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What if an e-bike didn’t want a battery? An progressive e-bike from France affords assisted pedaling — with out a energy supply.
As a substitute of a battery, the cutting-edge bicycle from Pi-Pop makes use of a supercapacitor, which shops vitality because the rider pedals. This new use of the expertise is the brainchild of French entrepreneur Adrien Lelièvre, who needed to create a substitute for standard e-bikes.
Whereas e-bikes provide motorized transportation with out consuming fossil fuels, their lithium batteries nonetheless require resource-intensive manufacturing. Extraction processes for lithium have giant environmental and human prices.
Pi-Pop claims a number of benefits for its supercapacitor, together with an extended battery life than lithium. It’s additionally produced from carbon, conducting polymer, aluminum foils, and pulp: all recyclable supplies. That’s why the Pi-Pop “actually is an emblem of sobriety,” Lelièvre instructed EuroNews.
“At all times wanting extra, that means eager to go sooner, including extra vitality … this can be a useless finish,” he stated.