A few things (freeways, car seat and a toddler) make it tough for me to commute to work via my road bike. But I could see The Copenhagen Wheel becoming a huge success in cities where biking is already the norm.
This innovative e-bike uses your smart phone to do some pretty cool things beginning with helping prevent theft. Yeah, you can use your phone to lock and unlock this bike!
And the best part, The Copenhagen Wheel captures your energy while pedaling and braking and stores it for when you need that extra boost. Your phone is also your gear shifter. So you can downshift on those hills just as you might your regular road bike.
Your phone will also help you plan the best routes and I'm not just talking mileage.
It'll track road conditions, noise, air pollution and other environmental factors to help you gauge just how healthy your route is. Then, share this info with friends or your city in hopes that the more people who notice a pollution problem, the more likely it is to change. The project hopes that it might influence city decisions such as allocating resources, responding to conditions and implementing new policies. Plus, if more people trade their gas-driven vehicles for The Copenhagen Wheel, we just might see a natural shift in these conditions.
The project was unveiled at the United Nations Climate Conference this week, but I'd love to see it in stores here in the states.And I agree with one colleague that they should make it in pink.
Thanks to Fang-Yu Lin for the link and Sandy Marsh for her thoughts on this as well.
Sarah Jo Sautter
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data representation, ecosystem
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Strategists & Planners
Comments (4)
I heard about this on NPR yesterday and was completely fascinated! Any idea how to get my hands on one? I can't find any information on where to buy.
Posted on December 18, 2009 10:50
Sooboo: I think they are only available for the research project at the moment. A pity, because I could see a big desire for them in some of the big cycling communities.
.Sarah Jo
Posted on December 22, 2009 10:34
This is fantastic! Though what about the cyclist that isn't interested in saving the energy for a little "boost"? I'd rather save that energy for something else. The first thing that comes to mind is charging my iphone (since it is connected). But could we use this for something further? Perhaps we could dump this power into our home's power supply?
I'm a big proponent of alternative energy sources. Imagine how much we could do if everyone used something like this to take just that little bit off the grid.
Cheers,
Eric
Posted on December 28, 2009 21:49
Eric: What a great idea! The creators should think about how they might be able to capture, store and make the energy portable. If they teamed with Apple to utilize the iPhone as a charger itself, that would be a breakthrough. Imagine plugging your phone into your computer, not necessarily to sync or charge your phone, but to power your computer...or plugging your phone into the wall to power a light, your tv, or...Now that would be cool and resourceful!
.Sarah Jo
Posted on January 5, 2010 12:07