D-I-Y electric bike for you!

Electric cars and bikes have become mainstream technology today. No one blinks an eyelid when you see “just another electric bike” making rounds of your city. For extremely eco-conscious bikers, even these so-called eco friendly bikes leave a slight dent in their minds. Why?! You may ask. The reason is simple. You have to charge these bikes after all! The power for charging these come from that plug point in your garage, which in turn uses powered generated by burning fossil fuels (mostly!). Ok, that might have sounded a tad far fetched but well.. It’s the truth.

Enter the ubiquitous little solar panel. This might be the ultimate tree hugging technology ever. Generate your own electricity using the power of the ever shining Sun! The following is what you get if you cram a geeky, eco conscious guy with access to solar panels and give him a bike to toy around with.

I am talking about Prometheus LLC’s first attempt at a solar powered bike. While it may look a tad gaudy, it does its job pretty well. Based on a Kawasaki Ninja 250, this unnamed model packs in a unknown number of lithium -ion phosphate batteries rated at 4.6 kWh mated to a 10 HP Perm PMG 132 motor. The result is a 70mph top speed with a range of about 50 miles. If you’re still looking for solar panels on the bike, I’m sorry, you won’t find any. The panels come separately -- so that you can generate electricity of your own for your bike. Oh and did I say that this bike is not for sale? If you want one, make one. All instructions in D-I-Y format at the Prometheus website. Before you decide to plunge in, make sure you have a nice bank balance, and in case you finally manage to build it, get a full face helmet as well so that people don’t recognize you as the guy with the ugliest bike in town.

Via: Engadget

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