Panasonic Gyutto and Gyutto Mini power-assisted bicycles

Panasonic has introduced its Gyutto and Gyutto Mini power-assisted bicycles to the Japanese market, and what makes these special would be their ability to carry around a couple of infants – at least this will happen on May 23rd, 2011 onwards. The accompanying child seat of both the Gyutto and Gyutto Mini will be placed logically on the rotating shaft of the handle, where the seat is located at a low position in order to improve the stability of the bicycles and to make it a whole lot easier to load and unload an infant.

The Gyutto’s front and rear wheels will measure 22″ and 26″ respectively, where the Gyutto Mini’s will be 20″ in size instead – hence the “Mini” suffix. The loads that are imposed on the bicycles will be intensified where people sit, and whenever an infant or two are carried, the number of points on which loads intensify is two or three, respectively, which leads to a lack of stability. Hence, the new bicycles were specially designed to boast of a higher stability capability compared to normal bicycles.

Panasonic Cycle Technology decided to throw in small front wheels in order to lower the gravity points of the bicycles while improving stability. The company did, however, use a 26″ rear wheel for the Gyutto in order for the rider to pedal it in a way that is similar to other bicycles.

There are three power assist modes for the Gyutto and Gyutto Mini – “Automatic,” which automatically controls assist power; “Power,” which keeps assisting pedaling effort strongly; and “Eco,” which saves power consumption by using a relatively low power for assistance. The 8Ah lithium-ion rechargeable battery allow the bicycles to travel for around 36km per charge with assistance.

They aren’t exactly cheap though, as the Gyutto and Gytto Mini will retail for around $1,604 after conversion – child seat not included, of course.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Green, Transportation
Tags: electric bicycle, Panasonic