Published in Extra Energy Proceedings, IFMA 98

Reasons for the Application of Chainless Human-Power Electro-

Hybrid Drive-Trains in fast Bicycles, Velomobiles and ultralightweight
Mobiles

Andreas Fuchs and Jürg Blatter, Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Bern, Berne,
Switzerland

ABSTRACT

This paper shows that between electric bicycles and lightweight electric vehicles without
any human-power contribution to locomotion a class of ultralightweight vehicles (ULV)
exists. These ULV are more comfortable than electric bicycles, are more stable at low
speeds and provide weather-protection. Even though these additional features lead to
more weight compared to a bicycle, ULV are only about as heavy per seat as is a
potential user.

Pioneer human-powered electro hybrids were propelled by mechanical drive-trains

made from long chains, chain idlers and intermediate axles. Most of these components
induced noise, and because they were arranged in series, total efficiency was low.
Assembly of such drive-trains usually took a lot of time and was therefore expensive.

Due to unsatisfactory experiences with the mechanical drive-train of ULV ‘ULM BE

2000’ the authors of this paper evaluated new technical solutions and found that a
purely electrical drive-train would lead to improved ergonomics. Further, an electrical
human-power transmission would be very production friendly. The authors
conceptualized and built a working prototype, which is described in the paper 'Fully
Electrical Human-power Transmission for Ultralightweight Vehicles' (Blatter and Fuchs,
1998) included in this volume.

Here, we discuss the advantages, disadvantages and ergonomics of electrical human-

power transmissions, as well as strategies for further development.

Keywords: Bicycle, Velomobile, human-power electro hybrid, chainless, modular, CVT

(continuously variable transmission), ergonomics
af_e_k.doc

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INTRODUCTION

Already in the first ‚Tour de Sol‘ races human-power, electric and solar power were
combined. Well known solar-electric pioneer vehicles/bicycles are the SOFA's (Leufen
and Möller 1986, Wolfer 1988) and the series of the ‘Lichtgefährte’ (Disch 1987,
Neupert 1997). The Sinclair C5 was intended to be a mass produced vehicle (Leufen
and Möller 1986, Forster 1987). The commercial failure of the C5 was probably due to
the odd appearance of the rider-vehicle combination and due to poor performance! The
two-seater Twike is a vehicle that was first intended to be a pure human-powered
vehicle (Schnyder 1987), but that has now become, ten years later, a commercial
product with powerful motorisation (Neupert 1997).
In the first ‚Tours de Sol‘ there were even more kinds of vehicles than the multi-track
vehicles mentioned above: Standard bicycles as well as some of the first modern
recumbents were equipped with solar-electrical assist drives. Long-wheelbase
recumbents could be seen, partly suspended, sometimes fully faired, and equipped with
solar panels.

In today’s market the consumer finds several electric bicycles and the Twike. An
example of an electric bicycle that was developed parallel to the ‚Tour de Sol‘ is Michael
Kutter’s ‘Velocity’ (Kutter 1993). ‚Velocity‘ combines human and electric power by
means of a planetary gear; this concept allows high top speeds above 30 km/h
although the speed is limited to 20 km/h when driven by the motor alone.
The solar-electric bicycles SOFA and Disch’s ‘Lichtgefährte’ are not available anymore,
and the Sinclair C5’s are stored at numerous places as collector‘s items.
The SOFA’s and the ‘Lichtgefährte’ by Disch were equipped with partial weather-
protection, whereas Twike is fully faired and thus full weather-proof. This is easily
explained by the fact that in surveys the lack of weather-protection is the usual reason
for using the automobile instead of the bicycle (Verein Solarmobilgruppe Burgdorf
1994/95). SOFA’s, Lichtgefährte and Twikes are multi-track vehicles because they were
intended to be all-season vehicles. Torques caused by crosswind are counteracted by
the third and fourth wheels (Fuchs, 1993). I-GO by TU-Berlin (Herb 1995) is a leaning
tricycle and the torques need to be held by the rider; the authors of this paper believe
that I-GO with fairing will not be rideable in heavy crosswinds and thus will be a fun-
vehicle instead of a practical vehicle.

The development of drive-trains for electric bicycles made electric assist of originally
pure human-powered vehicles possible. The authors know that Michael Kutter’s
‘Velocity’ drive-train (Kutter 1993) had been tried in combination with the all-weather
tricycle Leitra (Rasmussen, 1985, 1993 und 1994, Fehlau 1996). The empty Leitra
weighed nearly 30 kg, the Velocity drive-train, including batteries, about 20 kg; thus the
E-Leitra totalled about 50 kg without rider.

