The Pi-Pop

[albion]

https://www.wecb.fm/these-revolutio...t-need-batteries-or-recharging-a-world-first/


Certainly an April 1st. Feel.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

No - surely not
lots of words that make sense

Super capacitors - heard of them
recharge by pedalling - jup - valid concept
store energy more efficiently - makes sense
err - maybe
hi tech up to date bike with modern concepts
err - not so much - looks like an ebike from the cheap range 5-6 years ago!
free energy - yes - makes sense - I have seen lots of videos about free energy on Youtube - perpetual motion was cracked YEARS ago - clearly just bringing that tech into the practical domain

so - no
not likely to be real
is dated 30th March - which gives me pause for thought
but either way - won;t work as well as it appears - or at all - or ever be built

Mind you - it does worry me that it states that the life of a normal battery is only 5 years
better just chuck mine in the bin then - 5 years old this year!!!
seems just fine though - but what can you do - the man says it is dead!!!

 

[albion]

Two years old.
https://pi-pop.fr/index.php/2024/03/19/lhistoire-de-pi-pop/

I also read that production goes up to 10 fold to 1,000 per month this year. I suppose they could have a mini sales blip before all the bad hews gets out.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Two years old.
https://pi-pop.fr/index.php/2024/03/19/lhistoire-de-pi-pop/

I also read that production goes up to 10 fold to 1,000 per month this year. I suppose they could have a mini sales blip before all the bad hews gets out.

Hmm

OK - if it works it works - not sure it would generate enough power on the flat to help much on the hills
but - maybe??

 

[richtea]

[as posted elsewhere]

Unfortunate timing, eh! But there are other press releases from last year, which confirm it's genuine.

You can do a 50m climb in 500m (i.e. a 1 in 10 hill) and then your capacitor is empty, if I understand this image correctly:

(source: https://pi-pop.fr/index.php/faq/)

You then recharge the capacitor slowly over the next xx Km of flat/downhill riding.
In other words, you have quite small storage capacity which you must refill as you ride, and it can be released on the next climb.

For unfit people, this is not going to work unless you can pre-charge the capacitor at home before you start off, and even then it depends on where you live. (It isn't clear if pre-charging is possible on their website, but maybe I missed it.)
It may be OK for partially fit cyclists who need a little help up the hills, but still have the leg power to recharge afterwards.

There's also the problem of efficiency - regeneration is great but it's suggesting >80% in the above image.
That feels optimisitic, but from a very quick flick through some online research papers suggests that's realistic - or may be with the right design/materials.

I think this solution will just exacerbate range anxiety - you're continually one hill away from losing all assistance, and having to push a heavy bike.

The judges say:
- Nil points

 

[ExBrit]

The concept has been around for many years but the companies that make them don't last long.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

The concept has been around for many years but the companies that make them don't last long.

That is the problem - the companies don;t last and then you are screwed for spare parts!

Having said which it does look like something that would be great for my normal rides as some are mostly along canal paths and I sometime knock the power off if I get behind someone slower.
then I get home and find I forgot to put it back on when I cleared them!

so it would help me when I needed it - going up over The Bridge for example - and I could use it if there is a head wind at some point.

but it wouldn;t work all the time so I would need a normal ebike as well - and who needs 2 ebikes!!!
(OK OK OK - we all do but.........)

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Also - 2690 Euros - and looks like and old generation ebike and the cables are not hidden and the controller looks like a small electronic game for a baby!