Sourcing electric bikes

[pritch]

Yes and no....

A mates just traded in his Yamaha MT10 because it gets 170km on a tank of gas... A decent E bike might achieve that so the problem with E bikes is not so much the range but the speed at which you recharge and a lack of rapid charge points.

Battery technology will change because there's a lot of clever buggers working hard to do exactly that. Most of my devices: phone, iPads, toothbrush, whatever, take a while to charge up. I have a pick up in a musical instrument though that charges to full in sixty seconds.

I note though that in the Formula E races, or whatever they're called, they change cars half way so as to have enough battery to get through the race.

There will also be added risks. In a recent Formula 1 race one of the drivers was informed by the pit crew that his car was "not safe". He was instructed to climb onto the bonnet then jump clear of the car to avoid being electrocuted. Fuck that!

[Gremlin]

Yes and no....

A mates just traded in his Yamaha MT10 because it gets 170km on a tank of gas...

Yep, tech will come on fast as there is more ROI.

Lekky bikes aren't much good until they can get 600km guaranteed matching the range of the GSA (and 750km at best), although filling 30+L does take a little longer than 17

[Graystone]

Very interesting valid point, half your directional stability must come from the rotating mass of crank and transmission, so losing this or having a lot less due to electronic trickery making same torque with less revs creates some inetersting issues.....

If that is your understanding of stability, perhaps it better yours comes from the wheels on the bus that go round and round...

[Michael Moore]

A mates just traded in his Yamaha MT10 because it gets 170km on a tank of gas

The latest Zero with the maximum battery option claims 166 km range @ 70 mph and 332 km @ city speeds. However, the MSRP on that is US$20K which seems a bit on the expensive side for many people's budgets.

[Racing Dave]

The latest Zero with the maximum battery option claims 166 km range @ 70 mph and 332 km @ city speeds. However, the MSRP on that is US$20K which seems a bit on the expensive side for many people's budgets.

The emphasis is on the word 'claims'. I'd take any bet going that in the real world neither of the two figures quoted would be even close.

[Swoop]

Accidentally watched the car formula E stuff while channel swapping other day. Very boring even compared to other one make typeracing series. Seemed a lot of variance in battery life/performance too. Wouldn’t that suck, out for rude with mates and you have less reserve capacity. Whose gonna wait while you recharge?

Duke had something with electric racing the other day. "Pit stops" were jumping out of one car and into another.
WTF?

Makes you wonder how safe a normal electric car would be in a crash. With powertools they build them with plastic bodies to prevent electrocution but this can not be done with electric cars.

Retard.

[Laava]

Makes you wonder how safe a normal electric car would be in a crash. With powertools they build them with plastic bodies to prevent electrocution but this can not be done with electric cars.

Wow are they racing powertools now?

[Graystone]

Makes you wonder how safe a normal electric car would be in a crash. With powertools they build them with plastic bodies to prevent electrocution but this can not be done with electric cars.

This perplexing opinion comes up time and time again, people will happily drive around with highly flammable liquids containing more than 3x the energy in an equivalent electric vehicle, yet somehow the Extra Low Voltage battery packs in electric vehicles strike them as unreasonably hazardous.

Duke had something with electric racing the other day. "Pit stops" were jumping out of one car and into another.
WTF?

Just electrify the ripple strips I reckon, charge on the fly.

[Graystone]

Wow are they racing powertools now?

Been doing that for years mate...

[Graystone]

Just because electric vehicles operate on a lower voltage than the mains it does not mean the voltage is not hazardous. I think a hazardous voltage is any voltage over 50v which is what the regulations stated some years back and that you need a EWRB qualification to work on equipment operating at over 50v. Time will tell how many people die of electrocution when they crash I guess.

Actually that's pretty much what it does mean. ELV is sub 120VDC (batteries) 50V is for AC (not batteries).

Now if you want to try an experiment, get a light with no lampshade, shove the whole thing up your arse and turn it on.

[awayatc]

Now if you want to try an experiment, get a light with no lampshade, shove the whole thing up your arse and turn it on.

why no lampshade......?

[Paul in NZ]

Just because electric vehicles operate on a lower voltage than the mains it does not mean the voltage is not hazardous. I think a hazardous voltage is any voltage over 50v which is what the regulations stated some years back and that you need a EWRB qualification to work on equipment operating at over 50v. Time will tell how many people die of electrocution when they crash I guess.

Nope no Nope....

You are forgetting the difference between AC and DC

However having spent decades fucking about with 50V DC with HUGE batteries behind them I can assure you that shorting one out does produce an astonishing flash, bang and a LOT of heat. Pretty unlikely to kill you though unless you were sitting on it when it went boom...

Some batteries will develop an internal short / fault and can generate enough heat to catch fire but so can petrol... But petrol has had decades of development and improvement, electric cars will get there faster.

[Paul in NZ]

I saw an electric converted motorbike at a electric vehicle demo day and on the side of the battery pack there was a sign that said Danger High Voltage. So just because the voltage is DC it does not mean it is not dangerous.

Just because you saw a sign on a homemade vehicle does not make you right either... I mean I have a motorcycle that has Sprint written on the side of it - it doesn't...

You might die of flash burns in the ensuing fire but you are unlikely to be 'electrocuted'...

[Moi]

Yeah, I know, it has nothing to do with electric bikes... but the arcs are good uns!

But not as good as the arcs at a hydro out station when things go wrong...

[Graystone]

I saw an electric converted motorbike at a electric vehicle demo day and on the side of the battery pack there was a sign that said Danger High Voltage. So just because the voltage is DC it does not mean it is not dangerous.

No, but DC High Voltage threshold is 1500V, the pack voltage was not over 1500V, no matter what was written on the side.

Though it does sometimes help identify things when used properly, do us all a favor and hop along to your local tattooist and get 'fuckwit' inked into your forehead.