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Fig. 1 The Leitra (Dr. C.G. Rasmussen, Ballerup, Dänemark), equipped with the Velocity drive-train
(Michael Kutter, Basel, Schweiz)

WEAKNESSES AND POSSIBLE FACTORS FOR SUCCESS OF HUMAN-POWER

ELECTRO-HYBRIDS

Some of the vehicles mentioned above with combined human-power and electric drive
didn’t succeed on the market, whereas others still exist. Our assumption (based also on
our experiences with such vehicles) is, that the following negative factors are
responsible for their disappearance from the market:

§ Vehicles with two or more sources of energy (human-power, batteries, solar panels)
and energy-converters (mechanical and electrical) are more expensive than pure
electric or internal combustion engine vehicles
§ The vehicles were conceptually or ergonomically poorly designed and were not
satisfactory in use (e.g. crosswind sensitivity or poor climatisation, obstructed
visibility or unergonomic ways of ingress and egress)
§ The design was unattractive (Twike being an exeption)
§ The human-power drive-trains complicated construction of the vehicle frame, had a
lot of failures and needed a lot of maintenance
§ The human-power drive-trains took up a lot of space, made easy in- and egress
impossible and produced noise
§ The human-power drive-trains had to be controlled manually in addition to the
electrical drive-trains and the operators required training due to operation-

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procedures being different from those of bicycles or cars (missing operation-

stereotypes)

The following list of factors are most important for the success of assisted human-
powered vehicles on the market:

♦ Design (-> Success of the human-power electro-hybrid Twike and of the

extraordinary design of the Mini-El)
♦ Ergonomics (-> Commercial nonexistence of vehicles with complicated drive-trains,
e.g. ULM BE 2000 prototype 001)
♦ Price (-> Human-power electro-hybrid Sinclair C5 was sold in considerable numbers,
but was disfunctional in some points and the C5’s ended as collector‘s items parked
in storage rooms)
♦ Functionality (-> Succes of the power assisted bicycle ‘Flyer’, which is simple to
operate and as easy to maintain as a standard bicycle)
♦ Performance (-> ‘Flyer’ is, compared to other assisted bicycles, able to climb steeper
hills. Twike is allowed on highways because it is capable of attaining speeds of cars.
The ranges of both vehicles suffice for most driving tasks)
♦ Safety

Even though many of the pioneer vehicles have disappeared, the existence and the
succes of the Tour de Sol repeatedly led designers to conceptualize and build human-
powered vehicles with assist drives. The exclusive or partial use of human-power
seems to fascinate people. One example of a commercially available vehicle is
Switzerland’s most successful (1997/98) power bike, ‘Flyer’ (Neupert 1997).
Conversely, prototype 001 of the hybrid-Ultraleichtmobil ULM BE 2000 constructed by
the Ingenieurschule Bern HTL was not marketed because the mechanical drive-train
was much too complicated and therefore too expensive (Fuchs and Josi 1996, Züger
1997).

SIMILAR TO BICYCLES, DISPARATE FROM CARS

In Switzerland electric bicycles and and the lightweight human-powered electro hybrid
Twike as well as the pure electric single seater Mini-El (Muntwyler 1988) are among the
best selling lightweight vehicles. Conversely, electric vehicles with two or more places
are harder to sell. In the ‘Leichtelektromobil-Grossversuch’ in Mendrisio, Tessin,
southern Switzerland, some individuals buy multi-seaters, but single- and double-
seaters are more popular than three- and four-seaters (by the ratio of 27:5; AssoVEL,
1997). It seems that car-like electric vehicles which have a short range can hardly
compete with the traditional internal combustion engine cars. The authors therefore
conclude that bicycle-related vehicles or other unique concepts which differ greatly from
the traditional car like Twike and Mini-El have chances of success on the market if
priced reasonable.

Based on customer response at exhibitions where Ultraleichtmobil ULM BE 2000 took

part the authors know that for an all-weather all-season vehicle (multi-track, fully faired)
people are prepared to pay prices similar to those of expensive motor-scooters. But the
price should not be higher than half the price of a cheap family car.

The authors assume that human-power is a unique selling proposition / a decisive

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incentive for the purchase of an ultralightweight vehicle: Training (fitness!) is possible

while in traffic. Other all-weather vehicles do not have this advantage.
A promotion campaign for ultralightweight vehicles without human-power and with a
maximum speed of 45 km/h would have to explain why these vehicles are lightweight,
do not have more than one seat, etc. If human-power contributes more than 50% to
propelling a vehicle, it becomes incomparable with the car and becomes something
unique and special rather than something poor compared to a car.

Theodor Schmidt (Ingenieurbüro Schmidt, Steffisburg, Switzerland) assumes that the

wish for speed exists because the time during which one has to sit still in the car should
be minimized. Specific energy (energy per distance and person) is less at lower
average speeds because air resistance increases disproportionately with speed.
Human-power is a valuable contribution to propelling a vehicle at low speeds and is
therefore a way of influencing the perception of time positively and reducing the wish for
speed and waste of energy.

THE FASCINATION OF HUMAN-POWER

The relative succes of human-power electro hybrids on the market will partly be
explained by the characteristics of human-power itself and by the physical
characteristics of human-power electro hybrids.

Physiological characteristics of human-power

Living organisms such as the human being like to move, and the need for training is
satisfied by human-powered vehicles or hybrids. Physical activity reduces muscular
tension and, in the case of human-powered vehicles, provides some relaxation while
travelling. Conversely, in the car, travelling time is wasted on tasks other than training,
too.

