WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Aw man, Lemmy finally got a LinkedInLunatics instance? How long has this been here? That was like the last thread I've been hanging onto with reddit. Finally, this place feels like a genuine alternative π
this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2025
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A place to post ridiculous posts from linkedIn.com
(Full transparency.. a mod for this sub happens to work there.. but that doesn't influence his moderation or laughter at a lot of posts.)
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Do most e-bikes not charge from the pedals? Combine that with regenerative coasting/braking, and this isn't really that dumb. Like yeah, obviously thermodynamics, but an E-bike with pedal charging isn't a closed system.
I've built two eBikes and can confirm that they do not.
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so, obvious reasons why this cannot work.
Is there anyway to like, siphon off the energy though? Like say, you pedaling produces 600kJ/hr. You have 400kJ/hr going into the bike to produce motion, but then 200kJ/hr goes into a battery. You'd move slower but generate stored potential energy.
I'm not really sure why you would want this, other than the concept of a self-charging electric bike, but on paper it sounds possible?
You would need to output far more than twice the energy that you would get out of it and the effort to pedal would be significantly increased as you would have additional weight to the bike on top of whatever it was drawing.
Taking 1/3 if your pedal power would be like trying to bike through deep mud just to have a small boost later.
A normal bike drivetrain is around 95% efficient, which is more efficient than the Regen circuitry you could get in such a form factor. Therefore it makes more sense to use pedal power for direct propulsion since that will directly reduce battery more efficiently than using it for charging.
This is different than a series hybrid because car drivetrains are very inefficient compared to a bicycle.
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I don't claim to be an engineering student, why is this a bad idea? Wouldn't he just put a "collector" of energy (like a wind turbine) on the wheels?
It could be an OK idea that just wasn't explained right. Maybe he just wants regen braking but with one wheel for charging and the other wheel + separate battery for power at any given time. Energy would come from pedalling and hills. None of that was explained though
Maybe you can join his team!
But I can forgive a non engineering student⦠its impossible.
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Physics's older brother gonna be looking for this guy.