Current Carrying Ability of A Potato

[Lancelot59]

During a conversation a friend and I made a joke that was along the lines of "at least you're not powering it using an orange or a potato" while discussing the power supply for his electric bike.

Now I'm wondering...would it actually be possible to power an electric bike using potato batteries? According to wikipedia it's possible to get about 1.3 volts from a potato, however I think the internal resistance would be too high in order to drive something like the bike. Unless you put a ton of them in parallel...

 

[Simon Bridge]

Unless you put a ton of them in parallel...

There you are - you've answered your own question.

You may end up pulling your potato PSU in a trailer though.
Make a bunch of potato batteries and work it out.

 

[Lancelot59]

There you are - you've answered your own question.

You may end up pulling your potato PSU in a trailer though.
Make a bunch of potato batteries and work it out.

I would, except I'm not sure where to get the electrode material from yet. If I. Do I'll certainly try.

 

[AlephZero]

Each some of the potatoes, pedal the bike till you get hungry, repeat.

That's a much more efficient way to convert the chemical energy in the potatoes to mechanical work than using a "potato battery".

 

[Simon Bridge]

Oh but he doesn't want to pedal and so get tired ... another improved approach would be to ferment the potatoes and use the alcohol for fuel in an internal combustion engine.

The electrodes are common materials - copper wire and galvanized nails - hardware store.

 

[Lancelot59]

Oh but he doesn't want to pedal and so get tired ... another improved approach would be to ferment the potatoes and use the alcohol for fuel in an internal combustion engine.

The electrodes are common materials - copper wire and galvanized nails - hardware store.

Not sure why I didn't think of that... Well it's something to try.