Electric Bikes

[norrissee]

Electric powered motorcycles: Any ideas or experiences? Are they reliable?

I'm thinking of buying one for my daily home/office commute since I live just 1-2km away from my office don't want to wear out my car engine by driving it short distances everyday...

[Mojo]

sa Tronnix they sell an electric bike for 18k, basically its a street bike with a electric motor, battery and potentiometer to regulate speed.


they claim it can go 20km in a single charge. Problem with electric bikes is that it still uses lead acid battery, youll feel the loss of power/charge when you reach the 1/2 drain mark.

but having a electric bike is not a bad idea considering u live 1 or 2 km from your work place

[ghosthunter]

There are electric scooters which looks exactly like their gasoline powered version. Not sure of the performance though.

[the_wildthing]

Why not walk or ride a bike (yung di-pedal)? Exercise pa. Suggestion lang.

[ghosthunter]

its because sometimes it not nice to arrive at your destination smelling like you just came from the gym, especially if you have to impress a client.

[niky]

Hehe... if it rains, you'll still smell like wet dog anyway.

Maganda ito:


RevoPower Wheel... $400 (over 20k pesos... mahal!), but it's only about 15 lbs and installs in minutes... in fact, even if you have an alloy front wheel, that's only an additional 12 lbs!!! You can take it off your bike to go trail riding, or put it on to commute. It gets about 200 mpg (85 km/l), and with a 25cc gas engine and 1 hp, can get to 32 km/h. Not blazingly fast, but a good way to get through traffic. nonetheless.

By the way, the water bottle is the gas tank, so don't drink from it.

https://www.revopower.com

[ghosthunter]

Hehe... if it rains, you'll still smell like wet dog anyway.

Maganda ito:


RevoPower Wheel... $400 (over 20k pesos... mahal!), but it's only about 15 lbs and installs in minutes... in fact, even if you have an alloy front wheel, that's only an additional 12 lbs!!! You can take it off your bike to go trail riding, or put it on to commute. It gets about 200 mpg (85 km/l), and with a 25cc gas engine and 1 hp, can get to 32 km/h. Not blazingly fast, but a good way to get through traffic. nonetheless.

By the way, the water bottle is the gas tank, so don't drink from it.

https://www.revopower.com

My mountain bike weights 18 pounds empty and 25 pounds loaded with all the gear!!! At least it's self powered if equipted with revopower.

[niky]

Actually, that's what I was first thinking when I first heard about it... Being a former runner and cyclist, even just ten extra pounds seems heavy to me... but then you think about it... the only time you'll notice the extra weight is when you're trying to hit your top speed, and you're not exactly going to try to set a new world speed record if you're just going to the office.

Ang ganda pa ng system, it automatically shuts off when you stop, or when you're going faster than the engine can go, so it doesn't guzzle at idle or when you're pedalling hard.

[norrissee]

Yup, don't want to arrive in the office looking "dishelved". (but I don't think anybody would notice considering the stereotyping of software developers as veritable slobs ahihihihihihi)

anyway, I'm thinking of those types that looks just like an underbone motor. I'm just edgy when it comes to their reliability.

hmm.. maybe I could buy an electric motor and hook it up to my oldschool mitsu... put in a sticker that says "Electric Powered Oldschooler" then I'm set... hehehe

On a more serious note though, anybody got experience with electric motorcycles?

[BlueBimmer]

norris! :D

[norrissee]

sherwin! wats up? hehehe

got any ideas on electric scooters? driving 2km everyday from work to home is not a fun thing, too short for fun and not to mention the traffic... (and i dont have a stereo inside the car)

[baludoy]

i've seen some chinese made electric scooters that sells between 25-30k. they don't look at all any different from the gas powered ones (except for the extension cords heheh). then there are the japanese thin framed ones w/ the seat as the bulkiest item on the scooter. i've seen one or two running around here in the village. unfortunately, i have had no experience w/ those scoots yet

but yes, i do think it would be practical for you to own one considering the proximity of your workplace

btw i've seen some ads in the sports section of some newspapers selling those stuff too

[CaRGirL]

ok po ba ito??

Smart Bikes: Electric Powered Vehicles

as per Phil. Star (dated Aug 25), prices range from 20k-60k.

[niky]

Grabe sagad na ako sa maximum load ng ibang models diyan... :lol:

Parang medyo crude yata yung battery tech niya, pero a 20 km range isn't bad if you live close to your work.

[orly_andico]

i read that star article and emailed the supplier luckylou*pldtdsl.net

he is distributing the products from Luyuan and Dones. 31500 yung 350W.

*niky: the Luyuan product is quite high-tech: it has regenerative braking and claims an 80km range, after which it needs to be charged for 3-8 hours. it uses 4x 12V 10Ah batteries, which cost 4800 to replace (need to replace every 2 years). since it's 10Ah, 48V (480Wh) assuming a 25% charging efficiency, one would need ~2kWh to fully recharge it. That's about 20 pesos worth. So even if you can run 40km for 20 pesos (half the claimed range) that's still only 0.50/km. Then assuming you run 3000km a year (or 6000km/2 years) that's an additional 0.80/km for a total opex of 1.30/km.

compare with say a Getz. 12km/L and 43 pesos/L = 3.58/km not counting maintenance. or a Honda XRM, 50km/L = 0.86/L. so the electric scooter is not cheaper than a gasoline powered scooter because of the battery replacement issue.

the only problem right now is that according to the LTO, electric scooters need to be registered but as per the supplier (luis), there is no advice yet to the local LTO offices. so they probably can't be registered just yet. more opportunity for kotong cops i guess..

