electric / gas comparison
psuggmog said:
Blaze, since you have both an electric and an "infernal" combustion engine powered bike, I interested in your opinion about and comparisons of the two methods of propulsion. any comments?
If I had to choose just one, it would probably be the gas powered bike. When you really look at it, it's just the same reasons nobody drives electric cars.
I would much rather use electric power, but it's just not ready yet. My electric bike is so quiet you can hardly hear it at all, and it runs very smoothly. There just isn't any vibration from the motor. I love it. And I love not burning any gas.
I haven't had my electric long, but once I get everything ironed out, I expect it to be pretty maintenance free, except for the batteries. The gas bikes vibrate everything loose, and tend to need adjusted every now and then. Nothing major, but if you have a gas bike, you had better know how to fix it.
Electric bikes are always clean. My gas bike usually has burnt 2-stroke oil all over the back wheel and frame. Cleaning that burnt oil off sucks.
The biggest problem with electric is batteries. Sealed lead acid batteries are very heavy. 55 pounds of batteries (48v 17Ah) will only get me about 21 miles, and then I have to recharge them for about 10 hours. Not very practical for scootering around all afternoon with friends. Sometimes we have put 40 miles or so on our gas bikes. Only being able to go 21 miles per charge is a pretty bad limitation. After that you are pedalling a bike with about 100 pounds of dead weight on it in the form of batteries, controller, and electric motor. Not fun.
A gas bike with less than 1/2 gallon of gas can outlast all but the most expensive electric bikes, and the gas bike will have full power the entire time. 1/2 gallon of gas weighs about 3 1/2 pounds, compared to 55 pounds of batteries to power the electric. The gas bike will climb any hill with ease and it will be capable of going full speed all day long. If you should need more gas that day, which is unlikely, you can refuel in a minute or two. The range is practically unlimited. The cost of gas is irrelevant when you are only burning a couple dollars worth for the entire day.
The advertised top speed of my electric motor was 24mph. Bulls**t. Mine goes 18mph when the batteries are fresh, and slows to around 15mph before they go dead. Most gas bike are in the 20-30 mph range. Like real, actual 20-30 mph.
NiMH, Li-Ion, Li-Po, and newer batteries are too expensive to be practical. You can build an entire new gas bike for about $300 ($180 for the motor and shipping, $120 for a new bike to put it on), while a 48v 13Ah NiMh battery pack will cost $460, and will eventually need replaced anyway. Bear in mind, that's only 13Ah, would give me less than 20 miles. If I was willing to spend more money, I could build an electric bike with Li-Po cells and it would be light and have awesome range and everything; or, for the same amount of money, I could build an entire fleet of gas bikes, all of which would perform better than the electric.
So the bottom line is that I would rather have an electric, but they aren't good enough to replace gas yet. I will be keeping my gas bike, thank you. It's the same as electric cars.
I want an electric that goes as fast as gas, weighs the same as gas, and drives as far as gas. Until then, electric will not be as good. It will be fun, just not as useful.