Electric Bicycle with Downhill and Braking Energy Recovery Capability

A new electric bicycle with the ability to store energy on descents and braking, for reuse on slopes, has been patented. Ref: MKT2012/0121_D

Patent Description

A new electric bicycle with the ability to store energy on descents and during braking, to reuse it on inclines, has been patented. Companies interested in commercially exploiting the technology or interested in establishing R&D collaboration agreements for its development are sought.

The Challenge

The bicycle is undoubtedly one of the best sustainable alternatives for urban mobility. However, its use is limited in cities with complicated topography and numerous slopes, due to the significant physical effort required by cyclists on uphill climbs, some of which exceed 10%. While this effort is rewarded on the downhill sections, the prospect of having to climb another slope discourages the use of conventional bicycles. There are electric bicycles that assist with uphill climbs, but either they do not store energy on descents or braking, or those that do resemble more the appearance and weight of a motorcycle than a bicycle.

The Technology

The invention presented here consists of a new design of an electric bicycle that, on one hand, has the ability to recover energy on descents or when the cyclist stops pedaling, as well as during braking, and, on the other hand, has components of the system that enable it to function as an electric bicycle that can be easily disassembled to transform it into a conventional bicycle, which can be used as a mountain bike (MTB).

Innovative Advantages

It is composed of a set of elements that can be assembled and disassembled, transforming the electric bicycle into a conventional bicycle, or vice versa.
Compared to a conventional bicycle, the additional weight of the set of elements is about 7 kg.
It allows storing the energy generated by a motor-generator in capacitors and batteries.
The total energy efficiency reaches 35%.