?electric why?

GoldenMotor.com

racing fan

New Member
Apr 17, 2011
124
0
0
Michigan
i got a dumb qu. why would you put a electric motor on a bike?

what goes through my mind is that its easy just plug it in on Friday and run it on Saturday or something like that but for go green people out there they seem to think electric solves every thing like no pollution ect but where does the power come from is created mostly by burning fossil fuels like coal you add a demand for more power more coal is burned that is inefficient by itself because heat is lost through the process lowering the pressure in the turbines ect then the power lines and transformers are highly inefficient then it goes into houses and stores ect and then for a electric car or bike then it charges a battery thats naturally inefficient you let the battery sit it losses some charge over time its a lot of power lost and then you get a electric motor thats inefficient by many means most don't rev that high and don't produce that much power for the weight most electric motors are only 20-25 percent efficient at the shaft so even if you make the power from water or wind or solar or nuclear it effects the enviroment nucler is nasty but produces lots of power but the unstable matter is gained through mining dirt and taking tons of it and adding it up and after you got tons of bad waste
(not that easily too long to say the whole process in engineering terms) then wind solar and water can only produce so much power if you covered the whole earth in solar panels (whole earth no gaps at all) there would only be enough power produced in one year to run all of ours power needs around the world at this current time if we go to electric cars that would not be true and you know that would be dark living under solar panels lol not to mention the fact that there would be no or very little plant and animal life and if you went wind turbines they only work well in some areas like hills ect there is no really good method to produce power even by water that effects the fish and plant life in the river or stream and on land around there too

the thing about go green people that i said is a generalization and not intended to offend any one here or any where its just what i see around here where i live and not viewed like that all over so in short no offense intended to anyone and sorry if i did

i just want to see what you guys see in electric motors vs gas engines?
and what you see for the future?

by the way i do junk pick and reuse stuff i hate throwing things away and i scrap metal and plastic ect i reuse i on projects ect i don't waste material i dont want to be viewed by this post as a earth killer or anything lol so

and no offense intended in this post what so ever
 

happyvalley

New Member
Jul 24, 2008
784
1
0
upper Pioneer Valley
Just off the top, you have a few things crossed up. ICE engines are 25% efficient, the balance lost in heat. Electric motors are more efficient the larger they are but even small electric motors under 4 HP are in the 75 to 80% efficiency range. Electric motors have a flat torque curve, produce high torque output across the band without gearing. That's why modern locomotive engines are powered by electric motors.

BTW, no offense also but paragraphs are good.
 

wheelbender6

Well-Known Member
Sep 4, 2008
4,059
221
63
TX
Both gas and electric assist bikes are far easier on the environment than driving a gas powered car.
I don't think electric bikes will compare with gas bikes in range per dollar anytime soon. The electric bike is better suited to a rider that likes to pedal along with the electric assist for better range. You can pedal with "10mph effort", but achieve 20mph with the electric assist.
You can keep your electric bike (in most cases) in your office, apartment or dorm room. You can carry an ebike inside your hatchback or SUV without fumes.
Ebikes are better suited for people in certain situations.
 

racing fan

New Member
Apr 17, 2011
124
0
0
Michigan
wow never thought about that yea stuffing a gas tanks and gas in you car lol a bomb just sitting there lol i guess it is more piratical to have a electric bike in some areas than others i know the gas and electric costs wont be even close to the same but i posted a topic that is highly white or black area pardon the expression some would go one way some the other so it gets nasty some times so i put all that in about efficiency because i could not post a qu like i did with out it its part of the topic now how reliable are electric bikes like can you over charge them or fry them by riding a bit charging and riding with out completing the charging process
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,440
4,877
113
British Columbia Canada
racing fan, you missed one very good reason to have an electric bike. The law requires it where you live and the fines are crippling if you get caught with a gas motor.

And the people who are answering your question would like to be able to read the question a little easier.

Steve.
 

moonshiner

New Member
Apr 23, 2011
199
0
0
tennessee
Racing fan .. you just offended me ....zpt

Just kidding man ..LOL ..dnut

you bring up a very valid point , first , i am not a greener , treehugger or a PETA-fist ..lol ..however i do consider myself ECO friendly , taking your charge power from the nasty grid is no cleaner than running a 4 stroke gas motor , but you can charge your EV from solar panels and you didn't contribute to the problem and did not cost you a dime but the cost of buying it , batteries are 97 percent recyclable , better yet , we still manufacture those ,electric motors , we manufacture those as well , electric motors do gas off a small amount of cfc's but nothing compared to poison piston motors produce ,
propane , natural gas is all cleaner than crude and 90 percent of it is produced domestically , i buy USA if at all possible , cause if we don't there will be no USA products to buy , and if i just happen to lower my carbon emissions while doing it i just consider it a bonus , there is only one viewpoint that they all pull like a gun that i agree on , WE DO NEED TO KICK OUR ADDICTION TO FORIEGIN OIL AND BECOME 100 % SELF SUFFECIENT AGAIN ..
even if it means building new oil refineries , drilling platforms , electric cars , propane cars , pedal cars , hydroelectric dams , solar panels , windmills , geothermal , whatever we have to do to become 100% free of foreign oil and scratch our way out of the pit of dependence we are in ..
 