The significance of such training was studied by authors of the British Medical
Association (BMA 1992) and recognized as important by one of the larger health-
insurance companies of Switzerland (Visana) and by Prof. Oetliker, member of the
managing board of S-Lem, a company that produces Twike under licence. All three
therefore promote cycling.
The British Medical Association states that even though the number of accidents would
increase with increasing use of bicycles, the health benefits would outweigh the
disadvantages. Nowadays, in times of ever-rising health costs, the demand to move
and cycle more is thus an important one.
Anyone may record their daily use of the bicycle, send this to the health insurer Visana.
If 1000 km per year have been ridden, one is entitled to participate in a lottery
(Campaign ‘bike for your life 98’, Velojournal March/April 1998).

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Physical characteristics of human-power electro hybrids

Energy

The energy density of lead acid batteries is about fifteen times higher than that of a
human being. Therefore, with a battery weighing only (1/15)th as much as a human, the
amount of energy in a human-power electro-hybrid may be doubled (On a tandem, the
amount of stored energy is doubled by the stoker who commonly weighs as much as
the captain. See table I). Thanks to this energy, one may travel faster or the exhaustion
level of the rider after climbing may be reduced.
The human being as well as the battery are chemical energy storages. The first stores
the energy in biochemical form, the latter in electrochemical form. Ergometric data
(Whitt and Wilson 1994) or data from measurements of the discharge-history of
batteries enable us to compute the energy that may be drawn from these storages in
dependence of time. According to this data and corresponding plots, it is obvious that
the human being is optimized for longer periods of energy-release, whereas the battery
tends to be a short-time storage device. Therefore, we do not suggest the use of
electric bicycles for touring if the assist device is big and assists the rider on hills for
more than about 15 minutes. But using assist drive units in utility vehicles (commuters)
that are on the road for an hour a day makes sense.
The available travel time is up to 2 hours in hybrids with 10 kg of lead acid batteries. If
total travel time is longer, then pure human-power is the optimal choice.
An interesting ref. about the optimal size of batteries is Herb 1995.

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E-density : 0 4 0 30 Wh/kg
P-density : 0 2 150 0 W/kg
Efficiency 0 0.8 0.6 0.6 -

Mass Mass motor & energy total vehicle amount of energy- power power
vehicle rider drive-train storage dev. mass mass energy density density

[kg] [kg] [kg] [kg] [kg] [kg] [Wh] [Wh/kg] [W] [W/kg]

Bicycle 15 75 0 0 90 15 240 2,7 120 1,3

E-bicycle 15 75 5 10 105 30 420 4,0 570 5,4
ULM (*), small 30 75 7 20 132 57 600 4,5 750 5,7
ULM, heavy 45 75 10 30 160 85 780 4,9 1020 6,4

(*) ULM: Ultraleichtmobil. Definition, see below

Table I Energy-density and power-density of an ultralightweight vehicle (Definition see below)

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Power

In a similar way to the energy (see above) power may also be plotted in dependence of
time. According to such plots the battery is best suited to deliver a lot of power to an
electric motor for short intervals of time. But for extended periods of time, again the
human being is the better source of power, but at a level of below 200 W. The electric
assist drive therefore has to be applied in situations in which the driving task requires a
lot of power: Acceleration and climbing (see below). But in the flats, for the majority of
the time, the human being should contribute most to propelling the vehicle.

The ratio of the power from the battery and of the power from the human is the ‘force-
amplification-factor k’:

1a) k := battery power / human-power1

From this follows:

1b) Motor power = (1+k)*human-power

When travelling in hilly terrain, one may apply either of two strategies:
a) Constant Power
b) Constant Speed
Cyclists often choose strategy a) of constant power. Riders usually experience cycling
as a pleasant activity and exhaustion begins only after several hours. Main
disadvantages are the slow speed on hills and the low average speed due to the long
periods of time spent in the slopes.
But while commuting, the speed should be much more constant in order to predict total
travel time. Power-assisted bicycles may allow us to apply strategy b), constant speed.
If only one major slope has to be climbed, then one set of batteries may suffice to
deliver the corresponding high power. Since in Switzerland longer climbs are common,
several sets of batteries needed to be taken along on board the vehicle. The authors
therefore evaluate the use of range extenders consisting of cleanest four-stroke internal
combustion engines running electric generators. These range extenders in the form of a
box would only be taken on board for longer journeys.

Resistance

The more streamlined a human-powered electro-hybrid is the smaller its aerodynamic

drag, and the higher the speed which is attainable with human-power only, or the less
power needs to be drawn from the battery at higher speeds. Michael Saari discovered
(Saari 1996) that the distance over which energy may be drawn from the battery (often
called ‘range’, even though range is poorly defined in hybrids) increases non-linearly
with decreasing effective frontal area, that is the product of frontal area and coefficient
of drag (‘Saari-effect’).
Today the Saari-effect is not yet used because mainly aerodynamically inefficient
standard bicycles are equipped with power assist units rather than faired recumbents.
To increase range, the designers choose to put even more batteries onto a bicycle
instead of a fairing with its additional benefit of weather-protection, or they prefer to wait
1
Fully electrical transmission: The electrical power of the generator

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for the ‘wonderful’ batteries that may become available some day....

