546 news from the exciting world of anodes

Greetings again from up near the Canada border. Anecdotally, I've seen more ebikes here than last summer. No pictures yet, tho.

So instead, let's cover some Bike & Battery news from further afield.


It strikes me that our "progressive", erm, no "liberal", well not exactly, our "democrat" governor could have spent the budget surplus in a longer-term way. But I guess politics loves a payoff.

And we'll just go the way of ye olde dinosaurs.

Even the #SingularityNow wants to quit driving.

What happens when you give an AI the job of driving people around?

It forms a union and then goes on strike.

Meanwhile, in bike land. Bafang, a big motor maker, has come up with an internally geared hub, with automatic shifting. One of the big issues with mid-drive ebikes is the torque stripping gears and stretching chains. This looks like a way to simplify the drivetrain and avoid those problems. Plus, anything that gets rid of some cables on your bike is going to be an aesthetic winner.

This group deflating car tires is a European import. Why SUVs exclusively, tho? That seems kinda '90s.

We're really just getting started with this electrification thing.

The competition is getting interesting now that all the players are coming off the bench. So far, the new guys are winning.

But I read Toyota has more EV battery patents than any other manufacturer, and they're pledging to have an electrified version of every vehicle in their lineup by 2025.

The same year Silicon Valley's Quantumscape is hoping to bring their solid state tech into production.

Then there's this awkward fact. At 9000 lbs and with 60% of US electricity coming from burning coal, a Hummer EV actually produces more greenhouse gasses than your gas guzzler.

But what about bike news?

This is an under $2k competitor with the Tern. 

It's been a while since I've been to NYC, my brother told me about the now ubiquitous "Arrow 7" delivery ebike. It seems to be a Chinese import rebranded by a local retailer. Ebikes are technically illegal in NYC, but once again, the future doesn't care much about laws, and convenience wins.

Last week I had a chance to ride an urban commuter type bike (the Rad Rover) and a mountain bike (the Specialized Turbo Levo) back to back. While the mid-drive Specialized has a better drivetrain, I found I could see myself enjoying the upright seating position of the Rad bike more on a day-to-day basis.

So that's one step forward in my eventual ebike decision tree. I like an upright ride.

How about you?

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