Both my parents are long gone (bless them) but I remember my Mum telling me that the reason Dad first bought a car, just prior to WW2, was that as a plumber (lead was in common use then) he was tired of leaning forwards over the handle-bars in order to prevent the front wheel lifting off the ground, such was the weight of his tool bag on the rear carrier.
EV are they worth it?
- Thread starter ericmark
- Start date
Sponsored Links
Actually, in my yoof I did ride a motorbike with a 4ft level strapped to my back quite often. I'm amazed I was never nicked for something like "dangerous load"
One kid in a kiddie trailer towed behind, second one in a kiddie seat behind dad, and get yourself a cargo bike. Three Shredded Wheat might also come in handy...
Last edited:
Aye... right...
Sponsored Links
Fortunately us 'retirees' don't have to worry about such things.
I've a yearning for a trailer, nice platform body with tandem axles, but it won't be towed behind a b....y bike.
Sorry guys, aren't we getting a bit off-topic now
Electric cargo bike?
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2008
- Messages
- 21,604
- Reaction score
- 2,282
- Location
- Llanfair Caereinion, Nr Welshpool
- Country
It will not quite work, but it does show the problem, my e-bike a cheap one weighs around 24 kg wife's is lighter, and with a 48 volt 12 Ah battery it will take me around 25 miles with some peddling, and it would be more if this area was not so hilly. But the bicycle needs around 4 MPH to balance, does not matter how low you gear it, you can't balance below around 4 MPH, the trike is however better and you can gear it lower, but still 250 watt motor is not really enough, the speed limit of 16 MPH not a problem, but really to use to carry goods one needs around a 500 watt motor, which means it is a motor bike, or trike, so you can't use it on motor traffic free roads.Electric cargo bike?
We see the motor trike and quad being used a lot on farms, the main difference between a 4 x 4 and the quad is the weight, and this is the problem, we have so much weight added to a car or van to stop it being crushed in a crash, that the whole unit is too heavy, and if your going to have a vehicle used at work then health and safety at work means as it stands you need to protect your workers in the event of a crash, if you added the crumple zones to my e-bike I would never be able to lift it onto the train, as it is I can't get it inside the carriage, it has to stay on the veranda outside the main carriage. Except if the one carriage designed for wheel chairs is used.
Between Mold and Ruthin the buses has bike racks, but they were simply not used, so have now been removed, and not allowed a bike inside the bus as in a crash it would wheel up the bus, I know the problems with wheel chairs and the need to strap them down, by folding the bike some will allow them, but it is still a big lump.
To be frank removing the wheels with a standard bike it takes up less room in my car than using the folding e-bike. I will normally carry on the bike rack if not going to leave the car. But folded inside the car less likely to be stolen. And this is a problem, my e-bike has an ignition key, so you can't use the electric without a key, but you can still ride it using the pedals.
Mold bus station had some bike lockers, so you could lock up the bike and go shopping, but Welshpool, and Newtown don't have them, so your looking for a lamp post to lock it to, which often means an obstruction on the pavement.
It is one thing buying a cheap bike from Asda or Halfords at under £200 and using it for shopping, if stolen you have only lost £200, but an e-bike starts at around £1000, and it is easy to remove battery, and easy to remove wheels, a quick release wheel without a motor can cost £75, and without quick release wheels will not fit in car, so limited where the bike can be used, and still have the bike to return on.
If we could have a lighter mode of transportation we would not need electric, we can easy make a car carrying 4 people do over 100 MPG, if we can make it lighter, the Auto Rickshaw
In type approval terms, what we would think of as a car (a "category M1" vehicle), needs to pass a number of safety tests that simply can't be passed by this kind of vehicle. Forget EuroNCAP, that's not a legal requirement and is consumer driven. I'm talking about the type approval tests without which, it would be illegal to sell the car.
The above vehicle would be regarded as "Category L" - along with quad bikes, motorcycles, etc. They don't need to meet crashworthiness requirements anything like as stringent (in fact, in recognition of the smaller total volume of emissions, they don't have such touch emissions limits either). Of course, 2-strokes are notoriously filthy emissions-wise, and a big part of the air quality problems in developing countries.
