Electric bikes are all the rage these days, especially among urban dwellers — and for good reason, too.
E-bikes are a green mode of transportation, can be ridden just about anywhere, and are a much more affordable alternative to owning a car in the city.
As with any electric vehicle, though, keeping it charged can sometimes be a headache. But the Italian company Leaos may have found a clever solution.
Leaos created an electric bike that integrates solar technology into the bike's body so that its battery is almost always getting a charge.
The solar panels are on both sides of the bike, so that it can capture solar energy even in motion. But to get the most charge, a user must position the bike at a 90 degree angle towards the sun.
Leaos CEO Armin Oberhollenzer told Tech Insider that the objective is not to charge an empty battery from the sun, but to use solar energy so that the battery never gets completely empty.
When plugged in, the bike can fully charge in two hours. This gives it a range of about 62 miles in pedal assist mode.
However, the bike's solar power enables it to be self-sufficient for a range of about nine miles in pedal assist mode, Oberhollenzer said.
"That may not seem like much, but it is exactly the medium usage of a bike per day," Oberhollenzer said via email. "As technology improves, efficiency increases. But we want to show what is possible already now."
Instead of trying to hide the solar panels, a lot of attention was given to incorporating them into the bike's sleek design, Oberhollenzer said.
"It has a body with all parts integrated instead of tubes; conceptually it is designed as a car," he said. "We are the first that were able to fully integrate the solar panels and to let them appear as a design element."
Besides its solar panels, the bike also boasts a few other impressive features like a carbon fiber body and a digital display to show the mileage, motor operation, and range.
But all of this technology doesn't come cheap. The Leaos Solar bike begins pricing at about $8,700.
