It Runs on Brain Power
Keihachi Ishikawa poses this riddle: What 150-pound vehicle consumes as much energy as a kitchen toaster yet conveys a person effortlessly with the speed of an automobile?
Give up? No wonder because Mr. Ishikawa owns the only one in the world. He doesn't have a name for it but suggests calling it the Bike of the 21st Century. He challenges inventors and visionaries everywhere to fabricate a similar vehicle. "I solved one engineering problem a day for nine months using my knowledge of mechanical engineering, electric engineering and power electronics," he says. Then he grins, "I surprised myself by building it."
Mr. Ishikawa, 54, whose background is in mechanical engineering, owns two other electric vehicles, including the prototype of the Bike of the 21st Century and an electric mountain bike. He worked repairing buses for OCTranspo for 20 years as a diesel engine mechanic before he became a self-employed inventor/engineer.
He has been interested in electric vehicles since he was a student in Osaka, Japan when he realized the innate problems with internal combustion engines, "They are about 25% efficient and the rest goes out the tailpipe in emissions. Plus my trike is multipurpose: it saves money, saves energy and saves the environment." He chose the tadpole configuration, two wheels in front, as opposed to delta, one wheel in the rear, because of inherent stability at higher speeds.
Current hybrids are pricey and even more expensive to custom-build, "You need $25,000 plus the cost of a good vehicle," he says, so he set about to build one that measures up to his cost-benefit analysis. And, he smiles, "The beauty of mine is that it has pedals so I can pedal home if I have to but mostly, I put my hand on the joy sticks, sit back and enjoy. It's like a video game but this one actually moves."