Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#221

Post by kwhitefoot » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 6:59 PM UTC

_ph_ wrote: post #191

sandworm101 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> And how many combustion engined cars crank at -40c without pre-heating? Plenty of them. In the last couple decades cold starts have really progressed. I think it's the developments in oil/lubricants that cling to metal surfaces. And the tighter tolerances that mean oils don't drain out of idle engines.

Plenty is not all - and interestingly, the nordic countries in Europe do have commonly electrical outlets at parking places. To preheat the engines. Luckily, this comes handy for the electrical cars too, as they can charge/preheat at those outlets.

Not so common now that cars start so much more easily. Thirty years ago when I moved to Norway they were quite common but already underused at the factory where I worked in Drammen (National Industri). Now it is mostly just a few parking spaces in each car public car park that have 16A 230V sockets for charging electric cars.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#222

Post by khedoros » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 7:56 PM UTC

jean_claude wrote: post #217

khedoros wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the alternative? Standing on the pedals? Or are there other styles of seat, not covered by the word "saddle"?

There are "noseless" saddles and saddles with a channel down the middle that may help protect the sensitive bits. http://www.thebirdwheel.com/noseless-saddles-tested-updated But my biased opinion is buy a recumbent! Fewer back, neck, and nether region issues, plus, they have comfy seats! http://www.bacchettabikes.com/recumbent-bikes/ VERY comfy seats! http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/scorpion_plus20/index_... A…

OK, that's closer to what I thought. I was kind of thrown off by the previous comment, which I read as implying "there are things besides 'saddles' that you can use".

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#223

Post by Dylan16807 » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 8:30 PM UTC

randallsquared wrote: post #220

driverdan wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we drink 30-40 (depending on the week) 2L bottles of soda a week, as well as a couple of 12-packs of soda cans, maybe an 8-pack of gatorade/powerade, and 15-20 half liter bottles of water WTF?? That's a very unhealthy amount of sugar. Why would you buy bottled water?

There's no sugar in any of that. Or, trace amounts. It's all "zero" and "diet". I buy bottled water for two reasons. The reason I started buying it was that I wanted to drink more water and less of everything else (I was using a ketogenic diet and there's some question about whether some artificial sweeteners cause an insulin response, and to what degree that would partially defeat the point of the keto diet). Most o…

> Since I just put them next to my desk, I don't actually get up to refill anything, but drinking one every 45 minutes or so will force me to get up and walk in any case, so it's all good.

I don't understand. You do walk, or you don't walk?

> At first I spent some time refilling these bottles rather than buying new, but it was more trouble than it was worth: trying to train myself not to toss them, trying to be gentle (they're quite fragile), washing, filling, and drying them, keeping track of one or more containers (the plastic they come wrapped in is not a reusable container)

That's easy. Refill each one a few times before throwing it out. Don't wash it, and don't have multiple to keep track of.

> and worst of all, keeping track of whether I need to do a refill or will run out during an upcoming stretch of work...

But you run out and need a refill with soda or disposable bottles too. How is that a negative of refilling water?

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#224

Post by seanp2k2 » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 8:52 PM UTC

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #166

sandworm101 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paris and SF maybe, but a nation-wide ban is a long long way off. Until electrics have power enough to move something akin to a fully loaded pickup truck 300+km, there will be a place for petro. Just look at the Fort MacMurry evacuation. Not many electrics could have made that drive. I doubt Tesla will ever sell many units in the Canadian north. Ask them how those batteries deal with -40c. It's a problem ignored by n…

I bet we could make a decent impact by simply banning SUVs. In Sydney so many people drive around these pristine 4WDs for their 3-4 person family or just for image.

Same thing in basically all of the USA. Even hybrid SUVs get worse mileage than more reasonably-sized cars.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#225

Post by seanp2k2 » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 8:53 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #181

_ph_ wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how many combustion engined cars crank at -40c without pre-heating? But indeed, there are a few places and uses where electrical cars are not the best solution. That does not mean, that in 90% of places and applications they are already a more environmental friendly alternative.

>> And how many combustion engined cars crank at -40c without pre-heating? Plenty of them. In the last couple decades cold starts have really progressed. I think it's the developments in oil/lubricants that cling to metal surfaces. And the tighter tolerances that mean oils don't drain out of idle engines.

Fuel injection helped a lot with this as well.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#226

Post by tehrei » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 8:56 PM UTC

Spooky23 wrote: post #83

jessaustin wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well sure I assumed that it's actually a sidewalk, but there's no reason to be authoritarian. If there really aren't any pedestrians around then cyclists really aren't harming anyone. If one is cycling on the sidewalk and sees a pedestrian, one simply hops off the bike and walks it until the pedestrian is out of range.

