Pulse PEVO, an electric bike created by Pitt students, is built for Pittsburgh's hills
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University of Pittsburgh students Thorin Tobiassen, left, and Micah Toll take their electric bikes for a ride along O'Hara Street in Oakland.
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After riding among a caravan of bright blue bikes up Oakland's O'Hara Street Thursday, University of Pittsburgh senior Micah Toll said he wasn't surprised by the attention from onlookers. Especially considering that they were gliding up the inclined roadway at about 15 mph without pedaling.
"People have been really impressed, said Mr. Toll, the 22-year-old CEO of Pulse Motors and co-creator of the 2012 Pulse PEVO, a hybrid electric/pedal bicycle featuring the throttle and battery life its creators say can transform travel in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Toll and co-creators, 27-year-old Pitt graduate Thorin Tobiassen and 22-year-old Pitt senior Max Pless, started work on the vehicle two years ago and unrolled the most recent prototype last year. In October, the trio and a team of beta testers began taking the bikes through the city's streets.
As beneficial as the attention from the tests has been in drumming up potential business, it hasn't done much to help the team's punctuality, said Mr. Tobiassen.
PG VIDEO"We had some issues last semester when we were trying to rush off to class and we'd be late because of all of these people stopping you at lights or when you're at the bike rack, trying to find out more," he said with an appreciative smile. "It helped when we put the website on [the bikes]," he added.
The idea to create a two-wheeled electric vehicle designed to be "the ultimate Pittsburgh commuting vehicle" had been in Mr. Toll's mind for several years. It didn't take form until he teamed up with Mr. Tobiassen, who has experience working on electric vehicles, and Mr. Pless, who has expertise building bicycles.
Once the crew came together in 2010, they were able to identify issues such as battery life and speed that have complicated efforts to market other electric bicycles.
Rather than adopting a battery that uses dedicated charging stations to recharge, such as those for larger hybrid vehicles, the crew opted for a lithium ion phosphate battery with an onboard charger that plugs into a traditional 110-volt outlet found in most homes. With a motorcycle-like hand-grip throttle that allows users to speed up to 20 mph, the PEVO can travel about 30 miles on a full electric charge -- and that's only if the rider forgets he's on a bike.
First Published February 7, 2012 12:00 am
