Panasonic's Lithium Vivi RX-10S electric bike does regenerative braking

We're still a bit unconvinced about this whole "using our own energy to induce motion" thing, but if you got restless leg or some other siren call to the bicycle, the Lithium Vivi RX-10S seems the way to go. Panasonic is launching the bike in Japan this August, and stuffed in some fancy hybrid car-style regenerative braking to set it apart from the pack (though Sanyo does have something similar). There are four levels of assistance electric motor assistance, which means you're probably going to end up peddling now and then, but the bike's range with regenerative braking to power a secondary battery is almost 78 miles, compared to 56 miles without it. You'll obviously benefit more if you have a lot of hills and "stop and go" type stuff on your commute, but that's certainly nothing to scoff at.

[schmitty338 @ Jul 7th 2008 10:28AM]

Man, I would love one of these for getting around Downtown Toronto and campus....

if only it was actually cheaper than buying a small gas scooter.....

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:01PM]

Yeah these things always cost more than a car even, what's with that, that's the only thing that will comfort me 0.001% if mccain becomes pres., that he want to get them to make a super battery that leapfrogs anything in development now, oh that and that he'll probably actually make less wars than obama :/

[Oneiroi @ Jul 7th 2008 12:57PM]

Yep, trust Republicans to help the environment and start less wars. ha.

[Jason @ Jul 7th 2008 1:38PM]

Scooter requires an M class drivers license and insurance in Ontario.

You have to go through lengthy graduated licensing as well. (M2, then M1, then M).

Electric bikes need no license or insurance, as long as they're limited to 32KM/h.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 7th 2008 11:10PM]

Wwhat

"oh that and that he'll probably actually make less wars than obama"

Are you joking? Obama actually wants to return to the days of actually HAVING a foreign policy based on diplomacy, instead of reckless arrogance!

[Kris @ Jul 7th 2008 10:32AM]

What on earth satisfies you about that dude?

[solarbuddy @ Jul 7th 2008 10:34AM]

At least they made it theft resistant, although doing so by means of dorky styling wouldn't have been my first choice.

[Jeff @ Jul 7th 2008 11:20AM]

It looks pretty much like every other bicycle in Japan.

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:06PM]

Probably features in lolita bicycle porn then eh :x

[Sean @ Jul 7th 2008 10:35AM]

Where can I buy one? And for how much? I WANT THIS BIKE!

[NiGhTmArE @ Jul 7th 2008 10:39AM]

If i ran a site with a comment system, i would instantly ban anyone posting "FIRST!"

ENGADGET DO THAT!!

[Zzephyr @ Jul 8th 2008 12:29AM]

FIRST, I agree with you, and SECOND...well, I have no second...

[Andrew @ Jul 7th 2008 10:41AM]

I'm glad to see the technology being developed, and even with the regnerative breaking these seem to be priced quite a bit lower than Schwinn's lithium bikes http://www.schwinnbike.com/products/intbikes_detail.php?id=892.

With my 50 mile commute it would take me a little over 7 months of riding to work on one of these to pay for itself in gas savings. But, since I live in bike-hostile Southern California I'd probably be squashed by a hummer long before I realized the savings.

[pfromg @ Jul 7th 2008 10:43AM]

how fast does it go ?

[Kris @ Jul 7th 2008 10:58AM]

20 000 mph (If you are a super-hero)
:)

[Alfa @ Jul 7th 2008 10:49AM]

"You'll obviously benefit more if you have a lot of hills".
In 2 words: San Francisco"

[romrom @ Jul 7th 2008 10:51AM]

Matra Sports already uses regenerative breaking in his bikes for years (see http://www.matra-ms.com/en/light-electric-vehicles/matra-sports.html) combined with a 4-level assistance.
I own one and I'm really happy with it (it really helps, costs almost nothing to use and is ecological, no maintenance) but I'm not convinced the regenerative breaks is more than a tech gadget since you spend barely 10% of your time breaking and the energy it gets from that is far less than the one it delivers when climbing hills.

[NM @ Jul 7th 2008 10:56AM]

I love bicycles but $1400 is just too goddamn expensive

[BigBloke @ Jul 7th 2008 11:47AM]

$1400 too expensive?!?

Check out the prices of good mountain bikes (Specialized, Scott, Canyon, etc), $1400 will get you a frame and that's about it...

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:08PM]

I'm with NM on this one.

[Jason Randazza @ Jul 7th 2008 2:53PM]

I can see that could be too expensive especially considering that's about half of what you'd pay for a Tour de France type bike. But wow, for an electric assist bike, I thought it was a good deal.

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 4:53PM]

True, compared to other brands it's pretty low-cost.

[pfromg @ Jul 7th 2008 11:01AM]

>"You'll obviously benefit more if you have a lot of hills".
Thats not right.
The energy you stand to gain from breaking win-back is significantly less than you the increase in energy you need to climb a hill in the first place.

Best solution would be to dump the wind-back, go with less weight, less tech, a lower price and not pretend to be efficient with hills.

Say hello to Holland.

[ShadowKain @ Jul 7th 2008 11:05AM]

I really hate no-brain losers like yourself...

[ShadowKain @ Jul 7th 2008 11:05AM]

Its a bike, you PEDAL it? If you want to be lazy get a moped...

[huh @ Jul 7th 2008 11:17AM]

The editor obviously doesn't understand the pleasure of direct pedal to wheel (through gears) harmony when using a bicycle. It's like running, but much much faster, and you can cruise forever. Except for those pesky long or steep hills, which this seems like it might be a good answer to. Except how much does the extra weight, and drag from the conversion add?