Totally agree... This is where the e-bike diverges. Casual peddling on the sidewalk is one thing, zipping around at nearly 20 mph changes things. Right now fast bikes are the province of serious people in spandex. When some overweight IT dude like me is moving like Lance Armstrong, that's a different story!

I'm OK with allowing only e-bikes that are limited to the 15mph cruise speed of a human-powered bicycle.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#227

Post by Dylan16807 » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 9:04 PM UTC

bambax wrote: post #214

outworlder wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sort of. Individual cells are usually fragile (as in, you can dent or puncture easily). However, they are usually protected by their enclosure. If you are talking about lithium cells, then you should not drain them completely. Which means that they should be kept with some charge. But, unless you intend to keep them stored away for months at a time (and maybe even then) you should be fine. There's also that fact that…

I'm not worried about safety, I'm worried about having to buy a new battery every year (at a cost of >$500) because I would use an electric bike only 6 month a year at the most, and it would destroy itself during the time I'm not using it, or if I forget to charge it for a week or two, etc.

A lithium ion battery stored at half charge in a cool place should last perfectly fine.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#228

Post by Coding_Cat » Sat, Jun 04, 2016, 10:16 PM UTC

zumatic wrote: post #184

Coding_Cat wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already have bans on certain cars in the Netherlands for example Utrecht does not allow diesel engines in the city center (Dutch source: https://www.utrecht.nl/milieu/luchtkwaliteit/milieuzone/ ).

Interesting -- we could do with that in London. Is it all diesel cars? The article seems to say something about Euro IV -compliant maybe being OK?

translated the two bullet points are (who is not allowed to enter the "enviromental zone"):

* Personal automobiles and delivery vans running on Diesel and which have received their license plate before the 1st of Jan. 2001.

* Trucks (of the profesional-logistics variety) which are not emmision standard IV compliant.

Note that this is not a country wide thing, but just the province of Utrecht[1]. There might be different restrictions for different cities, if any.

[1]: Utrecht is a city in the province Utrecht, like NYC, NY or Uppsala, Uppsala for the Swedes.

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#229

Post by randallsquared » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 12:01 AM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #223

randallsquared wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no sugar in any of that. Or, trace amounts. It's all "zero" and "diet". I buy bottled water for two reasons. The reason I started buying it was that I wanted to drink more water and less of everything else (I was using a ketogenic diet and there's some question about whether some artificial sweeteners cause an insulin response, and to what degree that would partially defeat the point of the keto diet). Most o…

> Since I just put them next to my desk, I don't actually get up to refill anything, but drinking one every 45 minutes or so will force me to get up and walk in any case, so it's all good. I don't understand. You do walk, or you don't walk? > At first I spent some time refilling these bottles rather than buying new, but it was more trouble than it was worth: trying to train myself not to toss them, trying to be gentl…

I walk, but not to refill.

> That's easy. Refill each one a few times before throwing it out. Don't wash it, and don't have multiple to keep track of.

It takes quite a bit longer to refill one of these, due to the mechanics of pouring into a neck. I can refill a widemouth class from a 2L bottle on autopilot while mostly still thinking about the problem that was at hand, but I have to devote much more attention to refilling a half liter bottle, and I'm inevitably going to spill some on the outside of the bottle anyway, which means drying the bottle, which means either using a paper towel or a cloth towel, but using a cloth towel means I need to have just washed the bottle or I'm dirtying a towel which can't be used to dry clean clean dishes, now...

A refill of soda, or just grabbing a new half liter bottle and twisting the cap, can be done without much conscious attention. See above for the much more involved process of refilling a half liter bottle. :)

Re: Electric Bikes Won Over China. Is the U.S. Next?

#230

Post by Dylan16807 » Sun, Jun 05, 2016, 12:08 AM UTC

randallsquared wrote: post #229

Dylan16807 wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since I just put them next to my desk, I don't actually get up to refill anything, but drinking one every 45 minutes or so will force me to get up and walk in any case, so it's all good. I don't understand. You do walk, or you don't walk? > At first I spent some time refilling these bottles rather than buying new, but it was more trouble than it was worth: trying to train myself not to toss them, trying to be gentl…

I walk, but not to refill. > That's easy. Refill each one a few times before throwing it out. Don't wash it, and don't have multiple to keep track of. It takes quite a bit longer to refill one of these, due to the mechanics of pouring into a neck. I can refill a widemouth class from a 2L bottle on autopilot while mostly still thinking about the problem that was at hand, but I have to devote much more attention to ref…

If you're going for a walk, then the 10 second difference in pour times shouldn't matter.

How about a bottle with a lid that screws off for fast spill-free filling?

(I'm still utterly baffled that you can drink soda from a glass but not water from a glass. Have you tried a colored glass that looks like it has soda?)