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MotorBicycleRacing

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2010
5,844
109
63
SoCal Baby!!!
www.facebook.com
Please join http://endless-sphere.com/forums and ask this question there.

i got a dumb qu. why would you put a electric motor on a bike?

what goes through my mind is that its easy just plug it in on Friday and run it on Saturday or something like that but for go green people out there they seem to think electric solves every thing like no pollution ect but where does the power come from is created mostly by burning fossil fuels like coal you add a demand for more power more coal is burned that is inefficient by itself because heat is lost through the process lowering the pressure in the turbines ect then the power lines and transformers are highly inefficient then it goes into houses and stores ect and then for a electric car or bike then it charges a battery thats naturally inefficient you let the battery sit it losses some charge over time its a lot of power lost and then you get a electric motor thats inefficient by many means most don't rev that high and don't produce that much power for the weight most electric motors are only 20-25 percent efficient at the shaft so even if you make the power from water or wind or solar or nuclear it effects the enviroment nucler is nasty but produces lots of power but the unstable matter is gained through mining dirt and taking tons of it and adding it up and after you got tons of bad waste
(not that easily too long to say the whole process in engineering terms) then wind solar and water can only produce so much power if you covered the whole earth in solar panels (whole earth no gaps at all) there would only be enough power produced in one year to run all of ours power needs around the world at this current time if we go to electric cars that would not be true and you know that would be dark living under solar panels lol not to mention the fact that there would be no or very little plant and animal life and if you went wind turbines they only work well in some areas like hills ect there is no really good method to produce power even by water that effects the fish and plant life in the river or stream and on land around there too

the thing about go green people that i said is a generalization and not intended to offend any one here or any where its just what i see around here where i live and not viewed like that all over so in short no offense intended to anyone and sorry if i did

i just want to see what you guys see in electric motors vs gas engines?
and what you see for the future?

by the way i do junk pick and reuse stuff i hate throwing things away and i scrap metal and plastic ect i reuse i on projects ect i don't waste material i dont want to be viewed by this post as a earth killer or anything lol so

and no offense intended in this post what so ever
 
Last edited:

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
21
0
Maine
The OP's questions are valid & even contain a bit of truth, there's much misunderstanding regarding electrics, their benefits and even their pitfalls...

The advantage of electrics regarding fuel sources is the diversity, batteries being ofc simply for storage. The actual generation of electricity can be done utilizing almost any power source - unlike your typical gasoline engine which is limited to petroleum and/or alcohol (with some modification). This enables choices in how your power is created.

Granted, they may not all be "better" choices or even easy ones, nuclear & coal are prime examples of deferred pollution - your vehicle itself isn't creating pollution, but it's demands on the power grid are... but that's simply the easiest & most convenient source for most. It's an electric vehicle's ability to use electricity generated from any source that holds vast potential - if your home grid is powered via hydroelectric and/or it's offset by solar and/or wind generation then your impact is greatly reduced, even negligible.

Electric motors are just one facet of a far larger picture, a stunningly complex one TBH. In and of themselves I personally believe they may simply be the absolute best choice for an efficient & reliable motor - the "instant torque" is phenomenal and they essentially have only the two moving parts after all (yes, that's a generalization lol). Yet as the OP pointed out, the trick of it is where does the power come from? Another pesky question is - what impact does battery construction & disposal have? SLAs are easily recycled, but they're the least effective battery and aren't the first choice w/electric vehicles, lithium, nickel, cadmium & zinc are just some of the materials used in more advanced rechargeable batteries & even they don't last "forever" they're usually limited to (very roughly) 1000 charge cycles & then they're spent. Yes, they too can be recycled... but where do they come from in the first place? What impact does mining, refining, transporting & even recycling them have?

Yet again though - it's not the electric engine that's the problem, it's the power generation & means of storage that's been the stumbling point for so long. Although electric vehicles were first, it's that aspect that's caused us so much trouble, what's caused us to seek easier & more convenient methods. There's solutions, hybrids of all types for example... but even that's a bit of a workaround unless the internal combustion engine uses a "sustainable" fuel source... but that begs the question - why not simply use the sustainable fuel as the primary?

We're making progress though and in my opinion the "answer" isn't going to be any one thing, but a combination of solutions - a number of different sources of fuel & the one motor that can use them all is ofc electric ;)

Still in it's infancy and fraught w/it's own problems - there's still a ton of potential in this if you're interested: HowStuffWorks "How Fuel Cells Work"
 

racing fan

New Member
Apr 17, 2011
124
0
0
Michigan
Wow I will use better grammar but I made a joke there. Please don't get mad at me.

I never thought about that, in certain areas you can't have gas engine's thats a valid point.

