Clean Republic, a local Seattle start-up literally run out of a garage, seems to be of the opinion that what matters is simplicity, modesty in design, and of course low cost. In 2010 they’ve gone from prototype to 1,000 kits shipped and although they’re not bucking to be a billion-dollar company, they are building a sustainable business and could be trading in millions pretty soon.

Michael Shope is the CEO, a local and a fellow graduate of mine from Garfield High School here in Seattle. He came into the scene with the simple intention of building a better electric bike for the American market. Part of the issue is commitment: many bike makers are selling models with motors and battery integrated, with 500 watts or more of power. At between $1000 and $3000, they tend to be almost as much of a consumer commitment as a motorcyle or scooter. I considered one myself when I was driving two miles to work back in 2006, since really I just needed a hand on the hills here in Seattle, which anyone will tell you are murder (especially with the rain and the drivers here). But $2000 was rent money, and I already had a car and a regular bike. Shope was counting on people like me, who would love to quit petrol but didn’t want to buy a whole electric bike platform.

The Hill Topper is an original design on an established e-bike principle: the front wheel of your bike is replaced by one with a hub-mounted motor, the battery clips to your frame, and there’s a single button remote for spinning it up. Like other electric bikes, it’ll maintain your speed, boost your pedaling, or propel the bike itself if you need to take a break. Unlike other electric bikes, it can be installed in a couple minutes with no expertise at all, and the whole setup only weighs six pounds. It costs ~$750 for the light, Li-ion 20-mile battery and $400 for a heavier, 10-mile battery.

They’ve sold over a thousand kits to date and are selling them as fast as the co-founder can put them together in North Dakota. Who would have thought Americans would want something cheap and easy? Shope notes: “You already have a bike that you like and is perfectly adjusted and measured for you, just how you like it, and is made of much higher quality components that the expensive full electric bikes are. It just doesn’t make sense to spend $2k on an e-bike when you can just pop our wheel on your own.”

That said, they face tough competition; major bike companies like Trek and Giant, as well as electronics and battery players like Sanyo, are already established and have sold millions in other markets. The pricing is volatile and new battery tech will probably be adopted or developed by the big guys first. However, the ability to turn your ten-year-old junker into a viable commuter vehicle is a serious draw, and although they’re not the only ones offering this type of device, they’re doing it their own way with their own design and that’s worth acknowledgment.

You can order your own online, or if you’re in Seattle, drop by Electric Bikes Northwest to pick one up in person. If you’re feeling extra-green, try picking up some plant-based grease as well.

[image credit: Capitol Hill Seattle]

If you’re just remotely interested in electric cars, you will know of i-MiEV, Mitsubishi’s mini “green” vehicle. The i-MiEV has been around for years in Japan (the US will get it in 2011), and now a local retail chain called AEON is offering two e-bikes [JP, PDF] whose design is supposed to resemble said car.

AEON chose white/light green and white/red as the colors, which are also used by Mitsubishi for the i-MiEV. The e-bikes have 20-inch wheels and are powered by a 4Ah lithium-ion (MiEV-branded) battery. Once fully charged (for 2 hours/$0.12), the battery makes it possible to travel about 15km.

AEON already started the bikes in Japan (price: $1,200), but don’t expect them to hit other markets anytime soon.

We’ve covered quite a few electric bikes over the last years, but this new model developed by a Japanese company called Hama Zero (no website) offers a new twist. Their “Solar Bike Fujin” is an electric bike that’s powered by electricity generated by an on-board solar panel. The bike can be used on public roads (at least in Japan) and boasts an assisted travel range of 220km on a single charge.

All you need is a home power socket, with Hama Zero saying one charge costs around $0.02 (if you use just solar power, there are obviously no costs involved at all). Powered by a 940W/h lithium-ion battery, the Fujin reaches a top speed of 72km/h.

The bike weighs 42kg, including the solar panel that’s placed in a box in the back.

