An Electric Unicycle that Recharges while Rolling Downhill

August 21st, 2009 by Jeff Kart

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If you want to cut your carbon footprint, you can ride your bike a little more. If you want to cut it even further (from all that exhaling while pedaling), meet the EniCycle. This one-wheeled ride has a range of just under 19 miles on a charge. But it recharges when you ride it downhill (if you dare).

Obviously, the EniCycle doesn’t appeal to everyone, including those who’ve never ridden a unicycle (or never been able to).

Apparently, it’s easy to learn. Think of it as a half-Segway with a seat?

The EniCycle is still just an invention for now, according to the bike’s Web site, from Slovenia in Central Europe. But production is planned.

A video at the Web site shows how the bike is ridden, without pedaling. Just give it a push with one of your legs to accelerate. Lean back a little to stop. You steer with the left and right foot rests.

The EniCycle is an improvement over the unicycle, the site says, because it’s self-balancing and gyroscope stabilized. You can learn it in 30 minutes, the inventor says.

The wheel is wider than the typical unicycle, if that gives you any more confidence.

(Image Credit: EniCycle)

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Tags: EniCycle, Slovenia, sustainable transportation, unicycle

About the Author

Jeff Kart is typing about issues in the Great Lakes, from advanced biofuels to zero-emission vehicles. Jeff is an environmental journalist and social media evangelist based in Michigan, where the summers are short, the winters are cold, and the stories are plentiful.

Sparky

Uh Huh, I bet you’ve never heard of the saying “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”.

Antagonistic namecalling doesn’t accomplish a thing except to turn off the very folks you want to get your message to.

Personally, the unicycle looks like a great platform to test various USEFUL technologies. Enjoy it for what it is – a prototype.
Sparky

Uh Huh, I bet you’ve never heard of the saying “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”.

Antagonistic namecalling doesn’t accomplish a thing except to turn off the very folks you want to get your message to.

Personally, the unicycle looks like a great platform to test various USEFUL technologies. Enjoy it for what it is – a prototype.
Uh Huh

OOooooh! A green unicycle! What a grand concept! Almost no one uses REGULAR unicycles, so I am sure that THIS one will be a grand flop! I wonder how many thousands of miles you would have to ride one in order to save more carbon than it took to manufacture it? Look at that HUGE rubber tire! Just imagine all the energy and hydrocarbons that had to be utilized to make it! And the battery – oh yeah – there’s all those chemicals in there that are “bad” for the environment!

“Green” is a power play being perpetrated on the masses by elite power brokers. Wake up! Stop being useful idiots!
Uh Huh

OOooooh! A green unicycle! What a grand concept! Almost no one uses REGULAR unicycles, so I am sure that THIS one will be a grand flop! I wonder how many thousands of miles you would have to ride one in order to save more carbon than it took to manufacture it? Look at that HUGE rubber tire! Just imagine all the energy and hydrocarbons that had to be utilized to make it! And the battery – oh yeah – there’s all those chemicals in there that are “bad” for the environment!

“Green” is a power play being perpetrated on the masses by elite power brokers. Wake up! Stop being useful idiots!
Rif

Looks fun. You are able to sit down while riding, use your body for controlling and still have your arms free. This is elegant minimalism. A Segway looks like a clumsy Hummer in comparison.
Rif

Looks fun. You are able to sit down while riding, use your body for controlling and still have your arms free. This is elegant minimalism. A Segway looks like a clumsy Hummer in comparison.