Panasonic, the company formerly known as Matsushita in some parts, has announced its Lithium Vivi RX-10S regenerative electric bicycle which powers you around town, up and down hills or even to the countryside thanks to a range of 125km.

This two-wheeler uses regenerated energy from braking force to charge a secondary Lithium-ion battery which extends the range of the bike. It only gets 90km without the system.

In a new approach, the motor is mounted on the front wheel and the bike features a one-way clutch on the pedal shaft.

There is a foolproof automatic mode that senses which level of assistive force is required. “High” would be selected when going uphill and “Off” when riding downhill, for example. There are also “Low” and “Medium” settings in between to accommodate a range of riding conditions.

The bike ain’t too cheap. It has an expected price of $1,395 but Panasonic is still expecting to ship 3,000 units annually. I guess the money you’d save on fuel would pay off one of these puppies pretty quickly. It will be available in Japan on August 20.

Source:
Tech On