ebikeblog.org

Thankyou everyone who responded to my little poll so far. I would like to make a few comments regarding responses. I have been gathering some very interesting information overnight, and this evening too.

So. It seems there are very few cyclists in our midst, with the majority of folks either driving or taking public transport for most of their commute.

It is great to see people using public transport instead of cars [though in some cases, because there doesn’t appear to be any other choice ie no license, no money for a car. But there IS another choice, in some cases] But I don’t use PT more than once every few months, and haven’t for a long time: too expensive & too slow. My scooter is much cheaper than public transport, and about 1/5 cost of a car to maintain. But it still spews pollution [nasty nasty pollution at that] – so I will sell it very soon. But it’s been a good transition! My ebike is about 1/5 of the cost of my scooter, probably less: and is faster for most of my daily trips. It will be faster than PT for most bus trips I’d be comparing it to, and if you add walking time, will win all out in nearly all cases. The only time I’d consider PT now is to go to the end of a line, or take my ebike and extend range from those points. So for most points I refute for cars, consider the ebike advantages over PT too.

So.

One of the major reasons for using a car for commuting is that it is faster than other forms of transport:

Over half of you travel less than 10km each way. Did you know than an ebike will get you a full 10km of distance, in about 20-30 minutes even on busy roads? This would be comparable, and in many cases, faster, than a car for the same distance. Even for longer distances, depending on traffic conditions, congestion and speed limits, an ebike would very likely put you in front.

And this is before we even begin to get into the area of “effective speed” – which examines how fast you are really going, when you take into account how much time you need to work to earn the money to pay for your transport, as well as your own personal maintenance time, if any. Here [pdf] is an excellent analysis of the effective speed of various vehicles for commuting purposes. Cars: between 12 – 23 kph, depending on model. Bus: approx 21 kph. Cycling: approx 18 kph. Ebike??? … not on that report, but taking the data I know of from my own use, I calculate it to come out at about 25 kph.

The other main reason for people using cars, is that people are just plain lazy.

Did you know you don’t even break a sweat using an ebike if you don’t want to? You can go up to 30kph easily using no pedalling at all. It’s hilarious doing no work and passing all these sweating hardcore cyclists with ease. Seriously – it’s so much fun.

Also, I have been reminded that safety is a really important issue too, and a big reason why people aren’t using public transport, and just have to use their cars. Sure, I would agree about public transport late at night, and I myself don’t recommend using PT at late hours, if I can avoid it. So…. supposedly cars are the only option for late night travel, or indeed safe travel at any other time? Wrong. Bikes are probably not as dangerous as you have been told. You are significantly less likely to die cycling than in a car for the amount of time spent doing either, and the more people who ride, the safer it gets. You are also, surprisingly, safer cycling at night, as long as you are using lights and following road rules [the reason statistics show night cycling is more dangerous is because many accidents happen at night due to lack of lights or bad cycling]. Why are we constantly told cycling is more dangerous? Because the car has ruled the road and anything that requires extra attention on the part of the motorist is removed if possible. But we are now aware of the very serious risks we run by continuing current practise, and continuing to use fossil fuels even when there are better alternatives. Plus ebikes improve safety over bicycles as they reduce the speed differential, and give you extra acceleration capacity to get out of potential trouble.

Of course, other people responded the reason they use their car is because of health issues. Do you realise that the sedentary lifestyle encouraged by car use is responsible for about half of the life-ending health issues in typical “top 10 cause of death” statistics, including heart disease, lung disease, strokes, diabetes and suicide – all causes of death which may have been prevented by exercise. Do you know that, despite it being possible and at times desirable to be lazy on an ebike, because of the likelihood of owners using them far more often than regular bikes, they end up exercising more, without really trying, and thus get fitter? If your health reason for driving is because of your inability to sit on a bicycle seat – there are recumbents which have seats similar to car seats. If you have balance issues, there are etrikes. If your health reason for driving is because you can’t pedal – as stated before, on an ebike – you don’t have to.

Just another wee note. Carrying stuff. It’s a great excuse for taking the car instead of a bike. But did you know you can get great trailers, kid-seats as well as panniers, bike racks, baskets… there’s a huge range of options for tranporting things, and people, on an ebike.

So. If you want to get there safer AND faster AND be lazy AND be healthy AND carry stuff, an ebike is the answer! *nod*

nb. I know there are situations in which an ebike is not practical. But think carefully about your situation. There is probably a greater than 50% chance it would be a better choice for you for commuting, and you would be healthier, happier and have more time and money to spare, if you were using one.

[Goodie Goodie Yum Yum]

I can’t really c&p this backdated entry as it has an integrated poll, so I’ll just direct your attention here.

Last night I picked up my new Lithium battery from Chris for my ebike: it is about 1/4 the size/weight than the SLAs I was borrowing from him, and so far is going well! It’s great having a teeny battery. Fits nicely in a saddlebag: would even be able to put it in my handbag! … Technology is amazing. Apparently these have been run about 2000 cycles [read: 5 years or more for average daily usage] and still show 80% charge. Whee! Now I just need to put together a new ebike with the GL2 hub motor, so I can get to know both styles of ebike really well.. and have a loaner to convince anyone not yet convinced of how cool they are and how you NEED one ^_^

Top speed this morning: 45.8 kph. Time to work from driveway to laneway: 12 minutes. ^_^ Distance is about 8km, so that’s ummm… let’s see – .66 kilometer per minute, which makes average speed approximately 40 kph. Unless I did the math wrong. If it’s 7 km, it’s more like 35 kph average speed. I’ll have to double check the distance. Also, it’s downhill more into the city than home, so going home should be a little slower. But not by much.

