Folding Electric Car
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at
8:25 am
Folding electric car by the Wike Wicycle bicycle trailer company. see it towing a bike trailer. see: www.wicycle.com or http Who killed the electric Car? zap currie belt drive friction drive fairing. GM Ford Honda Toyota Chrysler General motors compact
Tagged with: bike • bionx • car • comact • ebike • electric • ev • global • heinzman • hub • micro • Motor • oil • peak • recombent • trailer • velomobile • warming
Filed under: Car Insurance
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i’m using a LiFePO4 battery, 15Ah @ 36V for my bike. best battery ever.
a sexy weather shield would be nice.
Oh yes, no doubt about it that the folding car’s batteries will keep a charge better than the Prius and they might actually last longer (prius batteries last for about 100,000 miles).
But my only concern about electrics are their long term effect on the environment, sure in the short term they have virtually no effect but once you start to pile up those unrecyclable/unusable batteries then the negative effect just stack up. Like Toyota has a battery “disposal facility”…
…that’s basically a landfill for batteries. And a pile of batteries that can leak at any moment could lead to negative environmental impact. But Toyota says that it’s “impossible” for leaking batteries to penetrate the facility.
The only quote in this video that’s really stretching opinion and fact is that “…the physics behind…family cars won’t last for 15 more years…” 50 years maybe, 15? Now that’s irrational and near impossible unless we all drive Humvees
my understanding is that NiMH batteries are recyclable, and there is a market for them (payback of recycling costs). same for LiFePO4. It’s the NiCd, LiPolymer and Lithium-Cobalt that are dangerous because of the heavy metals. lead-acid is dangerous but much more recyclable.
however, if our goal is to create sustainable transport, we need to replace roadways with guideways–not only for safety (grade separation) but mostly to power the vehicles from trackside energy storage systems.
And NiMH batteries provide more power, range, and life…at a bit of a bigger cost…
Which is mostly why Toyota doesn’t use them on the Prius (lead acid). I mean the purchase price is already a bit impractical for those seeking economical transport.
Thankfully the Tesla batteries (in both Teslas and 09′+ smart Electric Drives) are NiMH. And sadly enough both Tesla and smart (both gas/electric) are 95%-98% recyclable (whole car).
make a 4×4 version…so I can go offroad
it would be interesting to make it remote control using a cell phone as the wireless control interface and for a live video feed to show the action. could drive the car to the drive thru window to order food or drinks ..
That’s a folding car like a convertible is a folding car. I was hoping for a Transformer cross with George Jetson’s suitcase.
when the car is full folded down.. it is not drivable. however, more can be don with folding down the wheels. Perhaps the next generation will incorporate advanced matrials for less weight and greater strength.
Lithium batteries would more than quadruple the range and pawer.. a couple bionx hub motors (maybe even 4) would increase power and speed. disk brakes on all for wheels would add to safety performance. the advanced batteries would allow for more electronics… perhaps for pasenger compartment heating/cooling control, video cameras in front and rear (with therma and/or night vision) for enhanced safety.
The first cars were often built by companies who had previously made bicycles. Things are coming full circle: the next generation of cars may be developed by people who develop electric cars from the bicycle/velomobile cos trying to develop them backwards from the petrol car dosent seem to be happening – its always promises of next year for electric cars from the big car companies.
interesting note… Howard Hughes, before becoming famous as an aircraft builder, tinkered with puting a motor on his bicycle. And the famous Henry Ford began his ventures into building electric cars(before petrol cars existed) while he was the chief engineer at the Edison Illumination Company.
looks great …until an accident ha[ppens. Hope the life insurance is paid up.
The irony is that this thing is superior in safety to automobiles. I just wish it had pedal power in case I run out of batteries. I travel 40k per day.
No kidding, 40K per day. What does it cost to run? How is it safer? I live in the US with lots of SUV’s on the road which makes my sub compact seem unsafe. It could be a fakeout of course since you can get just as killed in a truck..
20 D cell batteries ? how is that possible?
I have an electric bike and I just ordered 36v 20ah lithium battery for it…can’t wait
the gas car itself may not be doomed but your ability to pay for it might be…where are you going to get the money to keep funding something like that? think about it…there are no jobs that last 20 years anymore
The red one in the beginning made me think of the Velorex, a Czechoslovakian microcar that has a tube frame with a fabric ‘skin’. Is that what insprired you to use fabric for the Wicycle?
Have you heard of velomobiles? they have velomobiles with electric assist
OK i WANT ONE. WHERE DO I GO AND HOW MUCH PLEASE.
MUDDy
@muddymuddymuddmann I want one to
@doug2877 OH NO THIS ONES MINE,,,,LOL
I PROMISED IT TO ELMO AND MR.NUUDO!
MUDDy
There might not be enough resources for everyone to keep driving cars for long…but there is also not enough resources to make batteries for everyone for very long…and the only place to harvest the resources that are needed to make batteries is China, a vastly growing nation…pretty scary isn’t it?
So nice concept for now, but not the solution.
It’s a nice concept. However, you can’t buy and stuff 2 weeks work of groceries in it. You can’t load the up the kids, the soccer equipment in it. You can’t load all your your camping gear in it. This WIKE is only made for single people. Make a solar electric mini-van and you will sell a lot more to the general public.