GreenWheel converts any Huffy 10-speed into an electric bicycle
It's a struggle we all face. There's the urge to bike to work each day, and then there's the realization that you're too huge / lazy / tired to make it on your own. Brilliant minds at MIT understand your frustration, and rather than asking you to drop a few grand on a bona fide electric bike, they're developing an apparatus that can convert any standard bicycle into one that's juiced. The GreenWheel contains an electric generator, batteries and an electric motor, all of which only need a wheel to be respoked in order to fit in. Under its current configuration, a single GreenWheel (yes, one can be added to each wheel) can propel a bike and your faineant derriere for around 25 miles; start peddling and that range doubles. There's no clear indication of when these things will splash down at your local bike shop, but word has it that Copenhagen and South Africa are already looking to add it to their public transportation systems by 2010.
[Via DVICE, thanks Scott]