570 she's a delicate thing

Here we go again. More bike talk, more battery talk. It's Bike & Battery!

So here's an ebike made in the USA, from Detroit Bikes. It looks just like a normal bike, because it is. The "e" part is all in that honking rear hub. (So I guess it has a wider bracket than a normal bike?)

This was from an article questioning our use of helmets on bikes. The basic tenet of the argument is that helmets haven't made biking safer. If you're hit by a car, which is how most bicyclists die, they don't offer much protection. They're basically good if you crash your bike yourself. And they give the general overall impression that cycling is dangerous, or that cars don't need to pay attention because you're covered. It's not, and they do.

This is the first solid state battery product I've seen on the market. 

And this is one of the reasons why solid state is such a big deal: they're lighter. Lighter batteries equals lighter e-transit. More efficiency. Cooler designs. 

Lighter weight is an obvious benefit when you're providing some of the power yourself. But it scales up to cars, too, a lighter car requires less energy to move, therefore you go further on the same charge. This is also why you don't want to buy a 300 mile range EV if you rarely go further than a normal 30 minute commute. It's like driving a truck filled with cement everywhere you go.

That said, no way am I getting an ebike with only a 250Wh battery! (Actually, these stats are probably great. This is a bike for pedalers who want an extra boost, not for throttlers.)

All the car makers are getting into ebikes. Mainly by buying builders. Porsche just bought Greyp.

And apparently Toyota "partnered" with Douze.

That solar EV has gone bankrupt. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're out of the game, just that some investors are getting fleeced.

Go UPS! Sweet little fleet, eh?

Solid state. Did everyone see the "preliminary electrification" ad on the Superbowl? That was a classic bait and switch.

They teased us with a front shot like this.

Which looks a lot like the cool 3-row unibody pass-through concept they showed off recently.

But it's actually this, the standard Ram 1500 with some batteries tucked under and a new grill treatment.

Not sure how it relates to bikes or batteries, but these new blade shapes are changing the game of propellors, fans, etc. 

Hey, maybe it's a good time to buy low.

This is a bicycle.

No, seriously, look, there are pedals. 

It's kind of scary knowing ahead of time how many charge cycles you're going to get out of your brand new device before it's trash. But I guess the goal is: more charge cycles. 

Oh yeah, and less weight.

And finally, here's why we do it. Our little ball floating in space, she's a delicate thing. Also, this visual really sells the idea that all water on Earth arrived via icy meteors.