I did not know you guys used solar panels too, thats awesome!
 

moonshiner

New Member
Apr 23, 2011
199
0
0
tennessee
Wow I will use better grammar but I made a joke there. Please don't get mad at me.

I never thought about that, in certain areas you can't have gas engine's thats a valid point.

I did not know you guys used solar panels too, thats awesome!
you can buy solar panels from harbor freight , northern tool , get a charge controller regulator , a deep cycle battery and a ac/dc inverter to plug your EV charge controller into , a little pricey for all of it , its kinda slow , but as long as the sun shines your good to go , and you don't have to worry about the power on the grid being on , i had a electric fence set up like this , worked like a charm for two years till i sold all my goats ...
 

motorbiker

New Member
Mar 22, 2008
569
0
0
Tampa Bay Florida
I look at websites around the world.

Google translate a lot of them.

Google translate works better when people don't use a lot of slang.

Writing this stuff nice allows people from around the world to enjoy ! :)
 

motorbiker

New Member
Mar 22, 2008
569
0
0
Tampa Bay Florida
i got a dumb qu. why would you put a electric motor on a bike?

what goes through my mind is that its easy just plug it in on Friday and run it on Saturday or something like that but for go green people out there they seem to think electric solves every thing like no pollution ect but where does the power come from is created mostly by burning fossil fuels like coal you add a demand for more power more coal is burned that is inefficient by itself because heat is lost through the process lowering the pressure in the turbines ect then the power lines and transformers are highly inefficient then it goes into houses and stores ect and then for a electric car or bike then it charges a battery thats naturally inefficient you let the battery sit it losses some charge over time its a lot of power lost and then you get a electric motor thats inefficient by many means most don't rev that high and don't produce that much power for the weight most electric motors are only 20-25 percent efficient at the shaft so even if you make the power from water or wind or solar or nuclear it effects the enviroment nucler is nasty but produces lots of power but the unstable matter is gained through mining dirt and taking tons of it and adding it up and after you got tons of bad waste
(not that easily too long to say the whole process in engineering terms) then wind solar and water can only produce so much power if you covered the whole earth in solar panels (whole earth no gaps at all) there would only be enough power produced in one year to run all of ours power needs around the world at this current time if we go to electric cars that would not be true and you know that would be dark living under solar panels lol not to mention the fact that there would be no or very little plant and animal life and if you went wind turbines they only work well in some areas like hills ect there is no really good method to produce power even by water that effects the fish and plant life in the river or stream and on land around there too

the thing about go green people that i said is a generalization and not intended to offend any one here or any where its just what i see around here where i live and not viewed like that all over so in short no offense intended to anyone and sorry if i did

i just want to see what you guys see in electric motors vs gas engines?
and what you see for the future?

by the way i do junk pick and reuse stuff i hate throwing things away and i scrap metal and plastic ect i reuse i on projects ect i don't waste material i dont want to be viewed by this post as a earth killer or anything lol so

and no offense intended in this post what so ever
Give the people the freedom to choose and they might do something like this.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-3445_162-10007844.html?tag=strip

Or, because we can. :)

We are free Americans ! We don't have to burn oil ! :)
 

racing fan

New Member
Apr 17, 2011
124
0
0
Michigan
You know I was a bit opposed to electric motor before this post I guess I always thought of the smart cars lol. (0-5mph in 20seconds) but after watching some vids (you tube) I see now these can be very powerful. For example these guys take a some what modded electric motor and put it in a bmx bike they made it a racer, it had huge acceleration factor.

Right now where I live it rains like every day except 1 or two days a week and it's still cloudy then, a solar panel will not work well like 6weeks out of the year here, But whatever.
 

moonshiner

New Member
Apr 23, 2011
199
0
0
tennessee
EV's were the first cars and bikes , and have come a long way , its time we move them to the fore front ....

Myself ,i guess i could just go with a sterling engine powered by a trash burning funace on the back of my bike , now thats ECO ... lol

i will work on the concept some day ...cvlt1
 

Evoforce

New Member
Oct 10, 2010
22
0
0
Fountain Hills AZ
Going electric seems more expensive initially, but in the long run it will save you a lot of money. Solar is initally a lot of money but will save you a lot of money over time. I personally have solar on my home and electric bikes. I want to build an electric motorcycle and electric cars and boat. Converting is a lot of upfront money, but if you can do it bit by bit, it will save you a ton of money in your future. In the meantime. I am hoping the the price of production electric cars and motorcycles will come down. The cost of solar will be coming down also as more people adapt to it and the types of panels, their efficency, and production value will increase. I have to say though, a lot of my money is currently going to China for their lithium. I saw a report out that Afganistan has a heapload of lithium that (we) have fairly recently discovered. Hmmmm.....
 

racing fan

New Member
Apr 17, 2011
124
0
0
Michigan
wow really a electric boat don't sound to fast right now i know they have done it but i am not sure on a hydroplane yes they got electric one i know but there not as cool or fast as the gas ones i got 2 gas ones myself