Scientists testing new pedal propulsion system

MIT scientists have developed and are currently testing a new ‘power generation, storage and propulsion’ system dubbed the ‘Greenwheel’.

The Greenwheel is apparently capable of turning a standard pedal bike into an electric bike. Installed on the wheel is a ”plate sized’ piece of aluminium which houses an electric generator, batteries and a motor.

"Just take the wheel off, put a GreenWheel equipped wheel on in its place, plug it in and it should work just fine," said Ryan Chin, one of the GreenWheel designers. "The whole thing has been designed so all the parts except the throttle are enclosed in the wheel."

The design is reported to be universal and will fit any bike frame or wheel size, although, for now, the existing spokes have to be replaced with shorter length spokes.

Thanks to Cycle Social for the Twitter tip-off.