60 25 km/h
50 30 km/h
m 150 kg
35 km/h
40 cR 4 Promille
Range, km

Prider 100 W
30 Gear.Eff. 0.95
Slope 0%
20 Batt.Eff. 0.6
Mot.Eff. 0.7
10 Batt 156 Wh

0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

Effective frontal area cD*A, m2

Bild 2 Saari-effect: The range over which assist is available increases non-linearly with decreasing
effective frontal area / aerodynamic drag.
2
Typical effective frontal areas: Standard bicycle 0.6 m ; practical fully-faired human powered vehicle 0.3
2
m.
The calculation is based on the following values of parameters: Total mass of vehicle 150 kg, Coefficient
of rolling resistance 4 Permille, human-power 100 W, efficiency of the human-power drive-train 95 %,
capacity of the battery 156 Wh, efficiency of discharge of the battery 60 %, combined efficiency of motor
and gearing 70 %.

Vehicle-states and system-efficiency

The state of a vehicle is defined by both acceleration and speed. Acceleration happens
while starting from standstill, climbing slopes and working against rolling resistance.
The other kind of resistance, the aerodynamic drag, depends on speed and is
proportional to relative windspeed squared.

The characteristics of a vehicle with respect to drag are described by three parameters:
Mass, the coefficient of rolling resistance and the product of the coefficient of drag and
the frontal area, the effective frontal area.
A designer has the least influence on the coefficient of rolling resistance: After having
chosen the tyres (diagonal tyre or, not commercially available for bikes, radial tyres)
and the tyre pressure (medium to high pressure), the only remaining factor within the
control of the designer is the precision of the guidance of the tyre (including rim-
selection). Therefore, we further consider only the parameters ‘mass’ m and ‘effective

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frontal area‘ cD*A (product of coefficient of drag cD and frontal area A).

Energy-efficient vehicles are lightweight (kinetic energy may only be recuperated with
low efficiency), have low aerodynamic drag and their drive-train is efficient (efficiency µ,
‘mue’). In order to compare vehicles as a system of chassis, fairing and drive-train, we
define the following system-efficiencies:

System-efficiency for acceleration :

µ mref
µsys _ a =
2a)
µref (mref + mVehicle )
System-efficiency for constant speed :

µ (cD * A)ref
µsys _ v =
2b)
µref (cD * A)

The reference for system-efficiency will be set according to the most efficient vehicles
that exist today. The corresponding reference-values are the following:

• Mass: Mass of a human being,

mref = 75 kg
• Effective frontal area: Effective frontal area of a record human-powered vehicle,
cD*Aref = 0.05 m2
• Efficiency of drive-train: Efficiency of a bike chain, nearly 100%.
We set µref = 100%

Examples: The highest system-efficiency for acceleration is found in bicycles (15 kg,
µsys_a appr. 83 %), because these are nearly mass-less compared to a family-car (1000
kg, µsys_a appr. 7 %).
The highest system-efficiency for constant speed is reached by a record-hpv (100 %)
with chain-drive. A bicycle (cD*A appr. 0.60 m2) is aerodynamically 12 times poorer than
a record-hpv (cD*A appr. 0.05 m2), and is therefore only 8 % (=µsys_v) as efficient as a
record-hpv. A fully faired velomobile (such as e.g.. Rasmussen’s LEITRA, cD*A = 0.24
m2; Staubach 1993), equipped with a drive-train of only 75 % efficiency reaches a
system-efficiency µsys_v of only 16 %. This, however, is still twice that of a bicycle with
highly efficient chain drive-train!

The definition of system-efficiency was a necessity for the understanding of vehicles

with fully electrical human-power transmission (See below, chapter ‘FULLY
ELECTRICAL HUMAN-POWER-TRANSMISSION’). Using equation 2b), the
performance of vehicles in the flats can be compared. At the same level of mechanical
power at the pedals, the ratio of speeds is:

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1
v2 æ µsys_ v2 ö 3
3) =ç ÷
v1 è µsys_ v1ø

The ratio of the speeds is proportional to the third root of the ratio of the system-
efficiencies for constant speed (in the flats). For examples, see table III below.

100 Ultra-HPV Leitra Racing bike

80
Efficiency of transmission, %

60

40
Equivalent System Efficiency

20 Efficiency 3/98

Technically possible Efficiency

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Effective frontal area, m2

Fig. 3 System-efficiencies for constant, elevated speed in the flats

The sloped line is the ‘Equivalent System-Efficiency’, that is, all vehicles whose parameters are on this line
are equally fast at a certain power-level at the pedals.

In spring 1998, the efficiency of the fully electrical human-power drive-train of the working prototype of the
‚Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Bern‘ is about 50%. The line ‘Efficiency 3/98’ crosses the line
2
‘equivalent system-efficiency’ at an effective frontal area of 0.3 m ; all vehicles with lower areodynamic
drag may use the existing inefficient transmission in the flats without disadvantages relative to the
2
unaerodynamic standard bicycle (effective frontal area 0.6 m , efficiency of the mechanical transmission
sometimes nearly 100%)! Leitra is such a vehicle.

Technically feasible is an efficiency of nearly 80%, symbolized by the horizontal line ‘technically feasible
efficiency’. According to the crossing of this line with the line ‘equivalent system-efficiency’ fully electrical
transmissions with such high efficiencies may be used without any relative disadvantages compared to
standard bicycles in vehicles that are more aerodynamic than racing bicycles.

