A new power trip: Nokia reveals bike powered cell phone charger

As new cell phones hit the marketplace so do cell phone chargers for your car, home, or even portable models for emergencies. Instead of relying on an outlet Nokia’s Bicycle Charger Kit uses green energy from your bike to power up your phone.

The Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit is really simple. It includes a mount for your cell phone, the charger, and a dynamo that fits on the front wheel of your bike. The dynamo uses the motion of the front wheel to create energy for your phone. The charger works with Nokia brand cell phones that have a 2mm charging jack.

Because the backbone of Nokia’s charging system is the dynamo charging rates depend how fast you are traveling. If you took a ten minute ride to the store and were peddling six miles an hour, the dynamo would add almost 30 minutes of talk time to your cell phone’s battery. Nokia claims that the kit can be easily removed when you need to park your bike.

The announcement of the kit may not be that exciting for consumers that want the latest in cutting edge technology, but it may be big news for developing nations. If you look at areas in Africa, Asia, and parts of the Middle East, there’s a huge demand for cell phones and service.

It’s no wonder that Nokia decided to announce the Bicycle Charger Kit in Kenya, a country that’s seen a 9,000% jump in cell phone ownership since 2000. Like many other developing nations, bicycles are a primary form of transportation in the country.

The combination of transport and power could be especially important in India, one of Nokia’s largest markets. Between 300-400 million citizens lack access to power and those that do have to contend with on India’s unreliable power grid.

Perhaps Nokia’s move will encourage other cell phone and smart phone manufacturers to cut the power cord in favor of green energy like pedal power or even solar. Until then we’ll just have to wait for the next eco-minded MacGyver to figure out a hack.