Hi, what are you looking for?
Deep Red Alabama Dives Headlong Into Green Energy
California Solar Energy — Attacks on Solar Net Metering, Rooftop Solar’s Many Benefits
Opinion: ‘Drill Baby Drill’ Oil Policy Won’t Lower Gas Prices
Sonoma County Airport Launches Solar Power Systems
Tiny New York Town To Floating Solar Wallflowers: Catch Me If You Can!
USMC Seeks Wind Energy From The Skies
Opinion: ‘Drill Baby Drill’ Oil Policy Won’t Lower Gas Prices
EIA Reference Case: Renewable Generation Will Supply 44% of U.S. Electricity by 2050
We Need Humans To Achieve A Just Energy Transition: A Human Transition (Video)
Renewable Electricity + Electric Motors Will Decarbonise Transport In Europe
NREL Celebrates the Powerful Women of Water Power
The Salton Sea Geothermal Field In California — Quantifying California’s Lithium Valley: Can It Power Our EV Revolution?
Geothermal Drilling: U.S. DOE Announces $20 Million to Lower Costs of Geothermal Drilling
Chapter 2: Geothermal Takes The Stage
Innovative Financing Helps Developers Meet Rising Demand for Residential Geothermal
BEV Market Share 50% in 2030 — How Stupid Do They Think Americans Are?
Deep Red Alabama Dives Headlong Into Green Energy
The EV Battery Production Chain — Insights from Deep in the Industry
The Hydrogen Risks For Homeowners & Public Money — CleanTech Talk
Can Tesla Meet 2022 Goals For In-House Battery Production?
Bill Nussey of Freeing Energy Talks About His Chart-Topping New Book on Local Energy
How A Smart Electric Grid Will Power Our Future
The Unknown Unknowns of Vehicle-to-Grid Tech
Aligning Utilities & Electric Vehicles, for the Greater Grid
Microsoft, Schneider Electric, & LG Solar USA Come Together For The Footprint Project
Aviation Demand Forecasting Expert Challenges 2100 Aviation Refueling Scenario
Scientists Show Controlling Humidity Has Big Impact of on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Heat Pumps vs. Russia: EU Looks To Cut Reliance On Gas With New Investment
A Battery-Powered Air Compressor Saves The Day
Castles & Cars — Cash Savings In The Suburbs
Tesla Giga Berlin Secures Water Supply, Deliveries Beginning Today
Tesla Master Plan Part 3 — Coming Soon
BEV Market Share 50% in 2030 — How Stupid Do They Think Americans Are?
GM Begins Production of Electric Cadillac Lyriq
Taiga Begins Deliveries of its Electric Snowmobile
Long-Distance Tesla Servicing in Australia
Mathematics & The EV — How Much Money Does My Tesla Model 3 Save On Fuel?
E-Bike Review: CleanTechnica Rides The Snapcycle R1
Tesla Redesigns Its User Interface – Do You Love It Or Hate It?
CleanTechnica Tested: Travor YesMeta Portable Power Station
BEV Market Share 50% in 2030 — How Stupid Do They Think Americans Are?
The EV Battery Production Chain — Insights from Deep in the Industry
California Solar Energy — Attacks on Solar Net Metering, Rooftop Solar’s Many Benefits
Tesla Model 3 & Model Y Top EV Sales In Germany In February
The Hydrogen Risks For Homeowners & Public Money — CleanTech Talk
BEV Market Share 50% in 2030 — How Stupid Do They Think Americans Are?
Tesla Model 3 & Model Y Top EV Sales In Germany In February
Plugin Vehicles = 20% Of New Car Sales In France
28% of New Cars Sold in Netherlands Now Plugin Cars, Lynk & Co #1
Germany Plugin EV Share 25% In February, Tesla Gigafactory Boosts Hiring
Long-Distance Tesla Servicing in Australia
Mathematics & The EV — How Much Money Does My Tesla Model 3 Save On Fuel?
E-Bike Review: CleanTechnica Rides The Snapcycle R1
Tesla Redesigns Its User Interface – Do You Love It Or Hate It?
CleanTechnica Tested: Travor YesMeta Portable Power Station
Tesla Q4 Shareholder Conference Call — Watch & Listen Here
Volkswagen Group — In-Depth Conference Call Highlights Company’s Focus On Transition
Bill McKibben On Unions, Tesla, & Elon Musk — CleanTechnica Interview
How To Watch & Listen To Tesla Q3 Earnings Call — Most Useful Livestream
Tesla Sales & Future of Tesla Discussion with Ride the Lightning, Starman, & EVANNEX
Pumping up tires at home is fairly easy. For my bikes, I have a big manual pump. Sure, it’s a bit of a workout if a bike tire is really low, especially for fat tire e-bikes. To get around this, and to make it possible to inflate a car tire in a reasonable timeframe, many people get a small air compressor and keep it in their garage. You can’t really take that with you on a bike ride, though. Or can you? Fanttik’s X8 APEX air compressor changes the rules of the game.