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ULTRALIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLES

After so much theory we are now in the position to define the class of the
ultralightweight vehicles ULV (German: ultralightweight mobiles ULM):

Parameter Parameter-Range

Mass 50 to 75 kg including fairing and battery, without person

Effective frontal area cD*A < 0.45 m2 due to aerodynamic fairing (*)
Propulsion by human-power and (electric) assist drive
mass of battery 10 to 30 kg
2
(*) Racing bicycles have effective frontal areas of between 0.4 and 0.5 m (Staubach 1993)

Table IIa Characteristics of ultralightweight vehicles ULV, part A

The lower limit of the range of the masses results from adding the empty mass of the
weather-protected recumbent tricycle Leitra and the mass of the drive-train of an
electric bicycle (30 kg + 20 kg = 50 kg). The upper limit is equal to the mass of a human
being; this limit is 50% higher than the lower limit and allows us to choose materials
which are cheaper to work with than those actually used for the production of the
custom- and hand-made Leitra.
The aerodynamic drag of an ULV needs to be at least 25% less than that of a standard
bicycle, which is, according to Staubach (Staubach 1993), proportional to the effective
frontal area of 0.6 m2. Thus the effective frontal area has to be equal to or less than that
of a racing bicycle (approx. 0.45 m2 ).

Due to the aerodynamic weather-protection we also need to prescribe the following:

Entity Quality

Position of the rider Similar to that on a recumbent

(due to the aerodynamic and rain-protecting fairing)
No. of wheels 3 or 4 (due to the aerodynamic fairing)
Suspension At least as good as on a suspended bicycle
(due to supine seating postion)

Table IIb Characteristics of ultralightweight vehicles ULV, part B

Of course, in an ultralightweight vehicle all the conditions for success mentioned at the
beginning of this article need to be fulfilled:

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♦ Good design
♦ Superb ergonomics
♦ Reasonable price
♦ Functionality and low maintenance requirements
♦ Satisfactory performance
♦ Safety.

The authors believe that a fully electrical transmission is ultimately required, because
most of the forementioned obstacles disappear when incorporating such a transmission
into an ultralightweight vehicle:

FULLY ELECTRICAL HUMAN-POWER-TRANSMISSION

Weather-protection is not possible if the rider is not rotated from the traditional position
on standard bicycles into the supine position as on recumbent bicycles. Fully-faired
standard bicycles are much too crosswind-sensitive compared to low, faired
recumbents with possibly also three or two tracks (three or four wheels).
Due to the rotation of the rider the chain between pedals and propelling wheel becomes
much longer than on a standard bicycle. Front drive would not have this disadvantage,
but traction is poor on slippery surfaces. Multitrack-vehicles require low seat heights to
maintain dynamic stability while cornering. Therefore, the chain between pedal an
propelling rear wheel needs to be routed below the seat by idlers and intermediate
axles. Efficiency is reduced and the complexity of the vehicle and its mass are
increased.

Ingress and egress is easy on ‚two-dimensional‘ recumbents even with above-the-seat-

steering and especially if no fairing is mounted. One usually only has to climb over the
uppermost tube of the frame and also over the upper chain. Because ultralightweight
vehicles have two or three tracks, they are three-dimensional. Getting in and out of
such vehicles becomes easier with every element (frame tubes, chains, steering
linkages, etc.) that does not obstruct passage into the passenger compartment. If the
chain is missing, new constructive opportunities become realistic:

• The bottom bracket may be fastened on an arm that swivels to the side or up while
the rider enters or leaves the vehicle
• The bottom bracket may be fixed to a forward- and backward-sliding arm
• The space between seat and bottom bracket may be completely free if the form of
the frame is a ring in which a rearwards-pointing arm holds the bottom-bracket
towards the feet of the rider
• The bottom bracket may be fastened to and slide along a vertical instead of
horizontal boom

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The simplest way to get rid of a chain running across the passenger compartment is by
using a fully electrical human-power transmission. Pedal and propelling wheel are
connected only by electrical wiring. Even front-wheel drive becomes easier to realize if
there is no chain that twists while steering.

Topology of the fully electrical human-power transmission

In detail, this innovation is described in ‘Fully Electrical Human-Power Transmission for

Ultralightweight Vehicles’ (Blatter and Fuchs, 1998) in these proceedings.

Basically, the transmission consists of the following components:

Transmission: Pedals -> (Gear) -> Generator -> DC/DC-Converter -> Wire -> Motor-
Controller -> Motor -> (Gear) -> Wheel

The DC/DC-converter that was developed by Jürg Blatter is controllable in such a way
that the source of current, the generator, is loaded in the range of its maximum
efficiency. A loading slightly below or slightly higher than at the point of maximum
efficiency is possible thanks to the controlled DC/DC-converter; the effect is similar to
changing gears.

Compare: Solar panels are usually loaded at the point of maximum power.

Above, in the listing of the components of the fully electrical transmission the gears are
put in brackets to show that one may consider using slowly rotating generators and
motors that are, without any gear, driven directly.