This video, produced by our friends over at DigInfoNews in Tokyo, provides more insight:

We’ve shown you countless electric bikes over the past months, but there’s one feature that makes the RX-10S [JP, PDF], Panasonic’s newest model, stand out: it boasts an assisted travel range of a a whopping 97km (60 miles) in “eco-mode” – on a single charge.

Panasonic says that the bike’s motor (see picture below) gets juice every time you hit the brakes, for example when driving down a hill or decelerating (only half the amount if you use just one of the brakes on the left or right).

Powered by a 26V-10Ah lithium ion battery, the bike boasts an assisted travel range of 56km in “automatic mode”, while the “power mode” will get you 48km (one charge takes 5.5 hours).

Panasonic started selling the bike in Japan yesterday (price: $1,900) in white, black, and brown. No word yet on international sales plans.

Yamaha Japan announced [press release in English] the EC-03 today, an electric 50cc scooter that’s powered by a 50V/14Ah lithium ion battery. The vehicle has a driving range of 43km (at 30km/h on flat roads) per charge. A charge takes six hours, with Yamaha saying that a household electrical outlet (100V) is all you need.

Marketing the e-scooter as a “Smart Minimal Commuter”, Yamaha claims that each charge will set you back only $0.20 in electricity costs. The vehicle is sized at just 1,565 mm × 600 mm × 990 mm, weighs 56kg and has a minimum turning radius of 1.7m.

The zero-emission e-scooter will go on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area in September, followed by the rest of Japan one month later (price: $2,850). Available in either white or brown, the EC-03 is expected to cost $2,800. Yamaha is yet to announce international sales plans.

We’ve covered plenty of electric bicycles from Japan in the past, but there’s a significant problem with most of them: usually they’re really ugly, for example this one or this model from Toshiba. But just today, Yamaha has announced [JP] the PAS Brace-L, a nice-looking electric bike that’s specifically towards the young and male part of the population.

Yamaha says it especially targets men who’d buy an electric bike for fun (but never did because of the design of most of the models out there) or need a cool, practical vehicle to commute to work. The bike is powered by an 8.1Ah/25.2V lithium-ion battery, features an assisted travel range of 47km in standard mode (37km in power mode), with the battery taking four hours for a full charge.

The PAS Brace-L will go on sale in Japan on July 15 and will cost $1,630.

One critical factor that stands in the way of electric vehicles becoming mainstream is the lack of charging stations once you’re on the road with your e-bike or electric car. In the case of bicycles, 37km, for example (as seen in Panasonic’s newest models), isn’t a bad number for an assisted travel distance, but it’s not enough for those really long trips.

A Japanese company called Shin Nikkei has developed what seems to be part of the solution. The Charry [JP], a charging “box” that’s small in size, relatively inexpensive and suitable for outdoor use. The main idea is to make it possible for operators of small parking (and similar) spaces to let people charge their small electric vehicles (everything from bikes to cars or motorcycles) while on the go.

The Charry houses two power outlets (100 and 200V), a lock and a timer. Shin Nikkei is saying it can be used not only for charging electric vehicles but for other things such as grilling (seriously), too. But the box is mainly meant to make life easier for owners of electric bikes, about 300,000 of which are being sold in Japan alone per year.

The Charry goes on sale in Japan this Thursday and costs $2,700 (including the stand).

Japan is to get another three electric bikes, two of which are being marketed as “sporty”, while one is targeted specifically at women. All three models are made by Panasonic (which announced one of the coolest e-bikes ever just a few weeks ago).

The two sport bikes [JP] are called the “Rustic” (BE-ENHL63/pictured above) and the “Little Bee” (BE-ENHB03/pictured below). Technically, both models are very similar, offering an assisted travel range of 32km (Rustic) to 37km (Little Bee), three different driving modes (eco, power, and automatic), and a charging time of about three hours for the lithium-ion battery.

Weighing just 18.3kg (Little Bee) and 20.6kg (Rustic), both bikes are relatively light, too.

