The transport revolution is here

I love all things on wheels. I always have done. Bicycles, skateboards, push scooters, cars, trucks - I’m a fan. I love that sense of speed and freedom I get when I pop on my bicycle and free wheel down the hill, or when I jump on my skateboard and pump the ground building up a pulsing rhythmic speed. I feel free and I really like the fact that I create the energy propelling myself forward to my destination with some grace and speed. Far more efficient and far more graceful than walking or running somewhere.

I follow the bicycle scene. I keep up with the latest trends. It’s fair to say that bicycles have advanced somewhat in the last ten years or so. On the road scene there is an expanding range of categories such as racing bikes, touring bikes, gravel bikes, cross bikes, leisure bikes, cruiser bikes, cargo bikes and hybrid bikes. On the mountain bike scene there are downhill, all-mountain/enduro, trail, cross-country and fat bikes. Amongst these types, some are full suspension (suspension back and front), some are hardtail (front suspension only) and some are rigid (no suspension). Some have 24in wheels. Some have 26-, 27.5- or 29-inch (known as 29ers) wheels. All this choice!

Now add to all that the variations electrification brings! In Jambot’s Guide to Technology there is a whole chapter on batteries and motors explaining how they work and how widely they are used in applications today. All of these bike options now come in battery and motor-powered versions. If things weren’t confusing enough, I now can buy an electric 29er trail bike. And there’s more. There are multiple different types of motors from different motor manufactures (Bosch, Yamaha and Shimano are popular). I can get a hub drive motor where the motor is integrated into the front wheel, or I can get a mid-drive motor where the motor is integrated into the frame near the pedal crank. What’s the difference? Which is better?

And there are different types of battery packs. Nearly all are 36V Lithium-ion. The bigger the battery pack the longer it will last, increasing the max range of the bike. Of course, a larger battery pack will be heavier (from around 2.5kg to 4kg would be typical), might not look as nice on your bike, and will take longer to fully charge! Some battery packs are attached to the outer frame, some slot into the rear carrier and some are nicely integrated into the frame of the bike. 

There is so much choice out there for us. Choice is a good thing - right? Not always. Choice can be a real stress. I don’t own one (yet), but I am a fan of electric bikes. They certainly have their place. I think they are a wonderful way to travel, but do I need one? And if I do convince myself I need one, then which one? Given all the options available, how do I know I’m making the right choice? If I do decide to buy one, I just need to educate myself on the technology used and the quality of the core components on the bike. The quality of the frame, the wheels, the brakes and the other core mechanical components are every bit as important (or more!) as the electric components on the bike. Is the bike fit for my purpose? All bikes need regular maintenance. One thing I am sure of is that electric bikes will require the same maintenance and maybe more. Also, more tech equals more problems. The outdoors is a tough place for electronics! What happens if I have a problem with my motor, my battery pack, my control unit? Can it be fixed? What will that cost? How long will the battery packs be available on the market? Are the old batteries recyclable? Lots of questions here!

Now we don’t just have electric bikes. I can buy an electric scooter. They have motors built into the front wheels, sometimes the rear wheels also. They typically are also powered by a 36V Lithium-ion battery pack. There are many manufacturers making scooters (for example Nine-bot, Segway, Razor, Xiaomi). Some scooters come with an integrated seat; most are stand up. They all have integrated lights and air-filled tires. Some have suspension, and wheel sizes can vary. Larger wheels go over obstacles easier. Caution - stones and potholes are the enemy when it comes to small wheels! Speaking of smaller wheels, I can buy an electric skateboard. Driven by small powerful electric motors and integrated battery packs underneath the deck, and controlled via an in-hand Bluetooth controller, these skateboards can move at speed. Also, have you seen the one-wheel skateboards and unicycles available, like the version from Onewheel or Begode? I’ve never tried one, but they look impressive! 

