Think small with the YikeBike
That's New Zealand's own YikeBike. It now looks to be available in the U.S. for around $3,600, which may be a low enough price to draw at least a few curious buyers to purchase one.
The YikeBike Electric 'mini-farthing' a self-described new class of bikes, also known as a mini electric penny farthing exists somewhere between an e-bike and a Segway. Upon encountering traffic, the owner of said device simply unfolds the lightweight, 22 pound frame, climbs up on the wheel-mounts, leans back, and away she goes for 6.2 miles on a charge, courtesy of the electric motor.
While we applaud the innovative design thinking, we're with Wired's Gadget Lab in wondering whether the high center of gravity, larger front wheel and handlebars-behind-you design doesn't add up to an urban faceplant waiting to happen. One reason this device might be more appropriate on the sidewalk, like a Segway, say, rather than braving the street like a bike.
With some interesting features we expect at least a few folks to be interested in the YikeBike, if only for the sheer novelty of riding on their own handlebars.
Related News
If B.C. wants to electrify all road vehicles by 2055, it will need to at least double its power output: study
VANCOUVER - Researchers at the University of Victoria say that if B.C. were to shift to electric power for all road vehicles by 2055, the province would require more than double the electricity now being generated.
The findings are included in a study to be published in the November issue of the Applied Energy journal.
According to co-author and UVic professor Curran Crawford, the team at the university's Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions took B.C.'s 2015 electrical capacity of 15.6 gigawatts as a baseline, and added projected demands from population and economic growth, then added the increase that shifting to…
