As Electric Vehicles use different traction technology, their steering can also be transformed into something that is similar to that of a nintendo controler.

Easy AdSense by Unreal

The Technical University of Delft claims that the future of the scooter will be electric. And who are we to disagree? Whether it will be a combination of LNG, hydrogen or nano chargers, that still remains the question, but electricity is the way to go. This fundamental change in traction technology will give way to many opportunities in the way scooters are designed.

For instance, the introduction of so-called drive-by-wire technology makes the old ’steer’ absolutely obsolete. In the near future, one could also use a steeringmodule comparable to that of a Playstation. This alone gives designers a great deal of options that will give electric driving an competitive edge.

Wilmer van Kampen, graduated on the design of the ‘BiWire’. It looks like an oversized skateboard with only two wheels. The steering is totally controled by the Drive-by-wire technology. Instead of a conventional steer, it is now your controler that commands a small electro engine with controls the steering for you. Ofcourse, the BiWire is just a platform for many different design options.

Not that the Drive-by-wire technolgy is very new, it is beeing used in airplanes and personal transport for a quite a while now. The use in scooters will give some advantages that can give electric scooters an edge over the smelly gas guzzling competition.  The flexible handling, options to customize your steering to your specifications are some of these advantages.

The BiWire is the newest in a design of the Delft Design Institute. Other deisgns, such as the the Fhybrid by Crijn Bouwman (2006), a hydrogenhybrid scooter with front-wheel traction.

The Delft Design Institute presented the following chart to give an overview of the specs of the different technlogies. These specs are derived from their latest design and can not represent a full overview of the technology options, but they give you something to think of.

1. Standaard Scooter 2. Electric scooter 3. Fhybrid 4. Mosquito 5. BiWire
Energysource petrol electricity H2 (600bar) LPG (10bar) elektriciteit
traction standard IC electromotor hydrogenfuelcel LPG hybride elektromotor
Peakpower 3,4kW (4,5pk) 1kW (1,5pk) 6 kW (8pk) 1,5 kW (2pk) 3 kW (4pk)
Topspeed 48kmh 50kmh 65kmh 50kmh 55kmh
Range 408km 50km 200km 250km 100km
Costs (100 km) €3,08 €0,22 €0,25 €1,75 €0,50

(1) based on the Peugeot Elystar 50

(2) based on the Evader EV1000

(3) based on a hydrogen price of ~EUR10,25 per kWh (700bar systeem)

(4) based on a LPG price of ~EUR0,60 per L

(5) based on an electricity rate of ~EUR0,20 per kWh

[5]





Comments are closed.