[huh @ Jul 7th 2008 11:29AM]

I forgot to mention it gets you where you want to go, often faster than a car in a city with decent bike paths.

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:03PM]

I'm a bit surprised you got highly ranked, engadget has cyclists it seems!

[huh @ Jul 7th 2008 11:21AM]

NiGhTmArE, if you ran a site with comments, you'd write troll-y comments to get outraged people to comment, and you'd try to figure out ways to get people to write other obnoxious comments ("FIRST!") to get people to respond to them. And it wouldn't hurt to have bugs in the display system so sometimes comments don't show up. Banner views, y'know.

[Psycholist @ Jul 7th 2008 11:48AM]

If it's like other electric bikes then it cuts power to the wheels once you go over 15mph. On a half decent mountain bike (similar money to this electric one) I can easily average more than that just pedalling without dragging a battery and motor with me - with a road bike this would be faster again.

Hilariously in Ireland where I live the law says you must tax and insure your 15mph limited electric bike to be allowed to ride it legally on the road. Currently I'll get about 1.5 litres of milk for the cost of a litre of petrol, so definitely on to a winner with this cycling lark :-P...

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:04PM]

Seems we ran (into a) crysis ) O_o

[Josh L @ Jul 7th 2008 12:07PM]

I saw this article and thought "Wow, that's cool and doesn't look idiotic like 90% of the other electric vehicles out there. I'd actually ride this!"

Then I saw the $1400 and realized I'd be better off buying a street-legal, fuel-efficient motor scooter instead.

[FotoGenetix @ Jul 7th 2008 12:08PM]

needs a plug-in mod

[TIMMAH! @ Jul 7th 2008 12:12PM]

Does it only come as a girl's bike? (Or are ball-crushing crossbars now officially passe?)

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 12:32PM]

The basket makes it girly, the bar thing is indeed a bit passé.
What is the measure of guy models is the wheel-size now I think, male model bikes have larger wheels and somewhat bigger frames.

Oh and I think this design might need a sturdier baggage carrier for the markets outside of japan.

[Macro @ Jul 7th 2008 12:50PM]

Timmah is right the bar going down to the pedals instead of going straight across from the front forks is typically referred to a girls bike in the states anyway... too much money but would make going up hills a lot easier.. are there a lot of hills in Japan or do you think they just use it to cruise without work?

[Wwhat @ Jul 7th 2008 5:00PM]

They used to be called ladies-bikes without the bar, because the idea is that you can drive it with an old-style dress, but that's a thing from the 20's or so and people forgot and manufacturers started making bikes for guys also without the horizontal bar and instead went with the double slanted, although some manufacturers still make the two separate types obviously.
Personally I prefer the double slanted bar kind, hell of a lot easier to leap off when a bus or truck cuts you off and such situations, and I've been in a few of those myself.

[Ryan @ Jul 7th 2008 12:22PM]

Is this the 'Wicked Witch of the West' Signature Series?

[Steve @ Jul 7th 2008 12:37PM]

lol!

[majortom @ Jul 7th 2008 1:07PM]

as a cyclist, I don't need an electric anything. I want a tire that does not flat every 3 miles. City streets can have lots of small metal things and my tires seem to be a magnet for them.

[rtdunham @ Jul 7th 2008 1:37PM]

Wouldn't a lot of people buy one of these instead of a Segway?

Or buy one of these, when they weren't moved to buy a Segway?

[tekdroid @ Jul 8th 2008 4:19AM]

exactly

[UHUH @ Jul 7th 2008 4:47PM]

That bike looks like something PeeWee Herman might ride to the peep show.

[JRM @ Jul 7th 2008 6:36PM]

Nearly every (non-specialized) bike in Japan looks like this. And everyone rides 'em. from 10 yr old kids to 90 yr old grandmas.

[JRM @ Jul 7th 2008 6:37PM]

Nearly every (non-specialized) bike in Japan looks like this. And everyone rides 'em. from 10 yr old kids to 90 yr old grandmas.

[colnago @ Jul 8th 2008 2:03AM]

http://www.panabyc.co.jp/products/electric/index.html

These are all electric assisted bikes.

http://club.panasonic.co.jp/mall/cycle-webstudio/open/product/custom/flatroad/products.html

This one got titanium frame. It's a bit pricey but cool.

[AMc @ Jul 8th 2008 7:33AM]

Change your tyres/tires for Specialised Armadillos (or Continental Ultra Gator Skins). I rode 5000 miles across London over 5 years using Armadillos and only got a couple of flats and then only when the tyre itself was about to be replaced. The tread was covered in nicks and cuts but no flats. Keep the pressure around 90-100psi on a kevlar reinforced road bike tyre and you should be rolling for 100s of miles.

[AMc @ Jul 8th 2008 7:36AM]

Previous reply was in response to majortom but seems to have been gimped :(

"as a cyclist, I don't need an electric anything. I want a tire that does not flat every 3 miles. City streets can have lots of small metal things and my tires seem to be a magnet for them."

[neofolklore @ Jul 8th 2008 9:08AM]

so wait, can't you just peddle?

[pheer6224 @ Jul 8th 2008 9:24PM]

Funny how my commuter bike cost me 75 dollars, is hella fast (a road single speed) and doesn't require braking, because it's actually able to go fast without bad repercussions. If you're rich and gullible enough to pay for an electric cruiser bike, then retire, go ride your bike more, donate some money to people who need it more than you, then get a faster, cheaper bike that doesn't use non-recyclable Li-Ion batteries and then look at yourself in the mirror. I think you'll be a lot happier, stronger, and healthier for it.