Meet the eGo, Canada鈥檚 first series hybrid electric tricycle.
There are only a few of these environmentally friendly trikes in the world, and one of them was built at AV俱乐部 by Mechanical Engineering student Cohen Poirier.
With funding support from听the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Dal Faculty of Engineering Professor Dr. Lukas Swan and Halifax entrepreneur Dr. John Ross teamed up to design a bike that would provide a more efficient and active means of electric transportation.
The eGo, which Poirier build as part of his fall 2016 co-op term, is now a finalist in the NSERC Science, Action! video contest. The competition challenges postsecondary students across Canada to film a 60-second video about how their NSERC funded research and innovations are transforming Canadian lives. 听
Although this is the third year NSERC has run the Science, Action! Video contest, it鈥檚 the first-time a Dal student has qualified as a finalist. The final round of the competition involves public voting. Viewers can vote for their favorite videos by (each view is a vote) or by . Voting is open until February 28.
Poirier says although he鈥檇 love to win the competition, it was never the main focus when creating the video.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about getting the word out there, and encouraging people to start thinking about moving away from fossil fuels and moving towards a more active and clean form of transportation,鈥� he says.
Improving the lives of Canadians
In four months Poirier, Ross and Swan designed and built a hybrid electric trike that would enable cyclists to overcome many of the challenges they face on the road including harsh weather conditions, strenuous uphill battles and a lack of luggage space. The key to their design involved creating a series hybrid drive train unlike any other in the world.
鈥淭his is something that isn鈥檛 even on the market right now,鈥� says Poirier. 鈥淚 think in Japan they have a series hybrid bike that they鈥檙e selling and it鈥檚 a big secret as to what鈥檚 inside, but we know what鈥檚 inside. We鈥檝e figured it out for ourselves and ours may be even better.鈥�
Poirier says the eGo鈥檚 unique series hybrid control strategy allows the trike to feel like a regular bicycle 鈥斕� but only requires nominal effort to cycle.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e pedalling up a hill on a regular bicycle, it鈥檚 harder to pedal, but the eGo鈥檚 unique drive train allows the pedalling resistance to remain constant no matter if you are going uphill, downhill or on level ground,鈥� he says.
Unlike a regular bicycle, which uses a chain to drive its back wheel, the eGo鈥檚 chain has been removed. Instead, it uses a pedal driven generator and a hub motor at the drive wheel, with a unique control strategy to map pedaling input onto motor output.
鈥淭his is also what differentiates the trike from something like a moped, which uses a throttle to control its motor,鈥� says Poirier 鈥淭he eGo requires the user to pedal in order to get the motor to actually work, which means the user has to be active.鈥�
As for riding the eGo in harsh weather conditions, Poirier says the trike鈥檚 design will eventually include a hood over the vehicle, shielding it from rain or snow.
From left: Professor Lukas Swan, student Cohen Poirier and entrepreneur John Ross. 听
In 2011 Statistics Canada released a study indicating that on average, it takes Canadians 30-minutes to drive to work. Most of that time however, is spent in gridlocked traffic. Although Poirier says the eGo won鈥檛 solve all traffic issues, it would certainly appeal to people looking for environmentally friendly ways of getting to work.
鈥淚f you use the eGo, you can pass by traffic in the bike lane and remove one idling car from the mix who鈥檚 burning useless fuel,鈥� says Poirier. 鈥淥bviously, it鈥檚 not for big road trips with the family. It鈥檚 only has room for maybe one person and some groceries. But you could cut down on your fossil fuel usage by using the trike and you could be active.鈥�
Poirier says they are still exploring new technologies, but are confident that the eGo鈥檚 drive train could be beneficial to a wide variety of Canadians.
鈥淪ince the video came out, people have suggested that the technology could be applied to multiple areas, such as aiding those with disabilities,鈥� he says.
Future plans
The eGo is the first prototype for Ross鈥� new start-up company, ActEV Rider Co. The business focuses on finding new and environmentally efficient ways for Canadians to benefit from electric vehicle transportation.
Poirier says he鈥檒l be returning to the company this summer for his next co-op term. From there, Poirier, Ross and Swan hope to further develop the eGo鈥檚 control strategy and build more prototypes.
鈥淲e need to listen to the public about how they feel about the eGo,鈥� says Poirier. 鈥淚f people have ideas and want to get involved we are open to suggestions. Our main goal is to aid the transition into electric vehicles. We just want people to start talking about this and moving away from fossil fuels.鈥�
In the meantime, Poirier hopes his video for the NSERC Science, Action! video contest goes viral on YouTube.
鈥淢aybe if everyone at Dal views the video, I鈥檒l win,鈥� he laughs.听 鈥淏ut really I just hope that this technology gets people thinking about a clean future.鈥