what to compare an ebike with

The only draw back to owning an Ebike setup is Range. Maybe speed. But.. 20-22 mph is pretty quick.. So.. Really.. Range .. But.. 15-20 miles or less a day is a perfect range for some, so even that is not a draw back for those where range of 15-20 miles is fine. Coould buy a second battery and double the range. .. So.. I guess.. For some.. The Ebikes are perfect in every way . 15-20 miles, plenty of torque, and fast as well.. Silent for sure !! Enjoy the ride..

E-bikes compare to gas bikes pretty well in TX. A motor assisted bicycle is limited to streets of 30 mph speed limit or less. An electric bike is less likely to be noticed by lawmen on roads with higher speed limits then a louder gas assist bike.
It's hard to find enough 30mph roads to commute anywhere around here.

I tend to think of "In what situation is an electric assisted bike better than a gas assisted bike or 50cc scooter?".
-In an area that you need to hop on the sidewalk to avoid big trucks (especially on curbed roads, where you can't simply veer off the pavement to make room
-If your route will shortened considerably by taking a multi-use path
-If you must assemble and store your bike indoors in living space
-If you have no place to keep fuel and oil (like most apartments)
-If you need to take your assisted bike with you on public transportation
-If you just really hate the smell of fuel and oil (a lot of girls do)
-If you like to peddle a lot. Internally geared ebike hubs freewheel
-If you want to learn some electric propulsion basics before purchasing
a hybrid car
-If you want to haul the bike inside the back of you suv, wagon or hatchback
-If you need to stow it in a lying down position
-If you want to be able to turn the bike upside down to work on a tire
-If you want to be able to hear your Bluetooth or Ipod while you ride
-If you do not want to store gasoline at home due safety issues (you have small kids)
-If you worry about kids burning there hands on your muffler

I could think of more, but I'm getting hungry.
I do not own an ebike, but will probably be getting one soon since I live in Texas, which provided all of the above ideas for me.

I like e-bikes a lot. Why? No gas, pollution, noise, etc. No insurance, registration, license, etc. No fire hazard.

As far as speed goes, I live 4.1 miles from my work. By car it takes me 24 minutes in morning traffic. By e-bike it takes me 19 minutes because I can take back-allies and zoom through parking lots, without waiting for lights etc. I can take the cycling path part of the way since e-bikes are allowed on it. Plus, I don't have to worry about paying for parking or the time wasted driving four stories into a parking garage and waiting for an elevator to bring me to street level, etc. I just cancelled my 220 dollar per month parking space for the next 7 months.

On my 48V 15AH, I can easily go 40 miles on one charge at a quick 20 mph.

To me, the e-bike is the perfect vehicle for city commuting. Plus, you can build them to be fast enough to compare with a 50 cc motorized bike in terms of top end and acceleration.

The only downside, the initial cost is high in terms of all the electronics and battery.

CopperChopper-What kind of e-kit do you have? Speed and range cost more money, but it sounds like you have both.

I have a Nine Continent front hub, which has performed flawlessly. I use a high quality Ping 48v 15ah Lifepo4 with a 20 amp Crystalyte controller. I am running a 18t in the back and a 44t chainring on a Nexus 3 internally geared hub. I do a fair bit of pedal assist so I get great range - it would be a fair bit less without pedal assist. I typically use about 9-10 watt hours per km in my city which is pretty much flat to mildly rolling, so a range of about 70 km is possible on one charge. Though I never venture that far so I have never hit low voltage cut-off.

I have a cycle analyst to limit speed to 32 kph or 20 mph I find this fast enough on my Cruiser. It would likely go 30 mph on the flats without the limiter but I have yet to try. In top gear on the Nexus, it is no problem to pedal assist at 20 mph and the low gear is low enough to help up hills. The Cruiser I converted in an Electra Indy (red with creme tires). Sorry, can't post a pic yet until I have more posts.

The battery was 600 bucks (shipped) from Li Ping.

I am putting together a Stretch Chopper with long forks, all in Chrome. I wanted to try a 50cc motor but I am now having my doubts because I found out the cops here will likely stop me and charge me with driving an uninsured, unregistered motorcycle. I will build the bike one way or the other but may resort to an Ezee kit with 48v 10ah Ping, which should only add about a total of 22 pounds to the bike. The Ezee kit is well engineered and super light.

The battery technology keeps getting better: smaller, lighter, packing more power. I expect there to come a day when most land vehicles are being powered by stored electricity.

Whatever kit I end up getting, I will likely use a Ping battery pack as you did.
SLA batteries are economical but will not provide enough range for my needs.
My commute to the train station is currently 20 miles round trip and I plan on doing some pedaling. My commute may get longer when I buy a house. I can't charge my battery pack at the train station, but I could take my batteries and charger on the train with me to the office to charge them there if needed.
I will still keep my gas assisted bike because I just enjoy the tinkering and tuning.

Has anyone tried the Elite Power Solutions Thundersky batteries Elite Power Solutions ? $120 for 12v 20ah @ 6.6 lb ea, 2 of those would give me everything I need if they live up to billing - jd

Actually 8 cell Lithium is nominally 24V but actually 30-32V when fully charged, so it might work for you. Aren't you overvolting a 24V system as it is? Also it supposedly has a flat discharge curve so it holds that voltage much longer than SLAs under use. No sag under load, they say. I'm pretty sure I'm going to purchase a pair after tax time - jd