It don't take a weatherman

deacon · #1 05-22-2009, 09:52 AM

As they used to say in the sixties, it don't take a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

E-bikes are the way it is going to go. There are going to be tougher and tougher regulations on gasoline engines. Even those small enough for a bike or a lawn mower one day won't be able to meet the air quality standards. I have a weed eater now with a rechargeable battery and there are complete lawn mowers with them. Since they have that technology it's just a matter of time till they can make a decent car and then motorcycle with it. When that happens the government will regulate the gasoline engine onto the scrap heap. Obama already said that about the coal generating plants. Gasoline cars are in the regulator's sights now.

Enjoy your gasoline bikes as as long as you can, but know you are working with a technology on the way out. Trust me I have not embraced the new technology at all, but I can see the writing on the wall. We will still be able to tinker, it will just be with new stuff. The ebikes are not regulated most places because it's where the governments wants us to play. More gasoline bikes will be regulated out of existence in more places as time goes on. They can call it a air quality hazard, or an injury liability hazard or a hundred other things, but they are going to pretty much kill off carbon based fuel personal vehicles in the next twenty years I think.

So what do you think

Pablo · #2 05-22-2009, 10:41 AM

I have thought EXACTLY the same thing during daily musings.

In the next few years the direction of SBP will follow.....or lead.

lordoflightaz · #3 05-22-2009, 12:01 PM

Until battery technologies improve ICE is still king. The price of batteries is too high, the weight is a major issue. When a cell in a battery pack dies, you lose the whole pack, expensive. There has to be a way to find the bad cell and replace it not the whole pack. I was going to go electric to start but entry into the game is way to high. There are also the issues with charging the batteries away from base.

I want to go electric, I would love to see someone come up with an affordable solution.

fasteddy · #4 05-22-2009, 01:39 PM

As I said on a post a few weeks ago the cold hand of Government is closing around all two stroke engines to start with. No more two stroke lawn mowers or outboard motors. Are chain saws next?

Whats next? My bet is exaust controls on small engines more so than what there are now. I think we will see more and better electric lawn mowers. Batteries will get better as the demand gets stonger. Government demands will push it along. Just look at smog control on cars.

In the midwestern parts of Canada there are electric outlets at parking stalls and meters so you can park your car and plug in the block heater. How long before we will be parking and plugging in our cars and bikes. Not soon enough for me.
Steve.

deacon · #5 05-22-2009, 06:36 PM

I agree with everything said. I also think that the field is wide open for innovators. I wish I was one.

I too would like to see batteries get better, lighter, and cheaper. The lithium poly batteries if they ever go into full production could do some of that. You can do a 40 ah now. I have no idea what the weight is but it looks to be a reasonable size.

They are talking about using the cells from a toyota hybred to make battery packs for bikes. I think that to be efficient Batteries designed for some other use will have to be converted to bike batteries. As long as the battery is just for bikes, the market will be too small. Maybe they will sell a few of the high tech batteries out the back door of some car plant to guys who can make all purpose battery packs so that we can convert them. To get the price down I think it has to be a pack made for some mass produced item, which we can just convert to our use.

There might be a business in the conversion of battery packs from the car people. I know the lith batteries are way too expensive now. Tool packs are not the answer even though some guys are using them. They just cost way too much.

I have a 30 watt and a 100 watt soldering iron. I would invest in a 60 watt if there were small packs available cheap enough to build my own. The problem is that a small quantity of the smaller batteries, cost more per amp than big ones already on the market. And they are way too expensive.

What I personally need is a 12v 2ah batter for about $5 bucks. One that is light weight and as hardy as a sla. With sla you don't electronic balance circuits or any special chargers. If it weren't for the weight sla would be perfect for me. I don't need a battery I can charge for ten years, I don't expect to live that long.

The guys selling those batteries talk about the price being cheaper long term but I don't think long term. I think what if I pay five hundred for this and die the next day. Boy will my wife be peeved.

Pablo · #6 05-22-2009, 06:51 PM

It's still crazy expensive............$2500 for a battery (our cost)..........the RIGHT battery....engineering wise.

fasteddy · #7 05-22-2009, 08:06 PM

Deacon--Your wife would be peeved? If I were you I be a little upset also.

Myself, I think the only thing to put the spurs to the horse is the gov. When they say that electric is in, every company who is toying with battery power just incase it may happen will suddenly bust forth like a spring flowers and all the hidden from view battery development will come out.

Watched a thing on the Tesla cars and thier battery packs are made from a bunch of battery cells so when some go bad I think they can be replaced.
I guess you can mix old and old.

If I had lived my life as I should have I would be able to buy a $100,00 Tesla And yes I would.

Deacon,if I may,It would be better to have lived and batteried than not to have batteried at all.
Steve.

deacon · #8 05-22-2009, 08:23 PM

very good steve....

I really do like the E bikes... they are eccentric enough to fit my personality. Yes I think we are on the verge of the battery boom. I guess we are all just impatient for it to happen. To actually reach it's full potential that is.

Batteries have been around a long time. I have three bikes and three sets of sla batteries. I plan to ride them and make tests and comparisons so that when the new technology gets here I have some idea how to go.

If I am still in the bike playground that is. One never knows for whom the bike bell tolls lol. And like Ernie said ask not, it could be you. Also why i never read the obits.

deacon · #9 05-24-2009, 07:03 AM

I did some experimenting with the pusher and the hub bikes yesterday. I switched the hub motor to full sized mountain bike. Doing so increased the speed of the bike. But only because I was able to start pedaling sooner when the speed bled off. My point, as if I really had one, is that with about the same amount of effort you can tune an ebike up to do an acceptable job as a commuter bike. Mine is just 250watts one twice that would be very effective. Those wallymart chain drive should work great if you change that battery design.

As we have all said, it's in the batteries now.

Blue Collar · #10 05-24-2009, 10:54 AM

You all are forgetting about the "Backside" of pollution.
The Carbon Footprint the factories left behind that had to make these monster batteries.
There is more to pollution than meets the eye.

I've heard this all before..."The Sky IS Falling !!!"...over the last two decades on gasoline and the insatiable global mouth that it feeds. There is too much money to be made in it, and who do you think really has the power in this world? That's right, BIG OIL. They have the most money.

You wanna know when the gasoline engine will really be no more...?

When there is no more gasoline.

To come down on one variety of engine for an application is to come down on them all.
Just think about how many things in this country use a two stroke engine. Everything from a chainsaw to an offshore fishing boat. Now imagine the red tape the government has to go through to "regulate" this when all of the opposers and lobbyists come into play. The Government can't just go changing any law without a vote, and it is the People that the Government works for.

Enjoy your motorized bicycles.
I'll be riding mine well into the next decade...
'B