Stealing electricity?

[TxBikeRider]

I have heard numerous times that one of the benefits of having an electric bike is that they can be charged on any 110 outlet. My question is this, If you drive into town and plug into an outlet.....isn't that the same as a gas biker siphoning fuel out of a car when he needs it?

I have yet to find anywhere that someone could charge a bike.....I still have problems charging a cell phone and thats when I buy something.

 

[motorbiker]

I have heard numerous times that one of the benefits of having an electric bike is that they can be charged on any 110 outlet. My question is this, If you drive into town and plug into an outlet.....isn't that the same as a gas biker siphoning fuel out of a car when he needs it?

I have yet to find anywhere that someone could charge a bike.....I still have problems charging a cell phone and thats when I buy something.

It's like this,

West Palm, Delray install charging stations for electric cars

That is the way things are changing.

I clicked on the Grubee site to the right.

Grubee is going electric too. They even have an electric hybird kit !

 

[jburr36]

I believe so. That's why I mentioned it in another post when a point was being made about how there were more 110 VAC outlets than gas stations. Charging an E-bike at work without permission is akin to stealing office supplies and stationary.

 

[happyvalley]

Not if you ask and pay for it, lol.



The Kill-A-Watt (KAW), manufactured by P3 International, is 5″ tall x 2.25′ wide x 1.5″ thick (not counting electrical prongs) and weighs 4.6 ounces. The bottom front portion contains an electric plug receptacle, and the bottom rear has a typical US three prong (grounded) plug. The device is intended to act as a meter, going between the item that draws power and the power source, a typical wall outlet. $39.95

 

[jburr36]

It's like this,

West Palm, Delray install charging stations for electric cars

That is the way things are changing.

I clicked on the Grubee site to the right.

Grubee is going electric too. They even have an electric hybird kit !

The United States does not have the electrical infrastructure to handle the increased demand for 10s of 1000s of these charging stations for electric cars. For that to work we need to at least double the power distribution capacity in metro areas and build a multitude of new power generating plants. Something that the very people who promote this new green transportation have been opposed to with legislations and lawsuits. Also most of the power plants in the US burn fossil fuels not to mention the losses due to electrical resistance in the 1000s of miles of wire make electric cars produce just as much pollution as gas powered cars, it's just that the pollution is somewhere else. While the idea is novel I doubt it will take off and become mainstream. By the time we fight through all the environmental lawsuits and government red tape to build new power plants and double the power grid capacity it battery powered cars would be obsolete. Hydrogen and methane fuel cell technology will eventually mature enough to be a viable alternative to fossil fuel burining engines. The only redemption to battery operated vehicles is if we have a breakthrough in supercunductors to build super efficient motors and a super efficient power generation and distribution systems. Until then our economy is going to stick with the cheapest and most effective transportation systems and not some government subsidized green environmentalist pipe dream.

Back to the topic. If a person is using an e-vehicle through a town that has no commercial charging stations, I can think of none in my town or any of the nearby mountain communities, and they decide to just plug in any old place without permission they are stealing.

 

[motorbiker]

The United States does not have the electrical infrastructure to handle the increased demand for 10s of 1000s of these charging stations for electric cars. For that to work we need to at least double the power distribution capacity in metro areas and build a multitude of new power generating plants. Something that the very people who promote this new green transportation have been opposed to with legislations and lawsuits. Also most of the power plants in the US burn fossil fuels not to mention the losses due to electrical resistance in the 1000s of miles of wire make electric cars produce just as much pollution as gas powered cars, it's just that the pollution is somewhere else. While the idea is novel I doubt it will take off and become mainstream. By the time we fight through all the environmental lawsuits and government red tape to build new power plants and double the power grid capacity it battery powered cars would be obsolete. Hydrogen and methane fuel cell technology will eventually mature enough to be a viable alternative to fossil fuel burining engines. The only redemption to battery operated vehicles is if we have a breakthrough in supercunductors to build super efficient motors and a super efficient power generation and distribution systems. Until then our economy is going to stick with the cheapest and most effective transportation systems and not some government subsidized green environmentalist pipe dream.

Back to the topic. If a person is using an e-vehicle through a town that has no commercial charging stations, I can think of none in my town or any of the nearby mountain communities, and they decide to just plug in any old place without permission they are stealing.

Electric bicycles are real big in China and that is why we can buy all that cool stuff !

I am not so sure that going green is the reason the China kids are doing it !

Electric must be cheaper for them.

Anyway I am not trying to be smug.

I like electronics and motors and such.

Fixed TV's for a living for 20 years.

Not trying to figure out how to save the planet, I am having fun playing with motors.

Bought a couple of EVG ebikes today. Dead batteries but other than that OK !

 

[motorbiker]

The United States does not have the electrical infrastructure to handle the increased demand for 10s of 1000s of these charging stations for electric cars. For that to work we need to at least double the power distribution capacity in metro areas and build a multitude of new power generating plants. Something that the very people who promote this new green transportation have been opposed to with legislations and lawsuits. Also most of the power plants in the US burn fossil fuels not to mention the losses due to electrical resistance in the 1000s of miles of wire make electric cars produce just as much pollution as gas powered cars, it's just that the pollution is somewhere else. While the idea is novel I doubt it will take off and become mainstream. By the time we fight through all the environmental lawsuits and government red tape to build new power plants and double the power grid capacity it battery powered cars would be obsolete. Hydrogen and methane fuel cell technology will eventually mature enough to be a viable alternative to fossil fuel burining engines. The only redemption to battery operated vehicles is if we have a breakthrough in supercunductors to build super efficient motors and a super efficient power generation and distribution systems. Until then our economy is going to stick with the cheapest and most effective transportation systems and not some government subsidized green environmentalist pipe dream.

