Stromer ST8 Wishlist

[Deleted member 803]

Feel free to agree with me:

-Get rid of Omni and create housing for the most popular phones and allow the user to pop his phone into the top tube (with both and Apple and/or usb connector) and use it as the sole interface. Most new phones today have some weatherproofing and offer crisp displays. The compartment could even have a touch sensitive and weather proof cover.

-Offer road and mountain bike configurations.

-Re-engineer energy bus port cover (integrated sliding cover would be great or some simple lock mechanism like those used on insulated drink container lids.

-Add optional rear fender solar panels for constant charging

-Offer a suspension stem as an option similar to the Sta-Fast product.

-Get rid of the step controller on the handlebar and allow a real time continuously variable level of assist.

-offer a 1KW battery with an optional battery carrier on the rear rack which can be used automatically when the downtube battery runs out.

-Design both the controller and the rear hub motor to be user or dealer tunable for nominal 500w/750W/1KW power assist. (Kinda like what M1 does with its S and R pedelecs.

-Ship bike with a stable center stand

-Add an option for a portable bike stand (folding platform that allows the bike to be tipped upside down and supported by the stand (can be very low to the ground). This would make field repairs much easier.

-Offer groupset options to the purchaser. Configurable at the dealer level.

-offer a slightly larger rear tail light that has built in turn signals which can be triggered at the handlebar (see bmw motocycle turn signal implementation)

-Integrate software to support FitBit and other fitness/performance devices such as garmin and lezyne computers. i.e. would be great to see my real time calorie burn on my display.

-Add support for emergency medical data either via the display or via a separately mounted band that can be mounted on the frame or the handlebars. Emergency providers are trained to look for the + symbol for medical data.

-Implement sensor technology for: tire pressure, and other critical performance criteria.

I am sure you will make the wish list much longer.........

 

[Nebster]

Unfortunately there isn't enough energy coming from the sun, much less conversion efficiency with the best panels today, to make solar charging practical. Unless you were imagining a card table-sized panel hanging off the back of your bike...

 

[Deleted member 803]

I know there are ongoing developments in solar efficiency. Perhaps in the next decade or so, solar will play a role in ebikes.

 

[Nebster]

The sun delivers about 1Kw per square meter on a perfect sunny day, and we get about 25% conversion efficiency today in good panels. After charging losses, you'd need three solid, sunny hours with your card table to fill up the orange ST1 battery.

The improvement has not been particularly good -- like battery energy density, there aren't any promising ways to have huge leaps in performance the way we've become accustomed to with transistors or digital storage.

In ten years, it seems plausible to imagine unrolling a big, flexible panel on a grassy hillside, on a perfect sunny day, and maybe getting a half an orange battery of fill while having lunch. (And while watching to make sure not a square centimeter of the panel gets covered with a leaf, nor that someone walks over and steals your array.)

I think a more interesting and practical future is USB Type-C charging outlets everywhere. These are real, now, and they can send 100W of reliable DC power. A bike with dual USB-C ports could take on a nice little topoff during a coffee break.

 

[bluecat]

The sun delivers about 1Kw per square meter on a perfect sunny day, and we get about 25% conversion efficiency today in good panels.

Unfortunately, this is the poor truth. And only, if the panel is not partially shaded, in 90º angle to the sunlight and not overheated by the sun...

The development of solar panels with more than ridiculous yield does not made any significant progress in the past years. Even Mr. Piccard with his multi-million-dollar solar airplane is grounded at Hawaii. And remember, the SI2 has the very very latest and best technology, years ahead of these we can buy.

Yes, this is a Stromer. Two Stromer with special high speed setting supporting the SI2 and their landing gear.

 

[bluecat]

-Get rid of the step controller on the handlebar and allow a real time continuously variable level of assist.

You're thinking on a throttle grip?

I'm wondering, if such device also could control the (regenerative) brake force from slightly removing speed until a full stop or slow downhill speed?

 

[George S.]

Offer road

There's a lot of truthiness in that...

 

[Deleted member 803]

You're thinking on a throttle grip?

I'm wondering, if such device also could control the (regenerative) brake force from slightly removing speed until a full stop or slow downhill speed?

Not a throttle but a rheostat that offers continuously variable power delivery instead of fixed step. It would eliminate the stepping of power to fixed levels. And yes, I can see the regen feature you mention.

 

[Deleted member 803]

The sun delivers about 1Kw per square meter on a perfect sunny day, and we get about 25% conversion efficiency today in good panels. After charging losses, you'd need three solid, sunny hours with your card table to fill up the orange ST1 battery.

The improvement has not been particularly good -- like battery energy density, there aren't any promising ways to have huge leaps in performance the way we've become accustomed to with transistors or digital storage.

In ten years, it seems plausible to imagine unrolling a big, flexible panel on a grassy hillside, on a perfect sunny day, and maybe getting a half an orange battery of fill while having lunch. (And while watching to make sure not a square centimeter of the panel gets covered with a leaf, nor that someone walks over and steals your array.)

I think a more interesting and practical future is USB Type-C charging outlets everywhere. These are real, now, and they can send 100W of reliable DC power. A bike with dual USB-C ports could take on a nice little topoff during a coffee break.

I'll defer to you as I have no frame of reference on solar tech. Perhaps more broadly stated, the wish list will include portable, fast means of recharging. Or perhaps we will see a century capable battery in a few years.