This guy has it figured out

The SOZEV/train combo commute

Posted by biodiversivist (Guest Contributor) at 11:33 AM on 13 Mar 2008

Pete has the coolest-looking SOZEV (Single-Occupant Zero-Carbon Emission Vehicle) in Seattle. (Click the photo to the right for a larger view.) It has turned a sweat-inducing, 45-minute slog up a killer hill into a comfortable 10-minute cruise. He rides to the Sounder commuter train station from his house and then from downtown to his office east of Seattle. Surfing the net while commuting by train is a concept that appeals to me. I wonder how well the free wi-fi concept is actually working out ...

Pete said he would let me test-ride it, so I jumped at the chance and met him downtown. A hybrid bike's top speed, like its weight, is not a very relevant indicator of overall performance. This one can go a lot faster than it should, but I suppose that's true for every motorcycle and car in the world as well. The windscreen (which reminds me of the canopy on an F-16) makes it a little too aerodynamically clean, especially when going downhill.

Some bike seats can be, ah, "sucky for your sex organs," but this one feels like you're sitting in a BarcaLounger, and a laptop fits nicely behind it. If there were such things as protected bike lanes, we would all be riding rigs similar to this, replete with over-the-head fairings, turn signals, and electrically heated clothing. Entrepreneurs have not realized it yet, but with that much battery power, all kinds of things become feasible. Heated clothing could keep you warm and toasty in the coldest weather, negating the need to bundle up for the start of a ride and strip down toward the end of it. Turn signals would negate the need to take a hand off your brakes to signal (as cars race toward you from behind). With this much power, you can also light a bike up like a Christmas tree.

Engineering is the art of compromise. Recumbent bikes are favored for long, level rides with little car traffic. Their low drag coefficient really comes into play at higher speeds (drag is an exponential function of velocity). They also tend to be more comfortable because of the reclining position and seats. However, this low profile also makes them less visible, which can be a problem in heavy traffic. They are not so great on hills, but electric assist makes that issue irrelevant. Riding in Seattle with its heavy traffic, horrible roads, and steep hills may favor a conventional framed bike because they are more visible and nimble, although -- obviously in my case -- not visible or nimble enough. I was hit by a car on my way to test-ride this bike. I'll tell you about it in another post.

Cost is another major variable. The "Coolest bike in Seattle" title comes with a price tag. The battery pack alone cost a grand. The bike is high-end and also cost a couple thousand. The well-engineered kit wasn't cheap, either. On the other hand, when put in perspective, a $5,000 or $6,000 rig like this is not only a lot cheaper than a car, but also carbon neutral, and you can't take a car on a commuter train.

For the nerds:

He waited several months for the battery to come in from China. Apparently the charger was delayed by UL certification. The pack has about the same overall dimensions as mine but stores twice the energy and therefore has twice the range. My DeWalt power tool batteries take up more space because they're packed in damage-tolerant cases, each case has a potted circuit board, and each cell in a case is cylindrical in shape instead of rectangular.

I believe he said the cells are LiPo (lithium polymer) chemistry. If so, a single puncture or short circuit could make his bike look like a space shuttle launch. This is something he will need to watch out for. The batteries also take about six hours to charge (probably to prevent them from lighting off). The DeWalts charge in 30 to 60 minutes and won't blow up.

battery Eco-Speed has been making kits for recumbents for some time now. Their website offers several battery options, including the stable LiFe (Lithium Iron chemistry). An obscure Chinese manufacturer selling LiFe battery packs wrapped in duct tape for unbelievably low prices has recently inundated eBay. They even come with a battery management system and chargers. Personally, I wouldn't touch one of these packs with a 10-foot pole. Quality control has to be minimal to nonexistent, and the batteries may even be illegal copies of a patented design. You have to wonder what's going on out there.

The powerful motor has cooling fins to dump heat and is protected by a 50-amp fuse. To put this into perspective, understand that a single 50-amp fuse also protects all four burners and the oven in a typical electric stove. This is why I traded amperage for voltage, although 72 volts can sting if you are not careful. The motor also ties into the gearing. That gearing combined with this bike's small wheel diameter will race it up just about any hill it hits.

For story: This guy has it figured out
14 Comments | Post a Comment

Visibility and bents

I strongly disagree that recumbents (bents) are less visible than uprights (wedgies). The two instances in which I have been hit by cars were both when I was on an upright, including one where the driver glanced in my direction and then went back to looking left but decided to proceed anyway -- she said she never saw me, and I never saw her face clearly enough to know before she was on top of me.

When I ride one of my bents, the more natural and comfortable position of my head means I absolutely know whether I've been seen or not, because on a bent you ride through the world with your head in it's best visibility position (eyes front, not pointing down).

Also, there's the weirdness factor -- bents are still exotic bikes in most places, so they tend to be more apparent to most drivers. Even more important, when viewed from the front (the most narrow visual angle for the driver) a bent rider's face draws the driver's attention in a way that a torso does not ... humans are programmed from birth to pay attention to faces. Riding a bent means that my face is forward and my head is either at eye level or below eye level for drivers, which makes my face much more visible to them (compared to an upright bike, where the drivers often have to look up to see the rider's head, and then they're only seeing the top of a helmet, which isn't as visually arresting). And, of course, from any other angle, a bent is far more visible than an upright -- most bents are longer than wedgies, and the weirdness factor makes them stand out.

In addition, I have a compressed air horn on my bents -- my better visual angle makes it possible for me to know if I've been seen. When I see a driver at a stop light/sign, their face usually registers clearly that they've seen me. If I don't see that acknowledgement in their face, I give a short toot as I approach the intersection to make them look. If they don't look at me (typically because they are looking the other way, trying to find a spot to enter traffic), I won't cross their path. Car drivers are morons and both my collisions have involved people in that situation -- simply too important to take another half second to notice a bike proceeding down a bike lane.

