Referencing two American cities in km will sure win over the U.S. 😂
Especially since it’s only 130km from New York to Philly.
I don’t know what that means. Can you explain in something more American, like football fields or swimming pools?
For scale, it’s roughly 725,000 bananas.
In case anyone is having trouble visualising it, it’s nearly 80,000 giraffes!
How many hamburgers though?
I have to ask: why? I like how ebikes continue to develop in novel and often unexpected directions, but what is the use-case for 400 km (248 mi) of range? I will proceed in metric, so at the max Class 3 speed of 45 kph (28 mph), that’s over 8 hours of continuous travel. This had better come with one of the most comfortable saddles on the planet.
At that speed and that range, this would be an inter-city grand tourer. With the weight of three total batteries, I’m now wondering if we need to start computing Specific Range for ebikes, being the composite metric of the battery packs’ Specific Energy and the range which those packs enable. I would suspect that the weight penalty of three batteries would put this ebike on the backside of Lithium Ion’s theoretical Specific Range curve.
what is the use-case for 400 km (248 mi) of range?
The use case for 248 miles of ideal-conditions (lowest assist level, flat ground, etc.) range might be elusive, but what about the use-case for X miles of tooling up and down steep hills in the highest assist level while carrying a heavy load? The numbers the manufacturers quote for these things always have to be vastly discounted for real-world conditions like that.
Maybe think less “New York to Philadelphia” and more “cross-town and back in Pittsburgh while maxing out the 440lb weight capacity.”
I would suspect that the weight penalty of three batteries would put this ebike on the backside of Lithium Ion’s theoretical Specific Range curve.
Batteries are heavy, but they’re not that heavy compared to things like the rider and cargo. An e-bike-sized battery weighs what, about the same as a gallon of milk? Reducing the cargo capacity by one gallon of milk (on a bike spec’d to carry the weight equivalent of 45 of them) really isn’t so bad.
You make good points. Indeed, you’ve given me reason to look into the ratio of aerodynamic drag versus frictional losses for an ebike, since at even Class 3 speeds, I’m now doubting myself whether the friction of additional weight would significantly increase the power needed for cruising.
That said, on the minor point, I would humorously posit that 8.5 pounds (approx the weight of 1 gallon of milk; 3.8 kg) of battery is different than 8.5 pounds of rider, since out of fairness, we should assume the rider is unchanged between different ebike comparisons. Certainly, I’d love to shed 8 pounds off of myself to get a bit extra range haha
I suppose the benefit of this format of using range-extending batteries means that the weight penalty need not be borne when undesired. It does, however, make me wonder if the base battery has sufficient range in the heavily-loaded scenario, or if the cargo aspect can only reasonably be realized by having at least one extended battery, at addition cost.
Battery weight is something you can move around the frame. That means you have some ability to lower the center of gravity, and also change aerodynamics. The same weight in a rider is worse for both in general. (this is one reason why recumbents are so good - they never caught on though - there might or might not be good reasons for that)
More food for thought is why the electric velomobile has not caught on. With its aerodynamic fairing paired with electric assist, this should ostensibly enable true independent, inter-city personnel transportation, cruising away at some 50+ kph.
I know the answer is probably to do with road infrastructure, but I can dream, can’t I‽‽ :)
Now we need the safety protection from a car, airbags and all the other things needed to make those speed semi safe for humans. Once you have that the contributions of the.humans is insignificant so we may as well call them a car and forget about pedals
The real question is what range does it have when loaded down with my camping gear. As you say this is a useful bike for long tours.
I’m quite curious about this, as I’ve never gone bike camping before, although it has long appealed to me. It seems to me that 200 kg is substantial for a two-wheeled machine, if I assume a scenario with a 50 kg ebike and a 100 kg rider. I had presumed that bike camping uses equipment more similar to backpacking, from where I’ve heard the adage “ounces mean pounds, and pounds mean pain”. How much would camping gear normally weight?
Bike camping allows for a lot more weight and bulk. Total oz do not matter as much and so people do use larger tents, more cookware and the like. I’ve seen mini rv trailers pulled by an ebike, something you wouldn’t do when backpacking or even acoustic bike camping. If you think of backpacking camping then via bike it makes no difference, but people often want a little more luxury when camping .
Ah, I see. So this would be closer to “car camping” than backpacking. The weight and cargo capabilities now make sense to me in this context. Thanks!
That’ll get me from Dallas to Houston with 11 miles to spare
I don’t like this idea. They will get mucked up in mud road grime and brake dust. It will be really heavy in the back too which has caused me to wipe out while turning on a bike I used that had rear hub motor and battery mount.
