This is an amazing TV News video report on a guy, Michael Brown, who retrofitted his bicycle into a hybrid electric bike. See more description and the report below. Broadcast on TV in May 2006.
Created by Michael Brown, this “Hybrid Electric Bike” is capable of rolling you along “at around 34+ MPH”, powered by “a $150 dollar German-made brushless 400-watt electric motor in the hub of the front-wheel and two light-weight nickel-metal batteries.” To date, he’s put on 15,000 miles and saved $2,500 worth of gas. Video after the jump.
Wires from the battery pack to the motor run neatly along the mainframe and the throttle is much like a motorcycle. It cost Brown $1,300 to build the bike from scratch.
"Man Motors On Hybrid Bike" May 10, 2006
It may not be everyman's answer to escalating gas prices, but for Michael Brown of Franklin, Tennessee, strapping on a helmet and hopping on his ‘electric’ bike is healthy and economical. Brown said now that gas prices are so high, the bike has already paid for itself in gas savings.
Brown's retro-fitted mountain bike is powered by a $150 dollar German-made brushless 400-watt electric motor in the hub of the front-wheel and two light-weight nickel-metal batteries. “All we had to do was just take the tire off the original one and put it on that one, put the batteries on put the wires on and it was all set to go,” said Brown.
Wires from the battery pack to the motor run neatly along the mainframe and the throttle is much like a motorcycle. It cost Brown $1,300 to build the bike from scratch, but some racing bikes can run over $2,000.
At a cost of 2 cents of electricity for a 50-mile charge, Brown saidthe savings are worth every penny. He said he uses the bike more than his car. Brown must peddle to five mph before the motor can kick-in but said he still peddles most of the time for exercise anyway.
The longest trip Brown has made was 120 miles to visit his mom in south Tennessee. Brown has clocked over 15,000 miles and on the bike and has saved over $2,500 dollars worth of gas at today's prices.
