[clug] OT Canberra electric vehicles group - first contact

[Brett Worth]

Paul Wayper wrote on 2/02/10 12:29 AM:
> For my part, I'm keen on constructing an electric motorbike.

I work at Russell and if you've ever tried to park there you'll know that after about
8:00-8:15am it's nearly impossible.  I started catching the bus (from Hackett) but ACTION
soon stopped that when they "improved" the routing and scheduling and turned a 35 minute
trip into 55 minutes plus.

I then tried cycling the 8Klms a few times but the hassle of getting work clothes to and
from there made it painful too.

So for the past 18 months I've been riding an electric bike every day.  It's conforms to
the 200W power limit for cycle paths but the rear hub motor is efficient enough that I can
average ~26k/h without peddling except on steep hills.  It has a 14AH 36V battery which is
advertised as giving 50Klm range but I've never had it past 40Klms.  I've put just under
6,000ks on it in the 18 months.

I like to think of it as a very low powered motor bike but still cop a lot of flack from
the Lycra set who think I'm just plain lazy.  I find that people who drive much more
powerful motor bikes never come under such criticism.  It's a pleasure to ride and is just
about noiseless.

Given that this was a commercial purpose built electric bike I guess I'm not really an EV
hobbyist but I've certainly an enthusiastic user of the technology.  Imagine if everywhere
you needed to go was down hill from where you were.  That's what it feels like.

Brett