Back to the topic. If a person is using an e-vehicle through a town that has no commercial charging stations, I can think of none in my town or any of the nearby mountain communities, and they decide to just plug in any old place without permission they are stealing.

Electric bicycles are real big in China and that is why we can buy all that cool stuff !

I am not so sure that going green is the reason the China kids are doing it !

Electric must be cheaper for them.

Anyway, I don't want to be smug.

I like electronics and motors and such.

Fixed TV's for a living for 20 years.

Not trying to figure out how to save the planet, I am having fun playing with motors.

Bought a couple of EVG ebikes today. Dead batteries but other than that OK !

 

[brother john]

something that breaths heavy fumes and sh!ts fire is like me...I can relate to that... something that whines all the time???...thats more like the ex

let em all go electric...more gas for me...

 

[bairdco]

if you're polite and ask, i doubt you'd have a problem finding some businesses that would let you charge your bike.

just give them the "saving the environment" speil and you'll probably be ok.

or find a hippy-infested, patchouli oil smelling coffee shop.

 

[TxBikeRider]

something that breaths heavy fumes and sh!ts fire is like me...I can relate to that... something that whines all the time???...thats more like the ex

let em all go electric...more gas for me...

You slay me.

 

[jburr36]

if you're polite and ask, i doubt you'd have a problem finding some businesses that would let you charge your bike.

just give them the "saving the environment" speil and you'll probably be ok.

or find a hippy-infested, patchouli oil smelling coffee shop.

You're most likely right about that. It's just if one is passing through a town and it takes like 3 or more hours to charge the batteries....well that could be inconvenient to say the least.

 

[jburr36]

Electric bicycles are real big in China and that is why we can buy all that cool stuff !

I am not so sure that going green is the reason the China kids are doing it !

Electric must be cheaper for them.

Anyway, I don't want to be smug.

I like electronics and motors and such.

Fixed TV's for a living for 20 years.

Not trying to figure out how to save the planet, I am having fun playing with motors.

Bought a couple of EVG ebikes today. Dead batteries but other than that OK !

I don't find you smug at all. There is another member here that, well, kind of came across as a real arrogant e-bike elitist and that kind of rubbed me the wrong way. There are advantages and disadvantes to both electric and gas powered MABs. I really couldn't care less who has what. If it serves our own personal purpose then it's well worth it. Where I'm at in Idaho there are a lot of hills and distance between places I like to go. If I ran out of gas on a road in the middle of nowhere it's a lot easier for me to borrow or buy a couple pints of gas than to charge a battery. The gas motor fits my purpose better. My 4 cycle is rated at 1.5 HP so it would take a 1100 watt electric motor to give me the same torque. I'm just trying to be realistic with what we have now.

Personally I can't wait for fuel cell technology to really take off. Like having the best of both worlds. NASA has been using them for decades but the costs are so high due to the way they are manufactured.

I heard that gas engine kits were illegal to use in china so it's interesting that they can use the electric. I know that Beijing has a horrid pollution crisis and that people there buy oxygen containers like we buy bottled water here.

 

[jburr36]

lol just saw this and thought of the topic here:

Charging of cellphone leads to misdemeanor charges — Maine News — Bangor Daily News

BANGOR, Maine — A Bangor police officer conducting a check of downtown businesses arrested a local transient shortly before 12:30 a.m. Saturday after finding him charging his two cellphones in an outdoor electrical outlet hidden behind some flowers on Harlow Street.

 

[Mike B]

We are not talking a lot of juice. Not for a bike anyway. I think the spec was 36 volts at 4 amps for 4 hours.

That's half a kilowatt-hour, about 8 cents here.

 

[jburr36]

that's expensive. Here 500 watt-hour is about 4 cents.

 

[TxBikeRider]

We are not talking a lot of juice. Not for a bike anyway. I think the spec was 36 volts at 4 amps for 4 hours.

That's half a kilowatt-hour, about 8 cents here.

price is irrelevant.....is it stealing?

 

[motorbiker]

price is irrelevant.....is it stealing?

Why would you want to steal 8 cents ? Are things that bad in Texas ?

 

[DaveC]

that's expensive. Here 500 watt-hour is about 4 cents.

As much as people like to complain about Idaho Power we have some of the lowest rates in the country. Idaho Power makes most of it's money selling to other power grids.

 

[TxBikeRider]

Why would you want to steal 8 cents ? Are things that bad in Texas ?

I don't own an electric, I am just trying to understand the electric crowds thinking on this. I am gussing things are that bad in Florida, the one who got me to thinking about this is from there.

 

[jburr36]

As much as people like to complain about Idaho Power we have some of the lowest rates in the country. Idaho Power makes most of it's money selling to other power grids.

That is true. We went through an ordeal with Idaho power last year. we have a 3 bedroom manufactured home and for some reason our power bill went from $180 a month in the summer to over $600 a month. When I ran the numbers they had us using like over 200 kilowatts on most days even in the night. Ususally when that happens the cops and feds come busting down the door looking for the marijuana grow operations. Anyway, we got them to change this 'smart meter' out for a new one and our bill went back to normal.

I would have fought this all the way through the courts because there is absolutely nothing here that can even draw that kind of power on a continuous basis and not start a fire or pop the breakers. Idaho power initially came out to inspect our appliances, furnace, water heater and AC which were all functioning properly at the time. What took them a little longer to resolve the issue was that the guys that were working on the case kept retiring which was anoying because we kept getting shut off notices.

They eventually reversed all the charges and gave a credit after billing us according to the power we used the same time a year prior. I figured they did that because they lost the old meter they took and was not going to have it as evidence in court. It turned out good for us.