Strategy of development and existing working prototypes

Most people considering fully electrical transmission arrive at, but also stay with the
problem of reduced efficiency of the generator. Nevertheless, in summer 1996 the
authors of this article started development of the system that is described in ‘Fully
Electrical Human-Power Transmission for Ultralightweight Vehicles’ (Blatter and Fuchs,
1998) to experience advantages and disadvantages in real scale even though they
knew about the low efficiency. Mainly because the ergonomic advantages of this new
transmission are considerable, as a next and second, but not first step, the efficiency of
the generator will now be improved.

At present, the efficiency of the human-power side of the drive-train is a mere 50%. To
go fast, the losses in the generator are now compensated by adding current from a
battery. But the feel of using the vehicle with that specific transmision is like that in the
future at higher generator efficiencies. Increased generator efficiency will mainly
increase the range over which electric assist is available, and the drain of the battery
will be lower when climbing hills.

In Summer 1996, the state of the generator-technology was evaluated. In November

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1996 a study by Jürg Blatter concluded that fully electrical transmission was technically
feasible and would make sense when incorporated into ultralightweight vehicles. In
summer 1997 a first version of the fully electrical transmission was operational on the
ISBE recumbent-ergometer. In autumn 1997, the transmission was mounted on a
single-track bicycle and first rides were made. For the presentation of March 13 1998,
announcend internationally, the fully electrical transmission was transferred to a Leitra
tricycle. It is planned to measure the efficiency of the system during summer 1998 using
on-board data-sampling.

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Fig. 4 Bruno Howald on the Leitra-tricycle with fully electrical transmission: The smile says it all....
Below Bruno’s feet the pedal-generator-module can be seen. The controllable DC/DC-converter is
mounted in the bottom bracket support. The computer, the battery as well as the motor-controller are
below the seat. The motor is on the right side of the rear wheel.

Ergonomical characteristics of the fully electrical human-power transmission

- Continuously variable transmission (CVT) with gear ratios of between zero and
infinity. This gear range is required by velomobiles because they need higher gears
in the flats due to their good aerodynamic quality and because they need lower
gears on slopes due to their higher weight compared to bicycles.
(Since the beginnings of bicycle history cyclists have longed for continuously
variable transmission. Mechanically, this kind of transmission is difficult and
expensive to realize.)
- Ease of operation. No gear-shifters are needed if any gear between motor and
propelling wheel is changed electronically or if the motor may be operated without
any mechanical gearing. When starting from stand-still, the optimal gear is always
active.
In the power-assist mode no manually operated power-control is needed.
- Power assist is by addition of currents from other sources than the pedal-generator
(battery, fuel cells, internal combustion engine driven generator, solar panels).
Increase in power is smooth because no mechanical coupling is required
- No overload of links (e.g. knees) because there are no gears to change in an
unoptimal way

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- The standard ‘bicycle-feeling’ or any other feedback from wheel to pedals may be
produced due to the controllability of the converter. Power and frequency at the
pedals may control the power at the propelling wheel. Any combination of
parameters may control the resisting-torque at the pedals and pedal rpm:
‚Biofeedback‘.
- Mechanical power-input at the pedals is easily measured (ergometry). To do this,
generator efficiencies in dependence of current and voltage have to be known by
the computer on board the vehicle
- No chain across the passenger compartment
- Hardly any maintenance required

Note: In human-power hybrids good ventilation is essential. Gloger (Gloger 1996) shows that sufficient
climatisation is technically feasible.

Driving-states, efficiency and power-transmission

a) Accelerating: In the time interval needed to accelerate a bicycle with mechanical

drive-train to nominal speed the electrical transmission releases more energy due to
continuous operation at an initially higher-power level over an infinite gear ratio.
Therefore, the fully electrical transmission is optimally suited for heavier human-power
hybrids.
Aerodynamic human-powered vehicles need wider ranges of gear ratios than standard
bicycles and are a still unexplored field of application of the fully electrical transmission.

b) In the flats, at elevated speeds: The efficiency of the system ‘vehicle and
transmission’ is given by the ratio of drive-train efficiency to effective frontal area
(system-efficiency). Vehicles having the same ratio are equally fast at a certain rider
power level.
Since a standard bicycle is not at all aerodynamically optimized compared to a practical
all-weather human-powered vehicle (e.g. Leitra), it NEEDS a drive-train with nearly
100% efficiency! At the same rider power level a practical all-weather human-powered
vehicle with 50% efficient drive-train attains the same speed as a standard bicycle with
nearly 100% efficient drive-train:

Vehicle Efficiency Effective Relative

of drive-train frontal area speed
[%] [m2] [%]

Standard bicycle 95 0.58 100

Practical all-weather hpv (e.g. Leitra) 90 0.24 132
Leitra, present electrical transmission (3/98)50 0.24 108
Leitra, optimized electrical transmission 75 0.24 124

Table III Comparison of the standard bicycle with an all-weather-human-powered vehicle.

The values for the effective frontal areas are from Schöndorf 1982 and Staubach 1993.
The relative speeds in the last column were calculated using equation 3).

