Can the pedaling energy charge the battery of an electric bike?

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Drowzzy

Can the mechanical energy of pedaling be stored as electrical energy to be utilized later to run the bicycle automatically? I'm not talking about pure electric bikes that need regular charging, and not even about those that you pedal for a while as the bike stands still and then run it on electric power. I mean can you ride a bike and store the mechanical energy simultaneously? Will it be efficient? If so, then are such e-bikes available in the market, and what are they called so that I may Google for them?

Here's the scenario: I need a bicycle for regular commute, may be even for covering long distances. It's not feasible for a layman to pedal continuously for more than 5 to 10 miles. So I'm looking for a bike that you pedal for sometime, and when you're exhausted, you simply flick a button to make it run on electrical power which has been converted and stored from the mechanical energy of pedaling the bike; and then pedal again and auto-ride again and so forth. Will something like that be technically efficient, since you're moving the bike while pedaling as well as storing your spare energy?

Hope I haven't confused you. Thanks :)

Answer
Yes but you will go slower because you are turning the motor so basically there is no piont unless you modify it yourself

Can an electric motor take different voltages?

SILVRSWT

I am interested in buying an electric bike that has 2 batteries that opperate at 12v @ 10 amp hours. They are designed to work together to deliver 24v to a 450 watt (peak) motor at the front wheel. Unfortunately these are heavy SLA batteries, and I would like to replace them with state of the art Nanophosphate Litihium Ion batteries.

Now the kicker: I can only find 36v versions for use in DeWalt power tools (though they are very energy dense).

So what I am wondering is if I can buy 2 / 4 of these and wire them to deliver no more than 36v continuous to the 24v motor and will it improve performance or just burn up the components.

Also as an added question, if it is not possible to run 36 volts directly is there a controller that could accomplish this.

Thanks!

The motor is from Currie Technologies, specialists in electric bikes.
I should add that the motor is DC as will be the current delivered to it.

Answer
Just replacing the 24V pair of batteries with a 36V group will very likely cause something to fail. It is possible that a controller could be designed to allow a 36V group of batteries to work with the motor, but it isn't something that you are likely to be able to easily find and mate up to the existing motor.

Additional information:
If you get a 36V PWM controller and set the current limit to the maximum continuous rating of the motor, that might keep you out of trouble. If the motor has a higher short-time current rating that you want to utilize, that might be difficult to set up.

Look at: http://www.dartcontrols.com/

More additional information:
It looks to me like Currie Technologies offers some models with a 3X12V 36V battery package, 36V controller and 450W motor.

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