Panasonic plans to start selling these “sporty” e-bikes in Japan this month (prices: $1,160 for the Little Bee and $1,260 for the Rustic).

The company has also announced a “women-friendly” bike, the “Sugar Drop” (also named BE-ENCS032). Panasonic says that this model, pictured above and below, is supposed to be cute, small, and extra-easy to ride (it’s apparently designed so that it’s easy to ride wearing a skirt, too).

The bike also offers three different driving modes and an assisted travel range of 37km in eco-mode.

Panasonic already started selling the Sugar Drop in Japan where it’s available in four different colors (you can see “Milk” and “Apricot” on the pictures). It costs $1,000.

All of these bikes are Japan-only at this point, unfortunately.

Volkswagen just announced their latest gadget, the Bik.e – a folding electric bicycle designed to fit in the trunk of your car, in the space currently taken up by your spare tire. With a maximum range of 12.5 miles, I question whether it would be a good spare tire replacement, but I still like it. It is interesting to see a company like Volkswagen get into the electric bicycle concept though.

Of course, it’s not available yet, no one knows when it will be, or how much it will cost. We do know that the Bik.e will charge itself up from your car so you won’t have to worry about keeping it powered up. Regardless of how much it costs, it definitely looks cool. I’m not 100% behind the fact that you can’t pedal it though, that kind of limits the functionality.

[via Gizmodo]

We’ve covered plenty of electric bicycles from Japan in the past, but let’s be honest: Most of them are really ugly, for example these (technically interesting) models Sanyo introduced three weeks ago. But this new Panasonic e-bike, the BE-ENV [JP], looks rather cool and is something I could see the younger (and male) population actually using, too.

Based on the titanium frame, Panasonic is marketing the BE-ENV as a “high-class” electric bike. This new model is extremely light (15.7kg) and absorbs vibrations better than other e-bikes, according to the company. Panasonic says they especially focused on the general design and the lithium-ion battery to make the BE-ENV stand out of the crowd.

Buyers will be able to choose between three different driving modes, including an eco-mode, directly from an LCD monitor (see picture below), which can also be used to keep track of one’s average speed, distance travelled etc. Depending on which battery you choose, the eco-mode makes it possible to achieve a travel distance of up to 69km.

The BE-ENV is already available in Japan for $6,600 to $8,000 (build-to-order). There are no plans to sell the bike outside Japan at this point.

We have reported about electric bicycles multiple times in the past, but today Sanyo in Japan announced [press release in English] the “eneloop Hybrid Bicycle” whose battery riders can actively charge while pedaling on flat roads. Previous models, for example this one Sanyo released in 2008, mainly harness energy from braking when the bike goes downhill (“Loop Charge Mode”).

Dubbed Eco Charge Mode, Sanyo will use the new system in their next eneloop models, the CY-SPL226 (26-inch wheel diameter/pictured on top) and CY-SPL224 (24-inch wheel diameter). Riders can still charge the 25.2 V-7.6 Ah battery via the Loop Charge Mode, but now have more options to save energy for longer riding distances with the new system (Sanyo says the Eco Charge Mode increases the assisted travel distance by about 53%).

The two new models feature an assisted travel distance of up to 55km and even 68km when equipped with an extra battery. A full charge of the battery takes 280 minutes.

Sanyo plans to start selling the new e-bikes in Japan on April 28 (price: $1,800 each). The company unfortunately doesn’t say if the eneloop bikes will ever be sold outside Japan (where 350,000 bikes have been sold last year) as well.

While electric bikes are gaining more and more ground in Japan, the situation in the rest of the world (at least for highly advanced models) is quite different. These vehicles seem to have a hard time in America in particular, although there’s anecdotal evidence the concept does have the potential to catch on in the US as well – basically speaking.

But most of the makers of these bikes, powerhouses such as Panasonic or Sanyo, never tested waters outside Japan. Yamaha, another such company, now announced [JP] a total of five electric bikes over the weekend, all of which are likely to never find their way outside Japan. The new models are part of Yamaha’s series of PAS electric bikes.