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Note: According to measurements by ID Bike published in Fiets 8/97 (bicycle magazine

from the Netherlands) the efficiency of the hub Shimano Nexus Inter 7 is in 3rd gear 75
to 76 % (33 teeth on the front ring, 16 teeth on the rear ring, 100 to 200 W power). Only
in 2nd, 6th and 7th gear efficiency is higher than 90 %.

c) On slopes: Since the electric motor is coupled to the wheel as directly as possible
(like in an electric vehicle) no energy is lost in inefficient bicycle transmissions used also
for the transmission at high motor power levels.
On slopes, at higher speeds, the rider contributes only little to the propulsion. There,
lowered efficiency of the human-power transmission is thus no big problem.

Total efficiency of the fully electrical transmission in dependence of the force-

amplification-factor k is (definition by equations 1a and 1b, see above), under the
assumption of constant efficiencies over the whole range of speeds:

µGµ 1µMµ 2(1 + k )

4) µtotal =
1 + kµGµ 1

µtotal Total efficiency (between pedal-generator, batteries and wheel)

µG Efficiency of the generator
µ1 Efficiency of the generator-gear
µM Efficiency of the motor
µ2 Efficiency of the motor-gear
k force-amplification-factor (See above, equations 1a and 1b)

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Discussion:

k=0 Riding without force-amplification (‘bicycle-mode’) :

Total efficiency is the product of the efficiencies of all components
k big, k >> 1 Riding with high force-amplification (‘electric vehicle-mode’) :
Total efficiency is the efficiency of the electric drive
(motor and gear to the propelling wheel)

100

80
Efficiency, %

60

40
Machines 0.75, Gears 0.95

20 Machines 0.90, no Gears

0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Amplification-factor

Fig. 5 Efficiency in dependence of the force-amplification factor k under the assumption of constant
efficiencies of the components. k is small in the flats, and k is big on slopes.

k = 0 : Total efficiency is equal to the efficiency of the fully electrical human-power transmission
k >> 1 : Total efficiency is equal to the efficiency of the (very efficient) electric drive

Due to the reduced speed, an ultralightweight vehicle stays on slopes during prolonged periods of time.
Since the efficiency is maximized during climbing (k >> 1), waste of energy is low.

Shown are two cases:

Case a) Unoptimized system, ‘Machines 0.75’ : Generator and motor are 75 % efficient (typical for good,
brushed machines). Each machine is geared with a gear of 95 % efficiency.
Case b) Optimized system, ‘Machines 0.90’ : Generator and motor are 90 % efficient (incl. electronics). No
gears are used, since the machines are of a type that may be used gearless.

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In cases of huge force-amplification, k >> 1, a human-power electro hybrid is in the

electric vehicle-mode. Only in this case of negligible human-power contribution ‘range’
is well defined.

Disadvantages of the fully electrical human-power transmission

- To start, an electric motor producing high initial torques is needed (as in any electric
vehicle) because the chain that transmits huge torques also at 0 rpm is missing.
- To start on slopes some current needs to be drawn from a battery to produce high
initial torques. On the flats, starting and rolling with absolutely empty batteries is
possible.
Battery size and the upper limit of the motor-current have to be matched well.
- The fully electrical transmission is not yet commercially available !

Mass of the fully electrical transmission

Compared to the mechanical and functionally similar ‘Velocity’-system by Michael

Kutter, Basel Switzerland (Kutter 1993), also providing the effect of a continuously
variable transmission, the fully electrical transmission is slightly heavier due to the more
powerful motor. But this comparison is on the basis of the standard bicycle. If the
comparison is made for ultralightweight vehicles with long chains, the fully electrical
transmission becomes increasingly advantageous. In such vehicles, many indirect
mass-advantages are important:

• No intermediate axles
• No chain idlers and chain-guidance rolls
• No supports for intermediate axles (production-friendly !)
• The frame does not have to support unsymmetrical chain forces
• No chain guards needed
• etc.

A mechanical gear with continuous transmission between zero and infinity would weigh
much more and would probably be much more unreliable than a fully electrical
transmission. The development of a mechanical gear would also be much more
expensive !

Cost

In a comparison on the basis of the standard bicycle the Velocity-system is - as in the

comparison of mass - more advantageous. It is cheaper due to the stronger motor of
the fully electrical transmission.

But in ultralightweight vehicles there are many indirect cost advantages, making the
fully electrical transmission very attractive :

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• The time from conception to production of the vehicle decreases (if the fully electrical
transmission is readily available), because the design and construction of the
passenger compartment becomes simpler. No chain-forces need to be taken into
account, and many details like supports, fasteners, etc., are no longer needed.
• Production is simplified because the modules (pedal-generator-module, computer,
display, energy storage device: battery, propulsion-unit as found today in scooters, or
in the form of a hub motor) need to be connected only electrically instead of
mechanically.
• Maintenance is simplified and thus cheaper, because the modules may be
encapsulated (life-cycle costs decrease).

Further development

The existing working prototype of the fully electrical transmission will be measured while
on the road in order to assess the energy budget: On-board data-sampling techniques
like pedal-torque meter and data-logger allow one to determine efficiencies in
dependence of rpm and speed as well as global efficiencies on up- and down-hill rides.
Modularisation of the system ‘fully electrical human-power transmission’ will allow their
application in many other kinds of vehicles. Generator technology is now being
evaluated further in order to identify the best kind of generator for the first commercial
version.

A new generation of bicycle transmissions ?

