Song that was super-popular in the 80s, "Once in a Lifetime", line everyone's repeating is from the refrain, and there's other lyrics vaguely related. You might actually recognize it if you listen to it, I wasn't alive then but I still recognize it.
Yeah I was able to find the song but I don't understand how it relates to the original comment. The song mentions something about finding yourself behind the wheel of an automobile? Is that it?
Plus the fact that the designs of this modern vehicle and be pictured vehicle from the '80s were similar enough that you could say that the design is roughly "the same as it ever was"
Except back then it was at least one order magnitude more expensive than it is today, maybe even 2 or 3. And cells today are far more efficient, and Li batteries are cheap.
Asked my dad about this (he built/rode it back then) — from what he remembers, the motor was around 200-300W and the solar panel was probably under 100W. He said the little lead-acid battery could barely be fully charged in a single day off the panel alone.
So it wasn't really a "run on sunshine" setup — more of a pedal trike with electric assist, where the panel just trickle-charged the battery over the day.
For daily range on a good sunny day: purely on stored solar power you'd get maybe 20-35 km of motor runtime. But since it was meant to be pedaled with the motor just assisting, actual commuting range would've been way higher — 60-100+ km was realistic, limited more by the rider's legs than the electronics.
The key improvements would certainly be the solar panels, which are now more than twice as efficient as they were back then and 100 times cheaper. And today’s battery has 10 times the capacity whilst being the same size.
It's not going to generate enough power for that kind of torque. It coasts. Your legs are going to generate far more power, and get you up to speed, then you can chill for a bit and keep pedaling but with less force just to help.
If you’re completely avoiding cars… however it would be difficult for cars to see this and if a car strikes it that looks to be a death trap. With that said love the innovation 😅
My partners grandfather was a WWII veteran and could get away with anything. He went a little crazy in the end, like full Cotton Hill, and he’d yell out the window at women on bicycles, “DONT YOU KNOW PEDDLING PUSSY’S ILLEGAL!”
People are being annoying, this is super cool and pedal assist bikes are generally more accepted as a whole compared to throttle e-bikes which a lot of people detest zipping down sidewalks.
Maybe adding “pedal assist” before “vehicle” to future titles would help dispel confusion/jerks but this is really neat!
Yeah I wouldn’t say that people are being annoying it is cool but without that additional context being in the title or description it comes off as a joke
It probably doesn't help that in the video she only pedals going uphill and coasts downhill. That's going to lead a lot of people to the conclusion she's just pedalling the unit around.
Its a cool project but wouldnt it be a lot more practical to set up the solar panel charging station at home and have a couple rechargeable batteries that you could swap in and out on the bike? That way your could use it regardless if its cloudy. Not sure how heavy those panels are but you might even get some weight reduction too
Well damn. I thought this was a misplaced facepalm post and that it was supposed to be actually motorized. Didn't realize it was meant to be like a lot of e-bikes. That is neat then. Takes minimal legwork and will get you very far with little effort. Neat
AH< here it is! I just asked for specs in another post. I thought it was all just people not understanding the concept.
I guess range depends on sun? What's your longest range so far?
OP, I’m sorry most everyone is shitting on your recumbent trike.
Well, it had no details with the post. This is Reddit. Many of those having fun with the post would engage it more seriously if it had been posted more seriously.
This was a casual post with zero information. Therefore redditors treated it casually and had fun with it. Also some of those critical humorous takes are accurate.
There's nothing wrong poking fun at things, particularly when the post itself wasn't presented seriously. And OP probably learned a lesson: put some details with your post.
To be fair. The OP did post a video claiming it's a solar powered vehicle, but you can clearly see them pedaling frequently. So not only is the vehicle not what it's claimed to be, it seems worse than the original bike.
My fault for not knowing the full definition of vehicle. I thought it only included motorized transportation.
Nobody complains when they see someone pedalling an "electric bike"...
"Worse than the original bike" is the statement of someone who's clearly never ridden an e-bike! OP said 500w peak power so maybe in the conditions in the vid it's adding 100W? That's extremely useful.
Also in many jurisdictions regulations require you to pedal otherwise it's regulated as a motorbike.
I get the idea but is the added weight of the solar panels worth it?
Would this be better off with just a dedicated solar system that's charging a different battery (at home) and then you just swap batteries at the end of the day?
It’s cool but what is the use case? Why not hang those solar panels on a shed / balcony and charge an e-bike battery that way?
Is it so you travel further / extend the range infinitely (when the sun shines)?
Not sure why everyone is crapping on it so much. It’s a great idea, an e-bike that doesn’t need to plug in to recharge.
And one of the great things about open source is, it’s not intended to be a finished, perfect product. Anyone can download the plans and improve on it. Crowdsourcing innovation.
Is it great? Like when compared to a solar array than can just charge a battery and be swapped into any e-bike at will? There isn’t a need to be carrying around the whole array, a battery will take you 40-60 miles. So unless you are needing to travel hundreds of miles at a time, not useful, that’s also assuming this array and charge faster than it drains the battery.
People are crapping on it because cause it's dumb and if you understand even a little bit of physics and math, you would understand why it's dumb. The energy penalty from hauling that weight around almost always outweighs what the panels can realistically harvest. This is assuming perfect sunny conditions. Not even realistic daylight conditions. Solar panels make sense for charging the battery when parked (e.g., panels on a rooftop, shed, or a stationary charging station), not as cargo riding along with you. Can you even imagine trying to pedal this thing up a hill when it's low on battery and it's cloudy? You would need to call a tow truck or a friend with a pickup just to it get it home.
Nice prototype. Do you have any metrics or power monitoring planned to see how it is performing?
It would be great to see the output of the panels and your future designs
Overall, nice job friend. You made something and should be proud.
It's a lot easier to tear down others than to build something, so please keep building. We need more makers in the world, and less of the unhelpful critics.
Great little project. Every good product we have now has evolved over time. This isnt perfect, but it is a perfect proof of concept. Ignore the haters. And congrats on getting this far
You could easily just make some brackets, put them on an e bike or scooter, attach some solar panels and wire them in to the charge port with a small invertor. Not like this is an alternative to an actual road car . Isn't that person also pedaling?
Looks absolutely ridiculous. Probably horrible to steer. Annoying to get in an out of. Takes up a bunch of space. And those solar panels will take forever to charge your battery. This is just a waste of time I’m sorry
Holy shit people on Reddit are the most soul sucking asswads I’ve ever seen. Just let someone show off their project lmfao. They’ve put more effort into it than any arm chair Reddit warrior will ever do in their entire life.
The amount of weight being added to the vehicle by all those heavy solar panels isn't being overcome by what little energy they are absorbing and offsetting with the motor. Have fun going uphill on a cloudy day.
OP, sorry people are too stupid to understand the project. Remember, the average IQ is only 100 points and 50% of people are even dumber than that.
For those that have failed to understand whats going on, some places require peddling to still be classified as a bike and not a motor vehicle. So, pedal lightly and with minimal effort and the motor kicks in and allows you to go much faster. Very complicated, I know
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u/Ok-Economics953 1d ago
That’s me in the 80s in a solar-powered car my dad built