I admit, I held off from covering this peculiar electric motorcycle for fear that people might not take me seriously in the wake of April Fools' Day. But this wind/solar motorcycle is as real as it can get, and is even available for purchase!
I think I’ve worked it out. I think it’s not generating power from wind, it’s additional thrust. It seems pointless since they could have put a bigger motor in?
The article in the OP links this source, but it only has an info sheet. It’s in Chinese but it’s just a list of specs. But there is one small hint.
The top table has (assuming machine-translation is correct):
Wind-Powered Range ≥50km
The bottom table has:
Wind Power Motor 300W/72V (Permanent Magnet Brushless)
So I’m convinced the intention here is that the motor spins the wind turbine to pull the bike forward.
It doesn’t seem to make sense from a thrust point of view, so I have a new theory - this contraption probably has a high centre of gravity and would tip over backwards if you accelerate too fast. They probably worked out a wind turbine on the top spreads the acceleration force and reduces this problem.
A lot of electric motorcycles have limiters on how fast you can turn the throttle to prevent riders who are used to ICE motors from throwing themselves off the bike with a massive wheelie due to the instant torque. I can’t believe none of them thought to counteract the rotational force with an above-centre-of-mass propellor. Ingenious!
I think I’ve worked it out. I think it’s not generating power from wind, it’s additional thrust. It seems pointless since they could have put a bigger motor in?
The article in the OP links this source, but it only has an info sheet. It’s in Chinese but it’s just a list of specs. But there is one small hint. The top table has (assuming machine-translation is correct):
The bottom table has:
So I’m convinced the intention here is that the motor spins the wind turbine to pull the bike forward.
It doesn’t seem to make sense from a thrust point of view, so I have a new theory - this contraption probably has a high centre of gravity and would tip over backwards if you accelerate too fast. They probably worked out a wind turbine on the top spreads the acceleration force and reduces this problem.
A lot of electric motorcycles have limiters on how fast you can turn the throttle to prevent riders who are used to ICE motors from throwing themselves off the bike with a massive wheelie due to the instant torque. I can’t believe none of them thought to counteract the rotational force with an above-centre-of-mass propellor. Ingenious!