ready to take off

[deacon]

I am getting a lot more interest in my ebike this year. I have already had as many people ask me about it this spring as I had all last summer. As this recession continues the interest will probably continue to grow. I think the DIY bike will get the most attention since 2 grand for an off the shelf ebike just isn't something the out of work or retired person can swing.

We will see, but I sure hope the price of a light weight battery comes down to make these bike more accessible to working poor people. I can envision the parking lot of fast food restaurants and retail stores filled with DIY ebikes. Very much like Cuba and it's gasoline bikes. Like it or not, the country is changing demographically, and with that comes changes in how people see the humble bicycle. I think the motorized bicycle is at the top of the bicycle food chain.

So lets see what happens.

 

[zabac70]

People are genetically lazy (or whatever) and the minute the economy rises a bit (more jobs , new markets.. ) they will turn to a most comfortable means of transportation and the interest in e bikes will disappear (well , not all together , some will continue to use it). Similar thing happened in 70's with first oil crisis. Back than (I was just a little boy) there was some efforts (mostly done with private persons) to make a step away of oil dependency and some traces of that could be found on internet today (scanned magazine articles); of course , by today standards, those were low tech. You can find some blueprints(or descriptions) for e vehicles from that time , also you can find some stuff for wood(bio) gas or whatever.
I do think that electricity(in one way or another) will propel our vehicles in the future , but not before world industry (read US industry) is prepared to make switch to it. In Europe is somewhat different , but there is a long way to go yet. Fortunately , e bikes are more and more common stuff (unfortunately , not yet where I live - that is a matter of low life standard ) and we all hope that components will get cheaper (batteries especially, but with larger production comes larger demand - so we'll see about that yet). Not to forget that big oil companies buys patents for promising battery technologies and by doing that , they delay application in every day life, sparing time for oil production(Chevron - NiMH , US Army - NanoSafe...).
For me , the best thing about new technologies is opportunity to become (more - less) self sufficient and independent. That means , I will NOT pay taxes trough petrol or electricity bills (if I produce my own electricity), I'll avoid many lows and regulations (those designed for taking money from citizens ) and I won't depend of world (or state) politics - regarding energy for my personal(family) use. E biking is a way to drastically reduce my fuel consumption (less CO2 in atmosphere , more money in my pocket) for a start. Some exercise is good too. With good looking bike I'm making positive advertising for e biking (and green transportation generally). Unfortunately , I'm between e bikes now (financial stuff) and hope to deal with that by summer.

 

[wheelbender6]

I think the battery advancements have made a big difference. E-bikes with more advanced batteries like 20ah LiFePo4 perform very well, weigh less, have a longer life cycle and are easier to care for.

 

[deacon]

now if they get that twenty hour lipo suction down to a hundred bucks we are going places