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Jake H, Cooper H, Jack M, Chris G

Life Cycle Assessment: Bicyclean Electric Commuter

Bike

Table of Contents:
Introduction - pg. 0
Raw Materials List - pg. 1
Manufacturing - pg. 1 & 2
Transportation/Distribution - pg 2
Operations/Maintenance - pg. 3
Recycling - pg. 3
Citations - pg. 4

Introduction:
Our concept is a folding commuter ebike to save people money on their
commute and reduce co2 emissions overall. There are many parts and features that
need to be produced cost effectively in order for the cost overall to remain affordable.
Our requirements are for it to travel up to 10 miles in less than 30 mins and for the bike
to have a greater than 20 mile range. These requirements necessitate high quality
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materials and construction. With that in mind here is how these materials will be
sourced, constructed, used and maintained.

Raw Materials List:

- Aluminum (Frame, handlebars/fork, seat post, wheel construction except the tire
- Steel (Chain, brakes, gears)
- Electric Hub Motor (copper, armature, permanent magnets, commutator,
brushes, steel former)(metal, copper, iron/nickel/cobalt for magnets, carbon
blocks, steel)
- Rubber (Tires)
- DOT fluid (Brake fluid)
- butyl rubber (Brake lines)

Manufacturing:
Mcmaster Carr seems to be a great option for sourcing all of our raw materials.
They are located inside of the US which is great for pricing and allows for US based
manufacturing. These raw materials are mainly going to be for the main construction
and other more specific parts like the hub motor and the battery system will be
produced and purchased from Grin Technologies. The majority of our raw materials are
commonly available and inexpensive.

-Aluminum:
Aluminum is used a lot throughout the electric bike design. This includes parts
such as the frame, handlebars, seatpost, etc. The aluminum will be bought in bulk and
will then be shaped into the required parts. The parts made of aluminum, for the most
part, need to be durable, so they will be made into seamless pipes, rather than seamed
pipes. This is done using a process that heats and molds a solid billet into a cylindrical
shape then rolls it until it is stretched and hollowed. To prevent the hollow center from
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being irregularly shaped, a bullet-shaped piercer point is pushed through the middle of
the billet as it is being rolled.
There are also many different types of aluminum alloys to choose from. The aluminum
alloy that will be used in the bike design is going to be grade 6082 aluminum. This is the
strongest of the Grade 6000 alloys which have magnesium and silicon as the 2 main
alloying constituents. The aluminum alloy has the advantages of lightweight, corrosion
resistance and anti-oxidation, while also being durable.

-Steel:
Steel is used for the smaller parts that need to be very durable, such as the chain.
Since these are smaller parts, even with the added weight of steel, the final product
won't be much heavier. The steel will also be bought in bulk and shaped into the parts
we need. Unlike the aluminum parts, these parts aren’t hollow and therefore are a lot
easier to shape. The steel will be shaped by heating it up then putting it into a mold.
Steel has many different alloys to choose from as well. The steel alloy that we will be
using is the 440 stainless steel alloy. This alloy is mainly composed of Chromium,
carbon and steel. It provides a good mixture of hardness and corrosion resistance and
it also isn't very expensive.

-Specific Parts:
We will be buying pre-assembled parts for the more specific parts such as the
motor and battery. These parts are more complex and therefore designing and building
them would be an expensive and lengthy process. There would have to be tons of tests
to make sure these parts are safe and reliable, which isn't worth the added expense and
time. The parts we buy will then just be mounted to the frame and other parts that we
manufactured.

Transportation/distribution:
Distribution of materials accounts for about 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
One of our company’s main goals is to reduce these emissions, and so the companies
we will source our materials from will be located in the U.S. instead of overseas. Our
manufacturing HQ will be located near San Francisco because we are aiming to reduce
the total costs and emissions involved with the transportation of materials. Since our
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bike has so many little complicated parts, we will have to source our materials from
other companies who specialize in the manufacturing process for them. The main
company we will be doing this with is Mcmaster Carr. We will be going with them
because they are located in the US and have quality materials for a good price. For more
complex parts, we will use local companies to reduce emissions. Once the materials
and/or parts arrive at our HQ through truck, we will assemble the bikes ourselves and
distribute them through our store in SF.

Operations / Use / Maintenance:

What our operation is all about is creating and distributing electric commuter
bikes that are affordable and accessible to anyone. We're going to do a mix of in store
selling bikes and having essentially bike racks at different points within and around
cities where you have to pay to rent a bike for the day or a certain amount of time. But
regardless these bikes are meant to be used in an attempt to lower CO2 emissions and
make this world much cleaner and also it would clear up traffic on the city streets.

This bike is to be used like a normal bicycle besides of course the fact that it's
solar powered so there is a throttle and pedal assist allows the rider to relax and if you
ever stop to get some food or stop at work or anywhere really you can set up your
portable solar panel to charge the bike for you while you go through your day. The
charge rate for the battery is really dependent on of course how sunny it is outside
sense it's a solar powered vehicle so keeping that in mind there has to be another way
to charge it besides just solar power.

If we have bike racks around and inside a city maybe we could have people
trained to maintain and to make sure the bikes are in prime condition so there are no
faulty bikes. If someone were to purchase one and have one at their home we would
either have them take their bike to one of our bike racks or call us and we could send
someone out to fix their bike.

Recycling:
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In our product there are many different materials that would need to be recycled.
For this reason, we wouldn’t be interested in recycling as part of our business. It would
be up to the discretion of the customer to get rid of their bike when they are done with it.
The customer would initially be to try and give away any part that could be repurposed.
At Trips For Kids Marin frames, wheels, forks, handlebars, seats can all be fixed and
repurposed for new riders to have inexpensively. Other parts such as the brakes, gears,
or parts that are broken beyond repair would be scrapped. For the electronics and
battery assembly, those would have to be removed and recycled at the novato recycle
center for example which is at no cost to the consumer.

Citations:

- “Carr.” McMaster, www.mcmaster.com/.

- Rains, Tom. “Follow the Appropriate Regulations and Precautions to Avoid Delays
and Unnecessary Fees.” ConsumerAffairs, ConsumerAffairs, 14 May 2020,
www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/international-car-shipping-costs.html.

- “Transporting Cargo Overseas by Road, Sea, Rail & Air: International Shipping
Costs.” Alliance Experts, 28 Apr. 2020,
www.allianceexperts.com/en/knowledge/transportation-for-international-trade/.