I know a guy who tried doing something like this and burnt his house down. One of the batteries exploded and took the others with it.
That's why you don't touch Lithium Ion packs unless you know what you are doing. I've repaired many Bosch packs before I tried building my own and seeing the guts of professionally designed and robotically assembled packs after they're a few years old is a very sobering exercise in what to do and what definitely not to do. There are a bunch of youtubers that go out of their way to give massively dangerous advice to p…
Long Range E-Bike (2021)
131–140 of 345 posts
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#132I think that size of battery would move it into requiring a motorcycle license here in Switzerland, just based on the size alone. And if it goes faster than 45km/h then definitely. I have my motorcycle license and have been considering getting something that I can ride all day. Only problem is that if it's classified as a motorcycle license I don't think I can take it in the train like a bike if I run out of juice fa…
Quite common for Bosch powered cargo bikes to allow fitting two 800Wh batteries and you can always carry spares. They’re just horribly expensive.
I’m very glad my US spec e-bike is 28mph/45kmph rather than 15mph/25kmph limited as I feel much more comfortable taking the lane closer to car speeds on residential roads even if I rarely go above 20mph.
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#133It does feel like this is such an untapped market. Think commuters, credit cart tourers, tourism around a spread out city. Something that is safer than a motorcycle and faster than a bike.
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#134eBikes are such a game changer. I do most of our family of four's grocery shopping with ours. Because of the assist, I find myself more comfortable in a wider range of weather conditions: * If it's hot, I use more assist and there's an instant cooling effect. Much better than climbing into a hot car. * If it's cold, I dress up to be warm outside and if I start to warm up on the ride, I use more assist. I don't have t…
Food, beer, and cat litter would be too heavy for a bike.
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#135The off-the-shelf pack I was looking at if I had to make an ebike for commuting (if my employer ends WFH) was about 1100 Wh (about half the homemade pack in the article): https://www.ebikessentials.com/collections/batteries/product...
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Motorcycle cops can ride faster than any e-bike, and go anywhere a bicycle can.
As someone who has spent a lot of time riding both bicycles and motorized things, this is not true at all. I could hop my bicycle over curbs that would bring a police motorcycle to a halt, or even toss a bike over a fence and then pick it up on the other side if I wanted. Or I could dip into the trees near the bike path where a police motorcycle has no chance of maneuvering.
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Motorcycle cops can ride faster than any e-bike, and go anywhere a bicycle can.
A car too, but you might kill the suspect [1]. Chasing kids on e-bikes down with motorcycles is asking for deathly accidents to happen. [1] https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2025/06/03/12-year-old-boy-dies...
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#138eBikes are such a game changer. I do most of our family of four's grocery shopping with ours. Because of the assist, I find myself more comfortable in a wider range of weather conditions: * If it's hot, I use more assist and there's an instant cooling effect. Much better than climbing into a hot car. * If it's cold, I dress up to be warm outside and if I start to warm up on the ride, I use more assist. I don't have t…
I think we have different grocery habits. Food, beer, and cat litter would be too heavy for a bike.
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#139That’s a fantastic build, I only wish e-bike manufacturers would offer similarly spec’s bikes, a days ride is very rarely 30 km, so 200 min or more like 200 km range would be a bike worth investing in. I feel similarly about electric cars too, charging mud route or at destinations is rarely possible so 300 miles or greater are the only vehicle ranges I see as remotely practical. ( yes, I cycle in km and drive in mile…
Speed restrictions are somewhat better in the US -- class 1 is allowed to assist up to 20 mph, and class 3 is allowed to assist up to 28 mph. Both are higher than 25 kph (15.5 mph).
Re: Long Range E-Bike (2021)
#140In my city, travel habits and condition, I find I wish for more torque and lower speed. Every place I want to go has significant hills that the motor can't handle, and easing climbing hills is the main reason I want an ebike. My ebike's minimum speed for the motor is 15kph, which is ok by myself, but my family likes to go slower, so I have to go fully manual with them. When I look at ebike ads it feels like nobody el…