Finally, this bike ought to have a flag -- I won't ride any bike in the city without one. They won't prevent all moron car drivers from failing to see you, but they help.

The 5% Project

by JMG at 12:06 PM on 13 Mar 2008

You've been hit twice?

I wonder what it will take to get the politicians to provide safe bike lanes across major cities? We should do a poll to see how many times riders have been hit by a car. If hybrid electric bikes with full fairings, lights, and electric heat had use of safe dedicated lanes, they might become very common because they would eliminate most of the reasons people don't ride bikes. The beauty is of course, that bikers and hybrid bikers can safely share those lanes. If gridlocked drivers looked with envy at the bikers zooming by, they would consider riding one as well. Biking would hit a tipping point before global warming does.

And look, no helmets!

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 7:25 AM on 14 Mar 2008

No helmets indeed

and so graceful and beautiful to watch. What an inspiration. Thanks, BioD.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

by spaceshaper at 8:20 AM on 14 Mar 2008

"bents" and "wedgies"

The Amsterdam video is very nice, especially the dogs at the fountain. But: 1. what does it look like when the weather turns cold or rainy?; and 2. "capital," as in "capital city," is spelled with an "a," not an "o."

Peddling while reclining uses a different set of muscles, or a reduced set, than peddling while sitting upright. Peddling a peddle-boat, whether or not it is shaped like a swan, can be murder.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 8:49 AM on 14 Mar 2008

The food stamp experiment

One of the popular stunts lately has been for politicians to live on food stamps for a week (i.e., only consume the amount of food that they could purchase with food stamps for the week). It's an enlightening exercise.

So I think that's what we need to get real biking amenities, biod. We need politicians to forswear their cars for a month and have to live on shank's mare, biking, and public transit. Not a problem in many major cities, but a nightmare in many state capitals (where the state transportation bureaus and planners are) and in virtually all suburbs. Do it during the school year so that their children suffer the imprisonment that carburbia creates -- a teen's inability to get anywhere without a chauffeur.

It's interesting to note that the Dutch are now the tallest people in the world, a status long held by Americans -- it's a good overall indicator of total population wellness, and it's sensitive to nutrition and population fitness. We have, by putting ourselves in motorized wheelchairs so much, created a self-fulfilling prophecy -- and presto! suddenly we have lots of old people who can't move much because of a lifetime of sitting, either at work or in their cars.

The 5% Project

by JMG at 9:54 AM on 14 Mar 2008

Good one, Canis

"Peddling a peddle-boat, whether or not it is shaped like a swan, can be murder."

Modern bent designs are a lot more ergonomic that swan shaped pedal boats. You could always electrify your pedal boat.

Real good points, JMG

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 11:25 AM on 14 Mar 2008

Wow

Great bike! Now substitute an inflatable clear plastic pod for the wind screen for crash and weather protection.

And two rear wheels for most commuters, but that would take more train space to. For the adventurous this is perfect.

Would mass production in china bring the price down to under 1000 bucks?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 1:15 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Oh yeah

And arm pedaling power would be nice as well. Compensating for the lower power of 'bent design. Normal biking uses the whole body when you stand up and pedal.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 1:17 PM on 14 Mar 2008

ooh, blossoming blush time

But gimme a break, English is so f**ing hard to spell, dn that s*t.

Of course: "Pedal," a beautiful word of Latin origin ("pedalis," "having to do with feet," from "pes, pedis," "foot"), is to be distinguished from "peddle," "sell, as by an out-of-doors, mobile vendor to a customer whom the vendor approaches."

But, in my own defense, by way of mitigation, "to peddle" is a back-formation from the noun "peddler," which I suspect is an English naturalization of the Late Latin "pedalaris," "one who travels by shank's mare." So, what goes around comes around, and it is all the same in the end.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 1:31 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Hit twice

I've never been hit on my bike (but, true to form for most bike-geeks I know, my first thought would likely be the safety of my beautiful chameleon-green Fat Chance, rather than my not-so-beautiful fuzzy red noggin) but I have been hit twice whilst walking home from work in Boston.

Boston is, IMO, one of the most walkable major cities in America, due to the compact nature of the city proper, but yes, the drivers can be a wee bit crazed. Beware, Bostonians - walking to work (especially across the Charles) is not without it's hazards! But, it's still better than driving, and much faster than the Green Line.

by kmp at 2:35 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Pedal, peddle, petal your boat

You have to feel sorry for those who learn to speak English as a second language. You should see one of my posts before a Grist editor cleans it up. They may have a whole team dedicated to making my posts intelligible. A red light goes on and a klaxon blares when I submit one.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 6:05 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Misspelling

A revolutionary act. All of us spelling bee runners up have suffered enough. throw off the illogical chains of irrational conformity. Are we drones or are we human?

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 10:14 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Pete sent me some youtube vids

Here he is starting his morning commute to the train station (downhill). A truck runs a red light right in front of him. The whining sound is an engineering compromise from putting the motor through gears. You get great torque this way. My brushless motors use rare earth magnets and are silent. However, because there is no gearing you get less torque for hills. You also get some drag when not using power because of the magnets. But, brushless hub motors are also very simple and last pretty much forever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WgDYKGzTvs

Here he is just before reaching the station. That looks an awful lot like a liquor store...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcoNlMgFIdk

This is some more detail of the bike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Z3o4v9PHM

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 11:07 PM on 14 Mar 2008

Inspirational!

Now if only it could be made safe and affordable.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 10:31 AM on 15 Mar 2008

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