BrandNew Awards were handed to the Copenhagen Wheel Project and the e-bike eSpire (manufactured by Third Element) at the bicycle fair BIKE EXPO in Munich. It was the first time that the fair organizers honored new business ideas in the e-vehicle market in this way.
 

 
The overall winner of the 2010 BrandNew Awards came out of the sub-category light electric vehicles (LEVs), the category for which ExtraEnergy was responsible at BIKE EXPO. And the winner was: the Copenhagen Wheel Project. The second winner in the LEV category: Third Element.

The Copenhagen Wheel Project
This is a student project of the senseABLE Lab at MIT (Massuchusetts Institute of Technology) in the USA. It brings (for the first time ever) all the electrical components on a pedelec together in the rear wheel hub casing and was presented in public for the first time at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen last year.

The motor is controlled with a smart phone via Bluetooth. In the casing there are sensors collecting environmental data in real time. The idea is to distribute the data to city authorities, or internet users.

Until now, prototypes have only been partly developed, although they function. For instance, the sensors and motor system haven't been merged yet and still only function separately from one another.

According to Jennifer Dunnam (MIT) the components of the motor in the eye-catching, red hub are by Shimano. Presently, the first models still weigh 20 kg. The aim is to bring the weight of next generation prototypes down to 4 kg., she said.

The BrandNew Awards jury opted for the Copenhagen Wheel Project, because of the idea behind the project: a visionary concept with implications for the entire community and specifically for modern, urban transport.

Third Element - eSpire
The e-bike eSpire of Third Element reaches speeds of up to 45 km/h. The red racer is a fusion between motorbike and mountain bike, which captivates the imagination mostly because of its unusually formed motor and battery. The system originates from Clean Mobile, a company based in Bavaria and specialized on motors for light electric vehicles (LEVs).

Not only the BrandNew Awards jury was impressed by the eSpire, but also the ExtraEnergy test riders. In the most recent ExtraEnergy test (conducted in the spring of 2010), eSpire won the product category Wellness Pedelec. The results of the test were released for the first time at the BIKE EXPO and are reproduced in full in the second issue of the 200-page ExtraEnergy Magazine for Pedelecs and E-bikes.

This magazine can be ordered until 30 July for the special BIKE EXPO price of 15 Euro per copy. Thereafter, it can be ordered for the standard price of 25 Euro per copy.
>> To the order form

Copy: Nora Manthey
Translation: Christoffel Volschenk
Photo: Susanne Brüsch

24 July 2010