Reasons to have it:
- How many people want to exercise, but have trouble finding the time?
- How many people need exercise?
- How many people need to save money?
- Who doesn't want to help the environment, by saving on gas?
- Battery life is a problem with electric cars.
What it is:
- A mechanism can be installed (or initially designed into an original blueprint) for bike pedals in a car.
How it would work:
- In order for a person to go forward, they must pedal forward.
- As they pedal it adds charge to the battery. I highlighted "adds" because, it's likely complicated to get enough power from pedaling to keep the car charged for an extended period of time, so it would "add" to electric wall power stored in the battery, thus making the battery last longer and be able to drive longer distances on one charge. Also, in dire situations where wall power is not available, they may charge for a couple hours (while getting exercise) then escape the rut their in.
- There may be a switch to turn it off and run completely on wall power (just had a left foot surgery?).
- Passenger options can also be available (or standard) which wouldn't have any method of controlling the car initially, but instead have the option to add power to the car.
- The most important technical aspect of it is to allow the user to create electricity via electromagnetic generation and have it safely transfer to the on board battery.
Two Design Options:
One
- Outward Pedals
- The pedals should fold in/out from the sides so they may easily be put away and taken out (by the feet) for non-use periods.
- The pedals do not need to be in sync by being opposite position of each other, because it's useless weight due to the gears syncing them. As long as they have straps, the users can find the comfortable positions for them and power will be gained for pedals on the way back around, rather than just down.
Two
- Standard Middle Pedals
- They stay in the middle like on a regular bike, the pedals fold inwards for non-use.
- Foot strap would still be useful so feet don't slide off
If you need blueprints or something, you'll have to contact me, because it will take quite a few months to get the specifics it down on paper. Keep in mind aspects of the cars design such as comfort, cost, technical feasibility, reliability, longevity, modularity, and much more will have to be individually attended to in the design process.
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