Electric powered vehicles
Many people may not be aware of the fact that the first automobile to reach 60 mph was electric powered. The Baker Electric was manufactured a few years early in the last century and was apparently a reliable and easy-to-operate vehicle. Some years ago, one of the Big Three auto makers launched a pilot program to test an electric car for everyday use. You can learn more about this automobile and what happened to the program in the documentary, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com Interesting stuff. One problem we see in the future of battery-powered electrics is that “Big Oil” is more than likely to become “Big Battery.”
The SLA batteries that will be used in the prototype Bricycle are fairly inexpensive and reliable, and the two 36-volt chargers will consume about the same power it takes to illuminate a 120 watt light bulb for a few hours. Would you notice any real appreciable difference in your monthly electric bill?
Recumbants
Cyclists and safety
A cycling enthusiast will take one look at the Bricycle and say, "here we go again." It will be too heavy, too slow, too wide, too hot, and not nimble enough to appeal to the vast majority of cyclists. Many cyclists probably like the feel of the wind in their faces when they’re riding and a certain sense of freedom, moving that fast on a minimal machine. Actually, the Bricycle would be well suited for a cyclist. A cyclist with better physical conditioning, having peddled more miles on the road than the average person and with that experience to draw from, could peddle the Bricycle to the design potential.
The Bricycle will be heavier than a conventional bicycle, even a very heavy bicycle. The three biggest drawbacks to weight are getting it moving, moving it up an incline, and trying to stop it. Finding a good starting gear range should be fairly easy, and there is always the “granny” gear for hills. Cruising on the flat, at around 12 mph to 14 mph, probably won’t require much more energy than expend when riding an open recumbent trike. The Bricycle uses decent quality sealed ball bearings on all the wheels, not the common open-cage bicycle type. The front wheel hub motor, so I’ll be using conventional lever or cam-type brakes on the front. The rear wheels have 180 mm discs and cable-activated calipers.
The Bricycle will definitely be visible. With a length of nearly 9 feet and a height of 54 inches, in profile the Bricycle almost appears to be a small automobile, albeit an unusual automobile. From the front or back, the Bricycle looks like nothing else on the road and certainly not like a bicycle, so being “seen” by pedestrians and motorists should not be a problem. The prototype will have side-marker light directional signals, tail lights, stop lights and a headlight--all LED. The seating height is nearly the same as our 1997 Honda. A lower seating height would place eyesight at a dangerous height, causing temporary blindness from the headlights of a conventional automobile, let alone an SUV or pickup.
Survivability--the big question? First and foremost, wear a helmet. The energy produced from a collision or impact has to be dissipated in some way. In the case of a cyclist, it’s the human body. The rims and frame will give way, but the mass of the body contains most of the energy. If you are thrown from a bike, the body coming in contact with the ground or other rigid object absorbs all the impact until it finally comes to rest. The Bricycle will have a lap belt and probably a shoulder harness of some kind. The rider will stay with the vehicle and let the structure dissipate the energy. Even without wearing a seat belt, the Bricycle has been designed with no vertical members in front of the seat. Placing the front derailer on a short vertical tube would have made the whole gear train design easier.
The Bricycle has storage space behind the seat large enough to accommodate three bags of groceries, or a large backpack, or a briefcase. The front cowling will be removable, so that in better weather conditions you would be riding in a sort of convertible. The cowling has no real relevance to the structure of the Bricycle because the tub is the main structural element.