LithiumVivi

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

    by 
    Paul Miller
    Paul Miller
    07.07.2008

    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.