VIDEO! Electric Bike Sharing Program with Solar Charging Station at University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee Electric Bike Sharing Solar Charging Station

This is the future!  Imagine borrowing an electric bike at your neighborhood solar charging station to run errands around town.  That is what the University of Tennessee (UT) has been working on.

UT has developed the nation’s first fully automated e-bike sharing solar charging station.

Civil and environmental engineering assistant professor Chris Cherry and his team are collecting data on a number of questions related to safety, environmental impact and travel behavior to see if electric bikes could become more popular here in the US.

Chris Cherry said that the program is introducing people at the University to a very efficient form of transportation.  So true!

Registered members of the e-bike sharing program can checkout a bike by swiping their University ID card.

The University of Tennessee is using IZIP electric bikes from Currie Technologies for the program.  They also have traditional (non electric) bicycles that users can check out if they prefer.

The video below will show you what the charging station looks like along with how a user checks out the battery and electric bike.

Make sure you check out more information on the University of Tennessee electric bike sharing program here.

Also, here is a guide to commercially available electric bike charging stations.

While the UT e-bike sharing program may be the first it is certainly not the last!  The city of San Francisco is currently working on an e-bike sharing program.

What do you think?  Would you be interested in trying an electric bike sharing program in your city/town/neighborhood?  Would you like to have solar charging stations available around town to charge your e-bike (at work, coffee shops, libraries, etc.)?

Please leave your comments in the section below.

Thanks!

-Pete

P.S. Don’t forget to join the Electric Bike Report community for updates from the electric bike world, plus ebike riding and maintenance tips!