Top assisted speed of 20 mph and a range of only 30 miles for $700? Ouch. [1]
You could get some powerbocks for half that price, and no need to buy a bike. Those supposedly provide a running speed of 20 mph with no range limit, just the possible downside of making you look ridiculous. [2]
In case, like me, you wondered why this was news - it's because they're actually putting it on sale. I'm curious as to what they mean by a battery life of 1000 cycles, when there's regenerative braking and I'd hit more than 3 hills a day on my commute[1], so is that 1 year?
[1]ok to be fair I work from home now, so my 20 mile each way commute is now a morning jaunt on the bike to wake me up.
It's a good idea to even out uphill and downhill sections of cycling, so that you can cycle around, in places which are not completely flat, without arriving where you want to go covered in sweat. And the concept of the casing staying static, while only internal sections spin with the wheel, sounds interesting. The problem for mass adoption is cost.
I've ridden a number of electric-assist bicycles and the panasonic system worked brilliantly - seamless and intuitive boosting exactly when needed, so hills just seem to disappear. They seem a lot more convenient, too, with the battery integrated into the lights system.
You'd need a hub motor in each wheel, which causes the vehicle to have an excess of unsprung weight. So, not at the moment. If electric motors were to drastically come down in weight, possibly.
For automobiles, incorporating the energy storage into the wheel itself would be a poor allocation of weight (and size). So most solutions revolve around (pardon the pun) batteries or flywheels housed within the chassis.
I'd love one, but it seems silly to spend that much on my bike.