the tag line....
"Are you doing your bit?"

-- so that we recognize the ecco part played by the humble cyclist.