The X8 APEX itself is really simple. It’s a black box with USB ports on one end, and a threaded hole for air and a flashlight on the other. On the side, there’s a directional pad and a screen that’s big and beautiful like the one on the EVO 300 solar generator. It also comes with a bag to carry it in, with room for the air hose and a separate pouch for Presta and needle adapters (the air hose has a Schrader valve built-in).
To charge the unit up, plug it in using a phone or tablet charger that has a USB-C plug. A full charge can inflate 4 car tires (probably more if they aren’t going from empty to full), 13 bike tires, at least a half-dozen motorcycle or fat tire bike tires, or dozens of basketballs. You can charge the unit up at home or in the car, or with a small solar panel if you can find one with USB-C charging (not included).
With the unit charged up, you attach the air hose by threading it into the brass threaded hole on the other end. Then, attach it to the tire or ball using the other end of the hose or an adapter if needed. Press the power button for two seconds, use the arrow keys to select the air pressure you want, and then short-press the power button to start pumping air. A small bike tire or basketball will inflate in a minute or so from flat, but you don’t have to hold it or pump it, so it’s not as slow as it sounds at first. A car tire can take up to 5 minutes, but once again, you don’t have to stand there while it pumps. Once it gets to the pressure you set it for, it automatically shuts off.
I don’t play basketball or football, so I can’t vouch for how well that works, but based on pumping up a couple of e-bike fat tires in about a minute and a half, I’m pretty confident that you’d have no problems doing that. Car tires would obviously take longer, but it’s pretty clear that doing that would work, too.
The display not only shows your goal tire pressure, but the current pressure above that so you can see how things are going during the inflation process.
Keeping tires properly inflated is more important than ever with electric vehicles. Low tires on an electric car can seriously eat into the car’s range. Micromobility, like e-bikes and scooters, can leave you stranded if their tubes suffer a puncture. For cars, gas stations almost all have an air pump that you can pay for, and you can often find free air if you know which gas stations to look at. For bikes, anybody who has done much riding knows that getting a flat is inevitable, so it’s wise to carry a small pump along for most rides.
Because the X8 APEX is about the size of a Coke bottle (the 1/2 liter or 20-ounce kind), it’s pretty easy to bring along on any vehicle with tires. It can fit in a bike bag or in a small toolbox on a utility bike’s rack or basket. It can fit in a backpack, a larger purse, or a toolbox in a car.
For an electric car, this means you can top up a low tire anywhere. If you’re out on the highway, and need maximum EV range to get to the next charging station, you could easily add some air on the side of the road or at a rest area. Even gas-powered cars and hybrids can benefit from better gas mileage instead of limping along and polluting more on a low tire.
For bikes, this beats the hell out of a small manual pump or CO2 inflater. Small portable bike pumps are a real pain in the butt to use. They’re the wrong size, don’t pump much air with each push, and are generally hard to work with. CO2 inflators are small and compact, but they leak CO2 directly into the atmosphere and use a one-time-use cartridge. A battery-powered compressor is not only easier to work with, but can be used over and over with minimal climate impact.
On wilderness adventures (not off-road in designated wilderness, where bikes are not allowed), being able to recharge the compressor using a solar panel is also a handy feature that could save the day and keep loads a little lighter.
Nothing is perfect, and the X8 APEX is no exception.
First off, you can’t leave it in the car. Lithium batteries are great for energy density, and make this product possible, but they can’t handle the kind of heat that they’d encounter if you left them in the car, especially in summer. So, you’ll want to bring it inside with you to keep it from getting cooked. For a bike, that’s not a big deal, but for a car, it’s one more thing you have to think to grab on the way out the door. This means it will probably only come along with people on road trips.
The other problem? It’s pretty slow compared to a big air compressor like you can buy for home use or find at gas stations. If you have access to one of those, you’ll probably want to use those for your car. For a bicycle, going to a gas station isn’t much of a time saver.
Like I said, this was a review unit that I get to keep, but unlike the many power stations I get, I’m not giving this to family. This one’s going with me on bike rides and road trips. I’m even looking at buying a second one for my wife to use. For around $120 at Amazon, it’s a no-brainer compared to messing around with a little bike pump on the side of a trail or bike path. Even when we’re not using it for inflating tires, it doubles as a power bank for phones and tablets, so it’s a pretty clear winner.
Jennifer Sensiba is a long time efficient vehicle enthusiast, writer, and photographer. She grew up around a transmission shop, and has been experimenting with vehicle efficiency since she was 16 and drove a Pontiac Fiero. She likes to explore the Southwest US with her partner, kids, and animals. Follow her on Twitter for her latest articles and other random things: https://twitter.com/JenniferSensiba
#1 most loved electric vehicle, solar energy, and battery news & analysis site in the world. Support our work today!
Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers.
This e-bike brand profile takes us to Germany to explore some hand-crafted electric two-wheelers.
Recently, Snapcycle sent us a new w-bike to review: the Snapcycle R1. At first glance, it might not appear to be anything special in...
In Part 1, I covered the problem of Puncture Vines, and two things you can do that work well together to combat them. But,...
If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that we do a lot of e-bike reviews, and that I’ve done a number of them....
Copyright © 2021 CleanTechnica. The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.