Yamaha says the main selling point of these new models is their “smooth” driving behavior, especially when accelerating or going up a hill. Weighing between 23.2kg and 27 kg, all bikes are powered by a lithium-ion battery. Drivers can choose between three modes: automatic, “power” and “auto-eco plus”.

The flagship model, the PAS-CITY M, for example, weighs 27kg and boasts an assisted travel range of up to 32km in auto-eco plus driving mode. It takes two to three hours to fully charge the battery.

Yamaha says they are targeting women in particular with the new PAS lineup that includes bikes in “cherry pink” and “cosmetic orange” (both are pictured). Prices vary between $1,100 for the most basic model and $1,300 for the PAS-CITY M. But, as indicated above, don’t expect these to become available outside Japan anytime soon.

One thing is clear: Japan loves electric bikes. And now Tokyo-based Iwatani is presenting a model [JP] that’s powered by hydrogen. It isn’t exactly the prettiest vehicle out there, but the so-called Hydrogen Bicycle is ecological (it doesn’t emit any CO2).

Iwatani says the 31kg/156cm-bike reaches an assisted travel range of up to 45 miles. It uses hydrogen cartridges sold by the same company, but there’s also a lithium-ion battery (26V-4Ah) on board. Power will be supplied by the battery once the hydrogen in the cartridge runs out (the bike then switches automatically from hydrogen to battery mode). The carts have a volume of 80nl and need to be placed in a small tank behind the saddle.

Iwatani plans to conduct first practical tests at the Kansai International Airport near Osaka starting tomorrow. The company hasn’t said yet if the bike will ever be mass-produced, but has announced more field tests for the near future.

Sanyo landed a huge hit with its eneloop brand that includes a number of “green” products, such as lamps, batteries or even Wii controllers. In the past few months, the company also introduced electric bikes that featured eneloop technology, one of which it wanted to sell outside Japan as well.

Now Nippon gets another two eneloop-branded bikes [JP], a carbon fiber model and a foldable bicycle. The way both models work is the same: Every time you drive downhill or decelerate, the electric motor switches to a dynamo, allowing for regenerative charging. Both bikes are pretty cool but have one disadvantage: The hefty price tag.

The CY-SPK227 (pictured above), is the world’s first electric bike with a carbon fiber frame. Targeting sports fanatics, the bike weighs 19.5kg and is 1,830mm long. Charge the 25.2V/5.7Ah lithium-ion battery for 3.5 hours, and the bike will let you drive for about 100km (assisted travel range). Available in black only, Sanyo plans to start selling the bike on October 1. The price: $6,700.

Sanyo also presented a foldable electric bike today, the CY-SPJ220, which is less spectacular but also way cheaper. That bike’s 24V/3.1Ah lithium-ion battery is good for an assisted travel range of up to 46km with a single charge (which takes 2 hours and 15 minutes).

The CY-SPJ220, which isn’t made of carbon fiber, weighs 18.5kg and is available in black, red or white. Sanyo will start selling the bike in Japan on September 21 fo $1,100.

The company hasn’t said yet if these bikes will ever make their way outside Nippon as well.

There are more and more electric bikes coming out of Japan in the last few months. Bridgestone Cycle, which is based out of Tokyo (yes, the tire company), has developed a new model [JP] that’s boasts an assisted travel range of up to 30km with a single charge. Bridgestone claims this is 30% more than what their previous electric bike reached.

The so-called Vegas E.A. features 20-inch wheels and a 2.9Ah lithium ion battery. Frame colors available will include beige, red/beige and black. If only the designers could have spent more time and energy on coming up with a sexier look (Bridgestone wants to sell 2,000 bikes yearly – good luck with that).

The Vegas E.A. goes on sale in Japan only on May 20. I wonder when Japanese companies will start exporting these bikes to overseas markets. Bridgestone’s MSRP is $900, which is considerably lower than most other electric bikes out there.

