Ebike Motors: A Political and Historical View

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Ebike Motors: A Political and Historical View

This thread is to be an attempt to record the highlights of ebike motor selection and development over the last few years including the political (legal) aspects that they introduce. The goal is to try to make some sense of the divergent views that exist and hopefully either accept our differences or create a group consensus about what people think should happen in the future.

Caution: Just because there is a historical angle on this thread do NOT feel free to make it a place to flame away. We are still bound by the rules of infractions so keep it civil at all times.

 

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Europe Leads The Way

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge the first ebike laws were passed in Europe and most of those laws required that the maximum power output of an ebike was to be limited to 250 watts. Some places even went lower and dropped it to 200 watts and in some cases you had to pedal to make the machine operate. (pedal first)

 

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America Declares It's Independence

As is pretty typical for America, the Federal Law that applies to the manufacture of an ebike sets a limit of 750 watts of output power which is three times the limit that Europe is granted.

 

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Hub Motor vs Fixed Gear Bike Attached Motor

The next level of controversy was whether to place the motor in the hub of the wheel or to connect it separately with a chain or belt. The power limitations still applied (250 watt or 750 watt) but the weight was located differently. Currie drives were motors that were stuck off the back and side of the bike and these were common as WalMart ebikes.

Hub motors came in either low budget or high priced models.

 

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Big Power

One of the natural things to take place is that people would find ways of tricking out their rides with motors that significantly exceeded the laws. Big Power has become a new "arms race" where more and more power is being chased after.

Preferred options for "Big Power" are:

The original "Big Iron" the Crystalyte hub motors can be overvolted and can produce lot's of power.

Motors that are normally used for electric motorcycles like the PMG132 or the Etek can be strapped to an ebike and deliver a powerful ride.

The latest and most sophisticated example of "Big Power" is the use of RC brushless motors (sometimes in pairs) to deliver very high power levels while keeping the weight very low.

 

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Multiple Speed Gearing

Running in parallel to the concept of "Big Power" is the idea of using the natural gearing that many multispeed bikes already possess to apply the power. Examples of this include the Optibike and the Cyclone motor kits.

These ebikes can often still sneak under the radar of legal ebikes since their power ratings are still low near the 750 watt range most of the time. The extra gearing allows permanent magnet motors to gain better efficiency because you can select the right gear for the load you are dealing with.

 

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The Future

The future is yet to be written. (or discussed)

My own personal "advocacy" is to somehow try to unify all the ebikes under one single power limit (1000 watts input and 750 watts output "on average") and to eventually develop ebike motors so that they will work optimally under this somewhat arbitrary rule. There is no innate reason to pick 1000 watts of input power except that it's a nice round number that fits well with the existing 750 watt (output) law in America.

I know it's hard for people that want a sort of "ebike anarchy" to exist to accept the idea of limits... it's like with children being told they can't do something, so that's the thing they want to do the most just to be defiant.

Anyway... I'd be glad to discuss the wisdom of this train of thought with fellow ebikers if anyone is interested. The reason I started this thread is so that I can keep the political discussions out of my technical threads.

 

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All power assist bikes are illegal in Hawaii. Makes no sense

 

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That's what I'm afraid of with the "arms race" of ebike power. All it will take is one death or serious injury on an ebike with excessive power and the law will come crashing down on ebikes in general.

I've been pondering a metaphor...

Ebikes should be thought of as like sailboats... you are allowed a moderate level of power, but you need to use it wisely.

Emotorcycles should be thought of like motorboats in that they are the ones with unlimited power at their disposal.

...we need to (collectively) seek peak performance, but within a constrained power environment.

Sailing is about catching very subtle advantages in wind and directional control and this is the same kind of mindset that should apply to ebikes.

 

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You are just as illegal as I am any way you look at it. Also, you completely ignored my comment about the fact that you call much more attention to yourself going very fast than I do running a modest speed with a huge amount of power still on tap if I want it. My trike is a sleeper. Your "Bikes" are the reverse. They look fast just sitting there. Looking fast is cool. But, that calls attention to you. You are NOT going 50mph on 750 watts. You are using almost twice that and you know it. You are illegal also, period, end of story.

Also, I never said anything about going down hill.

Lastly, you still do not get the fact that VERY few people have any interest in road racing e-bikes. In fact, when comparing our two vehicles, you are the one who should go with a motorcycle. If anything, I would be looking at a go-kart.

Matt

Okay... you have to separate my old bike and my new bike. The old bike is illegal outside of Missouri, but fully legal here. And my riding behavior is sometimes illegal, but that's a separate issue than the question of legal ebikes.

Speed is an issue... ideally I'd prefer to build a bike with some kind of speed limiter built in that people could remove and violate the law themselves.

The main point about laws is that "I" don't break them. If other break them that's their problem.