[ghosthunter]

the problem with the LTO, cops and the dealers is that they all have a different view on the electric scooter.

The dealers point of view is it's not a "motor vehicle" since it does not have a fuel burning engine. The LTO/cops point of view is it looks pretty much like a typical scooter/motorcycle and so they will flag you down to check your registration papers.

[mazda626]

compare with say a Getz. 12km/L and 43 pesos/L = 3.58/km not counting maintenance. or a Honda XRM, 50km/L = 0.86/L. so the electric scooter is not cheaper than a gasoline powered scooter because of the battery replacement issue.

Sorry i did not get what you meant by that...

that was actually a nice comparison....but here is how I think when I roughly compare them

gas consumption
car: 6 to maybe 50 km/li in some models
gas bikes: 8 to 100 km/li depending on model
e bike: 100 to maybe 300 km/li

if we factor in battery maintenance cost:
I believe the Getz needs battery replacement also... even the xrm needs regular battery replacement... so battery replacement of 3-4 thousand a month as a maintenance cost every 1-2 years for an e-bike is not a real turn off... so far, after several months of use, my battery is fine. I just had to replace some wire plugs/adaptors for a more reliable connection... a few silicon spray on the moving parts...that is it... it's plug and play!
so
car: about 3000 per year if maintenance free
gas bike: about 500 to 900 pesos / year
e bike: about 3500 to 4500 pesos / 1.5 to 2 years

Oil consumption
car: regular engine oil change...maybe 2 thou / 3 months
gas bikes: regular oil change ...maybe 1 thousand / 3 months
e bike: occasional silicon spray on the moving parts/bearing areas, usually the wheels.... 200 pesos one can lasts a long time.

its nice to do the math...

considering that e-bike users are also helping avoid harmful green house gas contributions...that explain beginning mass extinction of species, drowning polar bears, melting glaciers revealing borrowed islands, extreme flooding and drought globally according to scientists, etc etc.... true or not, I suggest we go easy on e-bike believers....

tire consumption:
car: 2,500-5000/tire times 4 every 2-5 years
gas bikes: 1000-2000/tire times 2 every 2-5 years
e bikes: maybe the same as gas bikes

and so on and so forth ...etc etc which are also all worth considering and discussing.,, i hope somebody does.

I am just glad I am one of those persons who can easily adapt biking into my lifestyle, otherwise... kung wala akong tyaga, siguro ma-iinggit lang ako sa nag ba-bike... i may only rationalize that bikes are accident prone daw (even if actual statistics prove that 4 wheelers have more accidents considering other factors) ... I may also rationalize that bikers are "of a lower kind" daw.... barumbado sa karsada ... (even if in reality, there are a lot of highly educated and upper class people enjoying bikes and who know when to speed up and know when to just cruise along)..hehehe.. so if you are planning to buy an e bike for errands and short distance travel, you can't go wrong.... welcome to the club....expect critics.

[Leeroy Atienza]

try the Imove. Smaller version of imove. When you use this as your mode of trasportation, All eyes will be on you. Eco friendly because its battery operated. check their website

IMOVE- same pronciple as Segway

[Fozel]

Hi guys,I just joined this on line group and I am currently assigned here in China.On your inquiry related to the e bike as this is popularly known here in CHINA,they use it for their everyday means of transport.The good thing here is they have a bike lane so you are not in any danger of being "over run " by our four wheeled vehicles.Reliabilty wise,two years of battery life is Ok since this is almost the same with Our Maintenece Free batteries(Incidentally I am aso a car owner a 1993 HONDA CIVIC which incidentally I drove using the RORO system from Luzon down to your beautiful place in the SOUTH-Cebu)

If ou have some tchnical questions I am more than willing to reply to the best of my ability.

Incidentally,I have an e bike sent to the Phils. and really the problem is the LTO issue that some of you mentioned....

[mazda626]

Hello,

I know the Dealer of the Luyuan bikes.. Mr L. Vargas. He is a nice and friendly guy. I bought one of the bikes from him and I am currently using it almost every morning for my errands... plenty of times I am actually using it to go to work as my work is only 4 km away... about 15 to 30 minutes by car...

when I use my e bike... it only takes 15 minutes tops with all the traffic light stops... if only the weather is always good for scootering, I would use it everyday....unfortunately, my wife is paranoid with potential accidents...so what i do, is I use the bike anyway..hehehehe.... I am now saving 3-4 thousand a month as this is my original monthly expense when i use my mazda626 hatchback 2.0 li EFI engine... car runs surprisingly at 8-11 km/li when using Khaos on city and provincial rides...so 8km/l in the city... and usually almost 10km/l for provincial trips... but due to current gas prices, i bought a 1.3 toyota xl and am selling that mazda..... to keep my story short, there are still times that we need cars.... but having an alternative to save money and also empower us to help minimize global warming at our level ...... I LOVE MY E-BIKE!

this is a link if you want to view my scooter
http://www.visforvoltage.com/forums/...23&t=3894&st=0

other links
http://www.motorcyclephilippines.com...t=48719&page=3