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Electric bikes are becoming more popular as the cost to own one goes down, and the cost to own a gas-powered vehicle goes up. If you ask a true cyclist what they think of an electric bike, you might get your head bitten off, but there’s no doubt that there’s a market out there for them. Rubbee wants to appeal to that market with an easy conversion device that turns your existing bike into an electric one in just a few seconds.

The Rubbee is a portable, 14lb attachment for your existing ride that offers up to 15 miles of travel on a full charge with a top speed of 15 mph, thanks to a built-in battery pack of 20,000 mAh that chargers fully in around 2 hours. It’s an elegantly simple solution that easy installs and uninstalls without the need for wires and tools like a standard conversion kit, and it features a design intended to reduce wear on your bike’s wheel, which is used to charge the Rubbee’s battery pack through kinetic force. Plus, you can make sure that the tire doesn’t touch the Rubbee at all if you need a break during a ride.

It fits nearly every type of bike, and has an integrated rear LED for safety at night powered by the same battery that drives the wheels. The best part for people who want their bikes to still look like their bikes, however, is that it’s actually surprisingly minimal in terms of how it changes the look of a bike aesthetically.

The Rubbee is the product of a team of four co-founders with engineering expertise, and a background in electric vehicles, mechatronics and logistics. The London-based team has spent two years perfecting the Rubbee from its earliest prototype, and now says the Rubbee is ready to into full production, with proven suppliers on board to provide parts and assembly.

The most daunting aspect of the Rubbee is the price: £799 ($1,240 USD) is currently required to back at a level that includes pre-orders, which is around the same price as a dedicated e-bike will cost at some online distributors. But the Rubbee adds flexibility – buying an e-bike means you can’t also use it as a mountain bike, for instance, and you can share the Rubbee with a group pretty easily, too. Project funding closes in just four days, and the team still has to raise about £6,000 to reach its target, but this is just a first step for a tech that could become even more low-profile and consumer friendly.

When Mission Motors unveiled its Mission R electric motorbike, it garnered a lot of attention — enough that the company created a Mission Motorcycles group to handle its new darling. That division now has something to show for its work, as it’s detailing the launches for both the Mission R and a limited edition Mission RS. The regular R will cost $29,999 (after a $2,500 tax credit), which nets a 163HP motor, a basic 105-mile battery and an information system with a camera, HUD and navigation. Upgrading to the $56,499 Mission RS (again, post-credit) brings lighter BST carbon fiber wheels, Öhlins FGRT forks and a 140-mile battery. The company begins deliveries this summer, although eco-friendly riders will need to pony up for one of 40 RS bikes to be part of the first batch — the ordinary R comes later.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Mission Motorcycles

BMW is a market leader in luxury and high performance cars. However, fuel hungry cars are not the only thing that BMW makes. The company has formally cruised in to the electric bike market with their latest offering, the Cruise e-bike. The bike has a 250-watt electric motor that is capable of speeds up to 25 km/h with a range of 85km. The motor is there to assist the rider and not power the Cruise on its own, because that would then make it a motorbike, which the Cruise is not. It weighs in at just 24kg. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ORIGOSafe Hopes To Make Our Roads Safer, Volkswagen E-Up Concept Now Realized,

Last time we saw the Faraday electric bike, it had just emerged victorious from the Oregon Manifest design competition. Designed by Ideo and built by Portland’s Rock Lobster Cycles, the retro-styled ride was destined to rot in concept hell for all eternity — that is until lead designer Adam Vollmer quit Ideo to press the bike into production under the Faraday Bicycles name. Now he’s perfected the design, the company’s launching a pre-sale on Kickstarter to, er, kickstart the first production run.

Don’t be fooled by its low-fi looks, parallel top tubes hold a series of lithium-ion batteries which power a front motor, good for between 10 and 15 miles of travel. The two front prongs are the basis of a modular racking system and contain a pair of LED headlamps that activate automatically in bad light. It charges in 45 minutes and weighs around 40 pounds. The bike will set you back $3,500, $300 less than when a second run is produced next year — significantly cheaper than the current price for the $5,400 Grace One we rode around New York. If you’ve got some baller-style cash to throw around, you can spend $10,000 on a collectors edition hand-finished by Rock Lobster’s Paul Sadoff. After the break we’ve got video and more details, but be warned — you might find yourself opening your wallet a little too rapidly.

Continue reading Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video)

Filed under: Transportation

Faraday Porteur concept e-bike becomes a reality, launches pre-sale on Kickstarter (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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