As you say, with a 250 Watt power limit and 16 MPH speed limit (and the requirement to pedal before the motor will deliver any assistance), e-bikes sidestep the type approval requirements.
The requirements for employers to keep employees safe, must be capable of being interpreted in many ways, as farmers are quite happy to put farm workers on quad bikes, rather than in Land Rovers, and don't seem to get prosecuted for doing so!
We could, without doubt, save a load of CO2, steel, lithium, etc, if we could be persuaded to use smaller, lighter vehicles, but they're pretty horrible to drive any distance, can't carry or tow much, and have all the crashworthiness of a wet paper bag in an accident.
e-bikes work in certain circumstances, as you describe, but you can't carry very much on them. My Mrs. has one and it's a thing of beauty (just over 11kg, which makes it lighter than my (non-electric) mountain bike)! However, I'd love to see her bring a week's shopping for a family of 4 home on it!
- Joined
- 27 Jan 2008
- Messages
- 21,604
- Reaction score
- 2,282
- Location
- Llanfair Caereinion, Nr Welshpool
- Country
@Avocet is spot on, it is the laws which stop us using vehicles with low CO2 emissions. As to two stoke engines, most ships engines are two stoke, and railways engines the deltic was popular at one time, but with road transport the commer which was like a third of the deltic did not last long, the detroit lasted longer with 4 exhaust valves per cylinder, and the USA trucks with these engines clearly are not clean
but these are very different to small engines which have no sump and only way to lubricate the engine is to all oil to the fuel, this is often done to keep down weight, and allow the engine to work at all angles, as with a chain saw, one could not really have a sump on a chain saw.
I have a few times looked at the trike
the Royal Mail have tested some, but looking at the 250 watt rule, I can't see any limit to how many 250 watt motors, so could one have one in each wheel? The rules are a bit vague, it says 250 watt on a continuous basis, so having more power at some points in the speed range is allowed, so it is likely a 350 watt peak power motor would comply, as it can't produce that throughout the range. But a 1000 watt is clearly moving into the motor bike class.
Even the use of a throttle. It depends on the age of the e-bike, and e-bikes are not registered, so how does one know the age of a second hand e-bike? The problem with no throttle is starting off, and you are allowed a throttle up to 4 MPH, called walk assist, with a mid engine e-bike the first push on pedals starts the motor, but with wheel motors it takes some time for the motor to engage, so junctions are a problem, as slow start, and these signs "Cyclists dismount" silly as it takes so long to cross a road when walking beside the cycle, and you need to fold the pedals to stop them tripping you up. Instead of "Cyclists dismount" it should say "This cycle track is not for using, it is to get some sort of grant, please cycle on the road." in some cases there are crossing lights at a height the cyclist can use, but cycle tracks with multi drop pavements for car access into drives, is just silly, no one in their right mind will use them.
I have a few times looked at the trike
the Royal Mail have tested some, but looking at the 250 watt rule, I can't see any limit to how many 250 watt motors, so could one have one in each wheel? The rules are a bit vague, it says 250 watt on a continuous basis, so having more power at some points in the speed range is allowed, so it is likely a 350 watt peak power motor would comply, as it can't produce that throughout the range. But a 1000 watt is clearly moving into the motor bike class.Even the use of a throttle. It depends on the age of the e-bike, and e-bikes are not registered, so how does one know the age of a second hand e-bike? The problem with no throttle is starting off, and you are allowed a throttle up to 4 MPH, called walk assist, with a mid engine e-bike the first push on pedals starts the motor, but with wheel motors it takes some time for the motor to engage, so junctions are a problem, as slow start, and these signs "Cyclists dismount" silly as it takes so long to cross a road when walking beside the cycle, and you need to fold the pedals to stop them tripping you up. Instead of "Cyclists dismount" it should say "This cycle track is not for using, it is to get some sort of grant, please cycle on the road." in some cases there are crossing lights at a height the cyclist can use, but cycle tracks with multi drop pavements for car access into drives, is just silly, no one in their right mind will use them.
Sponsored Links
Similar threads