This technology is amazing. Almost magically, these electrically modified forms of transport seemed to have appeared overnight. Traditional motorists and cyclists are adjusting to the changes. Countries are struggling to understand the legal and safety implications. Safety must be considered carefully. Are electric scooters road legal? What’s the maximum speed? What is the minimum age? Must a helmet be worn? Are they allowed on main roads, cycle lanes or promenades? It has all happened so fast, I still have many questions. Maybe you have these same questions?

This brings me on to the greatest change in transport in the last decade - the electric car. In ‘Jambot’s Guide to Technology’ I talk about electric cars and how they are powered by very large Lithium-ion battery packs and powerful electric motors. Battery and motor technology is advancing, and more and more car companies are producing impressive electric options. It seems like the whole motor industry is going electric. But are they? Some car manufacturers are taking a more cautious approach. Some are heavily invested in hybrid cars - cars that use a clever controlled combination of electric and fuel combustion. Many manufacturers believe that multiple in-vehicle energy sources are needed to replace the gas guzzling combustion engines we use today. 

We can’t easily replace the 1.4 billion cars on the road in the world with electric lithium-ion powered cars. Each car needs approximately 4000 lithium-ion cells to make up the battery pack. That’s 4000 times more batteries than my smart phone. For 1.4 billion cars that means 5 trillion batteries are needed. That’s a crazy large number. Where does Lithium come from? It’s a precious earth metal. It either comes from mining it out of the ground or it is extracted from the salt flats in countries like Bolivia, Chile and Argentia. It’s environmentally expensive to extract. Also, it’s only in very specific areas of the world that these metals exist in quantities that make it economical to mine or extract. There are other precious metals also needed to make lithium-ion batteries. Cobalt, Nickel and Iron are needed. Cobalt is extracted from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. Today, a typical electric car battery pack needs kilograms of Lithium and Cobalt to function optimally. Some car manufacturers are starting to produce batteries that are Cobalt free. How long will these batteries last? How will they function in very cold temperatures? Are they easy to recycle? Currently recycling is not optimised, and it’s currently expensive to recycle the precious metals from Lithium-ion batteries. As these earth metals are now in very great demand, companies are starting to focus on recycling the metals from old battery packs. It is predicted that recycling will be big business in the next decade and that is great news!  

Two elephants in the room for electric cars are charging infrastructure and charge time. To support all car users moving towards electric cars, the charging infrastructure needs to be very widespread and very reliable. Putting the charging infrastructure in place is expensive. Who is going to pay for that? Is the overall solution economical? Is it environmentally better? Where is all the electricity coming from to charge all of these cars? Is that electricity coming from a renewable source (for example wind, solar or hydro) or is it coming from fossil fuel burning plants (for example coal or gas)?

Also, charge times need to be reduced significantly to ensure people can easily plan journeys with less stress and shorter stopovers. Some car companies believe that charge times need come down to ten minutes or less. Wouldn’t that be great?   

Even in the high-performance arena of high-speed racing, electric cars are becoming mainstream. Formula E, the electric version of Formula 1, where high performance aerodynamic electric cars are raced at crazy speeds around often indoor tracks. Just like formula 1, formula E will drive battery and motor technology to gain new levels of performance and efficiency which will eventually make its way down to the cars we drive daily. 

The transport revolution is certainly here. New options are springing up weekly. Technology is advancing yearly. There are new companies appearing and disappearing almost as quickly. Tesla has made a huge impact on the automotive industry - it’s a true disruptor. Traditional automotive leaders were set in their ways. They had invested so much in combustion engine technology, they resisted the move towards electrification. Some are still showing some caution, spreading their bets on the future energy source for cars. The technology is not yet 100% decided on. I’m sure there will be more changes to come. As long it’s not just change for the sake of it. If we design vehicles to last and at the end of life they can be recycled, I think it’s a good thing. Of course, many of us could just walk, run, cycle or use public transport. Now wouldn’t that be a real revolution. And wouldn’t that be best for our planet.