Is this solar e-bike a good idea or sophisticated e-waste?

I like the idea of a solar-powered electric bike, but I don’t think anyone should buy the new Phosgo Go5 — not yet, anyway. This “world’s first AI solar e-bike” promises to “eliminate range anxiety,” and is sold by a new brand out of China hoping to make a big splash by selling direct-to-consumer through a global crowdfunding campaign. So many red flags here.

According to a media kit the company sent me from a generic gmail.com address, Phosgo is a joint venture between Jiaxing Dazhe Solar Energy and Shenzhen Honglianda Technology. Dazhe provides the flexible solar technology pioneered by someone identified only as “Dr. Li,” while Honglianda delivers an established supply chain and e-commerce expertise.

Phosgo is selling two 8-speed, aluminum-frame models in the US and Europe built around Bafang mid-drive motors, the company tells me, although a motor from Ananda is clearly visible in some photos. The base Go5 has a “super early bird” price of $1,999 while the beefier Go5 Ultra starts at $2,799. The prices will supposedly double in the future but that’s a FOMO marketing tactic typical of these campaigns. It launches on Kickstarter Saturday, July 27th.

All the bikes are fitted with a total of four 50W circular solar panels inside the wheels, made of BC (back contact) cells. BC solar cells make sense here because they move all the electrical contacts to the inside of the panels giving them a uniformly sleek look without those visible grid lines. BC panels should also deal with partial shading caused by cars, buildings, trees, the bike frame, and the rider better than traditional panels. The solar components account for about 8 pounds of these roughly 50-pound bikes.

Here’s the issue: all 200W of those solar panels are facing the wrong way. To get the best charge you’d need to lay your bike on the ground, and even then only half would be exposed to the mid-day sun. Realistically, you’re only going to produce a few watts on average when riding or when parked on the kickstand.

Phosgo’s range claims are all over the place. But deep in the media kit I found a table showing the solar panels adding 17 miles between charges from a wall outlet. It doesn’t say how it measured that but I’m assuming it’s the maximum achieved under optimal, unshaded daylight. It’s safe to say you’ll get far less than that anywhere outside the Sahara, especially when parked side-by-side with other bikes in a city bikerack. One thing’s for sure: you will still have charging worries.

Lastly, Phosgo’s “advanced speech-to-speech AI” is just dumb. No e-bike needs an integrated AI assistant. The chance of it successfully recommending a decent hamburger shop is minuscule, and it certainly won’t be properly smashed.

Look, I hope I’m wrong. I hope the Phosgo Go5 series does everything it says. Everyone loves an underdog. But please don’t back this crowdfunding campaign unless you’ve got money to burn. Global fulfillment is hard enough when not dealing with giant batteries and sensitive electronics that also have to be serviced over their lifetimes. Best wait this one out if you’re truly interested.

Otherwise, maybe consider a general purpose solar generator and portable solar panel. They’ll charge your e-bike, drone, power tools, laptop and phone, and keep the fridge and PS5 running during the next blackout.