America's Portland based 'Ryno Motors' have impressed the auto enthusiasts with their innovative, short distance commuting vehicle. Titled 'Ryno', this unicycle is 100 percent emission free as it utilizes electrical energy for powering its wheel. Ryno looks like as if a two wheeled motorcycle has been slashed half. Ryno has more advantages than the other similar unicycles, however, this vehicle can be used only for short range commuting and slow speed rides, which bests suits for commuting inside the cities. Ryno Motors is currently building a batch of 50 limited edtion, pre-production Ryno bikes. However, these bikes are hand built and they costs more than seven times the price of their expected production bikes.
Ryno electric unicycle
The green machine
Ryno is single wheeled, 100 percent electricity based bike, which is designed for a single person to travel short distances. The unique feature of this green machine is its self balancing system. Balancing the single wheel is cleverly solved in this machine, which was once considered as an important disadvantage for single-wheeled vehicles. In fact, the design of the Ryno bike allows the rider to sit comfortably, while in other similar vehicles like Segways, the rider has to keep standing throughout the journey. This is one of the highlights of Ryno. The vehicle has considerable safety features like visual indicator lights and warning sound alerts, advanced solid-state motion sensors, which maintains the balance of the vehicle, mechanical braking system, low battery indicators and completely sealed electric and electronic components.
Green factor
As the bike utilizes electrical energy by means of Li-FePo4 batteries, there are no emissions from the vehicle, thus makes it green. Ryno has a standard lighting system with dual lights in the front as well as taillights in the rear. Turn signals are integrated with the lighting system. This bike possess an automatic kill-switch sensor that prevents the rotation of the wheel, when the rider gets off from the vehicle. The start-up system of this vehicle requires a confirmation from the rider, that he is ready to move, as he takes his seat.
The powertrain
High capacity Dual, Direct Current Motors forms the electrical source for powering the vehicle. The powertrain of this vehicle is a simple system. The light weight body of the vehicle supports a top speed of about 25 mph. With a full charge, Ryno can travel up to 30 miles, thus suits commuting inside the cities. The batteries could be recharged fully in just 1.5 hours. However, the weight of the rider too has a considerable limit for using this vehicle. The company sets off the rider's limit to be within 250 pounds. Surprisingly, this bike is capable of climbing slant roads with the maximum inclination of 30%. The unusual thickness of the wheel is the important part that makes the entire vehicle successful and feasible. In fact, the diameter of the wheel is 25 inches in size.
The highs
The design of this single wheeled bike with a sitting position for the rider is highly welcomed by the users. As the vehicle is a complete electricity based prototype, zero emissions results are achieved, which supports green environment. Ryno's lighting system in which the turn signals are integrated, makes the vehicle compatible to be driven on normal roads even at nights. Otherwise, this bike could be driven only on the footpath and pavements. Safety features are pretty good in this unicycle. The Auto Balance System is the highlight of this prototype. This system takes control of the speed and tilt angle, only after giving warning messages to the rider at unsuitable speeds and tilts. The battery level of the batteries are subsequently notified through the yellow and red warning lights. A full training manual on how to ride this bike effortlessly, comes along with the bike. The versatility of the bike allows the rider to change his direction in a moment, just by turning around as like a human does.
The lows
This bike can be used only for short distance commuting within the city limits. As the vehicle is entirely electricity powered, the mileage range is very limited as within 30 miles. The top speed of the vehicle is also very limited which is around 25 mph. The weight of the rider should does not exceed more than 250 pounds which doesn't allow obese people to use this vehicle. The safety features of this vehicle must be further improved for preventing direct collisions.
Price and availability
The company is currently working on its pre-production vehicles which are priced for $25000. The production vehicles are expected to be available for $3500 by next year or later. The manufacturer also has designed hybrid versions as Urban, Industrial and Super Sport models of this bike to make transportation much efficient and convenient.
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