The production-friendliness of the modularity will also make the fully electrical
transmission interesting for standard bicycles and recumbents: Widespread use of this
new kind of transmission would lead to new generations of lines of bicycle components.
But the future application on aerodynamically less optimized bicycles depends on how
much the efficiency of the fully electrical human-power transmission will be increased
above the level of 50% (See Fig. 3). On standard two-wheelers (but not on recumbents)
the pedals need to support the weight of the person when starting. Therefore, the
development of fully electrical transmissions for standard bicycles is more complicated
and thus more expensive than the development of fully electrical human-power
transmissions for recumbents and multi-track vehicles.

Most probably the fully electrical transmissions will be used in high-end electric bicycles
with batteries of highest energy density to compensate for the losses of the electrical
transmission that are higher than those of chain-based transmissions.

Another field of application will be in bicycles similar to the ‘Electronic Bike’ such as
Harald Kutzke‘s, featured in ‘Das Powerbike’ (Neupert, 1997). The Electronic Bike
compensates the losses in the drive-train and the climbing and rolling resistance as well
as the aerodynamic drag of only the bicycle but not the rider.

An additional field of application will be medical rehabilitation due to the ergonomic

advantages of the fully electrical transmission.

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IMPROVEMENTS OF HUMAN-POWERED ELECTRO HYBRID PIONEER-VEHICLES

Many of the obstacles to the commercial existence of human-power (solar-) electro-

hybrids become obsolete due to the existence of the fully electrical human-power
transmission :

§ High price due to both a human-power drive-train and an electric drive-train: The
fully electrical transmission is a combination of two drive-trains and thus cheaper
than both! A human-power electro hybrid with fully electrical transmission is
topologically similar to an electric vehicle with two sources of electrical energy
(pedal-generator, battery) in which the pedal-generator-module controls the vehicle
like the throttle in a common car.
§ Ergonomic deficiencies like difficult in- and egress vanish. The chain as a source of
noise is obsolete.
§ Ugly interior: The design of the interior of a vehicle with fully electrical transmission
becomes much more attractive.
§ Complicated construction of the frame due to the chain running across the vehicle:
The electrical wiring between generator and motor does not have to be routed in a
direct line.
§ Susceptibility to break-downs and required level of maintenance: Our experiences
with the mechanical drive-train of the ultralightweight vehicle ULM BE 2000
concerning failures and maintenance were definitely poorer than the first
experiences with the working prototype of the fully electrical transmission
§ Complicated operation: Operation of the fully electrical transmission is very simple
because fewer controls are required and because operation is similar to that of a
single speed bicycle or to that of a scooter with automatic transmission (stereotype
of operation).

FINAL REMARKS

The authors hope to have opened new opportunities leading to the existence of human-
power-x-hybrids (x: e.g. electro) in that they conceptualized the fully electrical
transmission and in that Jürg Blatter realized the first working prototype.

Others than the authors have also considered the straight-forward solution of the fully
electrical human-power transmission. As an example, according to the Internet-pages
by Omni Instruments, Albion, CA, the concept of an ElectriLite-ultralightweight vehicle
has existed since 1995. ElectriLite is a tricycle with two passenger seats and pedal-
generators.

The fully electrical human-power transmission came into existence because

ultralightweight vehicle ULM BE 2000 with recumbent seating-position had to be
improved. Originally, ULM BE 2000 was intended to become fully weather-protected but
was never finished as such. But it is still the main intention of the developments by the
Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Bern to design an all-weather ultralightweight
vehicle produced industrially rather than custom-made.
While working on single-track bicycles the fully electrical transmission probably would
not have been invented because the decision between maximum efficiency and optimal
ergonomics would have resulted in the preference of the simple and short chain.

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Whether or not the significance of the fully electrical transmission will be as important
as envisioned by Hannes Neupert on March 13 1998 in Berne during a seminar on the
electrical human-power transmission is still open (cited freely): ‘The fully electrical
transmission is of the same importance to power-assisted bicycles as is the
replacement of the mechanical typewriter by the personal computer in the office-world!’

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our first thank goes to our industrial partner Gilgen Fördersysteme AG, Oberwangen
near Berne, for the good collaboration!
The concept and the first technical realisation of the fully electrical human-power
transmission was part of the P+D-projects 'Mechanische Muskelkraft-Elektro-
Hybridisierung' (No. 18887) and ’Messkonzept: Mechanischer Hybrid-Antriebsstrang'
(No. 18885) funded by the Swiss Federal Agency of Energy BEW, Berne, Switzerland.
The Ingenieurschule Bern HTL, ISBE (now Hochschule für Technik und Architektur
Bern), contributed an internal feasibilty-study (November 1996).
A hearty ”Thank you !” goes to all collaborators of the mechanical and electrical
engineering departments of the ISBE (now HTA-BE) who took part in the project.
Many thanks go to David Picken who checked the translation.

Address:

Dr. Andreas Fuchs and Dipl.Ing.HTL Jürg Blatter, Hochschule für Technik und
Architektur Bern, Morgartenstrasse 2c, CH-3014 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. +41 (0)31 335 52 85/34
Fax +41 (0)31 333 06 25
andreas.fuchs@isbe.ch / juerg.blatter@isbe.ch

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