Electric bikes are becoming more and more popular in Japan as top electronics brands such as Panasonic, Toshiba and Yamaha are rolling out new models monthly.

In December last year, Sanyo announced an electric bike and said it may even be exported to overseas markets soon. Today, the company said [JP] that from March on, the local government of Tokushima Prefecture in Southern Japan will get three Sanyo eneloop bikes and the electricity they need from a special solar parking spot.

Sanyo, which runs a battery factory in the prefecture, says the solar parking station is fully automatic. It mainly consists of 3 units of Sanyo’s proprietary HIT solar panels (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer, 210W each) and boasts an annual energy production of 690kWh. In the case of an emergency, an emergency electric supply unit makes sure that the bikes are usable.

Civil servants in Tokushima are free to use the bikes for work-related drives. Sanyo said they aim at making Tokushima a hub for green power innovations.

It seems that electric bikes have gained significant momentum in the last few months on the market for “green” products, especially in Japan where Yamaha just announced a total of three new models [JP].

The company already offers a number of Japan-only electric bikes and is now to release the PAS Lithium S (pictured above), the PAS CITY-S and the PAS CITY-F on February 5.

All bikes will come with the same price tag: $1,200 and the differences between the different models are miniscule. For example, there will be slight differences in the colors the bikes are available in, sizes (versions from 24 to 27 inches are planned) and weight. All models are powered by a lithium-ion battery (25.2V / 4Ah).

With one charge, the assisted travel range can reach up to 39km when riding in standard mode, 21km in power mode and 67 km in auto-eco plus mode.

Sanyo today unveiled the Eneloop electric hybrid bike [JP], which will be on sale in Japan in early February 2009. The company is following Toshiba, Yamaha (Yamaha even sells two bikes) and Panasonic with their new addition to its Eneloop series of particularly “green” electronic products.

The bike is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and harnesses energy from braking when the bike goes downhill while being able to double the rider’s pedal force when going uphill through powering the front wheel. Sanyo claims their bike can travel 1.8 times faster than non-electric bikes.

The bicycle will cost $1,400 and is available in white, green, black or grey. Sanyo aims to launch the new bike overseas “at some point in the future”, according to a company representative. Its seat height is adjustable from 24-inch to 26-inch framing (the adjustable saddle range is 18cm).

Japanese electronics companies really seem to believe in the concept of electric bikes. Following Yamaha and Panasonic whose bikes were unveiled in July (Yamaha presented another one last month), Toshiba exhibited a model manufactured by Cannondale during the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), which was held in New York last week.

The bike is equipped with a battery module that is based on Toshiba’s proprietary quick-charging lithium ion rechargeable battery “SCiB”. Measuring 100x300x45mm, the module features a voltage of 24V (weight: 2kg). Toshiba says the bike reaches an assisted travel range of up to 30 miles with a single charge.

The bike is scheduled for release in America and Europe early next year with Cannondale reportedly planning to price it at around $3,000. And this time, the Japanese are left empty-handed since in its current form, the bike would violate the local Road Traffic Law (the other electric bikes mentioned above are Japan-only).

Via Tech-On

Yamaha started selling a lithium-ion battery-powered electric bike in Japan in August (Panasonic followed up with its Vivi RX 10-S soon thereafter) and now presents the PAS CITY-C [JP].

The new Yamaha bike, which was manufactured in cooperation with Tokyo-based design company Plus Minus Zero, bike will be Japan-only.

Yamaha claims the bike can reach an assisted travel range of up to 65km with a single battery charge (that takes around 2 hours). Aimed mainly at Japanese homemakers, the PAS CITY-C comes equipped with an extra-large shopping basket that can be attached above the front wheel.

The bicycle measures 590×1540×715～850mm and weighs 21.8kg. Yamaha says it’s limited to 20 units and will cost $2,000 (colors available: green and grey). It can be pre-ordered in Nippon starting November 28 and will be delivered to buyers at the beginning of next year.

I am just wondering why no Japanese company seems to plan to export electric bikes to foreign markets.