*edit* distance is 6.7km, so that makes av speed 33.5 kph. If I want to get down to a 10 minute commute, I need to be averaging 40 kph. What’s funny is that on my scooty it would usually take about 20 minutes to get in due to traffic and route required. Heh. *hugs electric bike*

I am very much liking the geared motor. It has a learning curve similar to using a geared scooter or motorbike: as I haven’t ridden one of those regularly for years [though I used one in NZ for 4 days] it’s reminding me it requires a different riding style, and a measure of skill, familiarity with the gears and also preferably the route. When I have done this for a few weeks, I expect to be able to get my commute down to around 10 minutes and thus have an average speed of about 48? Nah, I don’t know if that’s possible. Though – maybe my velometer is a bit out? It’s certainly possible, if not actually likely! I will check the figures some more, though I am going on my velometer to tell me how far the distance is I suppose I should check my scooter odometer and compare them.

But I don’t want to bother picking my scooty up from the shop, even though it’s fixed – I’m going to sell it soon for sure. Electric bikes FTW!!

Hehehe… top speed this morning on way to work: 44.9 kph ^_^

The motor looks like this, for those who are interested:

I picked up my bike all electrimafied from Chris today. It goes very impressively – I got up to 40 kph but didn’t dare go to 8th gear – that itself felt scary on a bicycle!!! Amazing what a 250W motor can do. When I am more used to it I will see how fast I can go …hee hee. I even stopped and had dinner and cocktails and got back on 4 hours later and it still got me home fine. Whee!!!!!!!!

So yesterday I finally got around to visiting Chris and getting serious about electrimafying mah bicyclette.

I had a go of his three current electric bikes. His main bike has the newest motor on it, the GL-2, which is astonishingly powerful, smooth and silent and I imagine with panniers, virtually invisible! I want. I WILL have. Soon.

But in the meantime, I am borrowing his folder bike, which has his old  front hub motor, with a 36V NiMH battery pack and Crystalyte controller. It’s tacky and cheap and ugly as hell but O.M.G. is it HELLA FUN to ride!!!! And I get into the city faster than I would have on my scooty. It’s amazing. It’s all the great things you like about cycling but without the sweatiness, the slowly chugging up hills, and the overall fatigue. Hills seriously feel like they are not there, and as it can go about 20-25 kph without you even pedalling, it’s already as fast or faster than my average cycling speed, with no effort put in. Headwind? What headwind? I laugh in the face of headwind! HahahaHAH!

Of course the folder only has one gear, and the wheels are small. Without the electric motor, it would really suck to ride.

And for about 20 cents a charge [maybe less? I need to understand more about charging cost], that’s bloody amazing: that’s probably about 15 cents a day for a round trip from Maylands to Perth. Even if it’s 20 cents, that’s less than 1/5 the cost of petrol for the same trip. Probably even smaller. Put in easily understood terms: The energy a 100 watt electric light bulb burns in an evening – that’s enough energy to propel an electrically-assisted bike for 20 to 40 miles [32 – 64 km]!

So, while I have Chris’ loaner bike, he is adding an Oatley geared motor to mine. It’s not as powerful a motor and goes very slowly up the hills [ie in low gear under load]: but on the flats, it goes astonishingly fast for the size of the thing! It’s a bit noisy and obvious though, and doesn’t freewheel as the hub motors do because they aren’t attached to the chain, so it’s a bit irritating, but it will do good as an interim measure until I get a new bike which I will get a GL-2 for, i think. But I’m having a ball on the one I’m using now in the meantime.

I can’t wait to have mine done, and then start planning the next one. WHEE!

I also have been researching the relative efficiency [equivalent MPG] of electric cycling compared to other forms of transport. I know my scooter gets about 100 MPG, and cars vary but generally run 10 – 30 MPG [less for 4WD, more for hybrids]. I found this page which gives a well researched estimation of human powered bicycle, and the results vary hugely depending on diet:

Vegetarian: 196 MPG
Lacto-ovo vegetarian: 142 MPG
Average US die [non-vege]: 104 MPG

That’s quite eye-opening: and makes me consider going vege a little bit…

Eventually I also found some figures on what kind of MPG electric bikes achieved: and holy crap but it’s nothing short of unbelievable. An electric bike achieves from around 800-2,000 MPG. This page has a list of awesome and genuine reasons to get an electric bike, too.

Having only done my first commute day today, I already can’t imagine going back to a regular bike: if not for any other reason than I’m making better use of resources by using it, than cycling alone – as long as I can commit to eating a bit less, I still won’t feel guilty being non-vege … and when we run into issues of food production – electric bikes will be literally, lifesavers. I was surprised when Chris sold his Vespa shortly after going electric: I can totally understand why now. With a range of up to 50km [more possible with more battery packs, and as battery tech gets better] it will take me almost anywhere I’d normally consider going with my scooty anyways. And I can always take my charger with me if I want to go further.

Now all I have to worry about is overburdening Chris with new customers for his skills in this area.