Electric
On a recent trip to mainland China I spent most of my time in a city called Hangzhou. The population of this beautiful city is somewhere around 3 million souls. A lot of Chinese people rely on the bicycle for transport as well as scooters. Chinese cities are very congested like their Euro counterparts so two wheeled transport makes sense on pretty much every level (except perhaps safety). But in China there is one difference that is glaringly obvious. Although the roads are packed, and I do mean packed with scooter pilots, the streets are quiet. The reason for this? It’s because 99% of the scooters are electric. It’s quite surreal. It appears to the foreigner like a movie missing a quintessential piece of the sound track. Now here’s another interesting statistic, around a third of all Chinese bicycles are also electric mopeds or have electric assist. I’ve also witnessed this phenomenon in Japan where e-bikes and scooters are ubiquitous.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1904334,00.html?iid=digg_share
This is all very interesting to me because I ride an electric bike and it’s made in China.
Giant Lite with Extracycle extension
I originally built this bike as a camera car. I was shooting the Marathon de Medoc in Bordeaux and wanted to shoot the host of my show in amongst the marathon runners. This is strictly forbidden for motor vehicles but my production manager talked the race organizers into allowing a bicycle on the course. So I built this Giant electric with an Xtracycle back end. The bike carried a rider, myself and all of our camera and sound gear for the whole marathon, just under 400 pounds or 200kg. I was sold. When i returned home with the bike it pretty much replaced my car and keep in mind that I live in Los Angeles. My Giant with two batteries has a range of about 60miles and a top (assisted) speed of about 28mph. It can easily carry two people and a weeks worth of groceries. The bike all in cost me around 2,500 USD. Of course the bike uses a bit of generated energy but according to what I’ve read (sorry no footnotes) it works out to over 800 mpg. If you are really industrious you could invest another $600 in a rooftop solar kit and your bike would be completely off the grid.
I find it kind of astounding that the electric bike or electric scooters haven’t become popular in North America. I think it’s partially due to the fact that electric vehicles are not considered to be a practical form of transportation here. An affordable electric car is definitely a ways off (unless you have 90k burning a hole in your pocket to buy a Tesla Roadster…drool). But here’s the thing, electric bike technology is totally capable of providing us with low cost zero emission transport right now. Especially for those of us who live in warmer climates. The only thing that’s really holding back the manufactures of e-bikes are the laws governing the bikes themselves. Most countries require that the top speed of any assisted bicycle be around 17-19mph. I think that’s ridiculous considering the fact that anyone in reasonably good shape can pedal a normal road bike a lot faster than that. Now, I’m not suggesting that legislation should allow unlicensed e-bikes an unlimited top speed, but something closer to 30 mph would be more reasonable and way more practical. That’s about as fast as your average rider would want to go on a bike anyway and is a totally reasonable speed for urban transport. Fortunately there are ways around these limitations and that’s what this article is about. Hacking the electric bike!
Disclaimer:
O.K. This is the part where I need to cover my ass. During the course of this article I may be giving you advice that would allow you to make or build your e-bike in such a way that it may go faster than your local laws allow. If you do this and have some kind of horrifying accident where you are dismembered, maimed or in anyway injured. Don’t come crying to me. Also if you are not completely comfortable on a normal bicycle, I would not recommend going this route first. Buy a nice slow stock e bike and ride it until you’re really ready to speed things up a bit.
The important thing to understand is that any bike can be made electric and it’s not a difficult process if you are using a ready made kit. I would argue that an e-bike that you construct for yourself will not only be a far superior ride in terms of stability and speed, but way cooler. Off the rack e-bikes are dork-mobiles for the most part, and those that aren’t are far too expensive for the level of performance they deliver.
O.K. Step one HACKING THE GIANT LITE
The Giant Lite was by far the best e bike built in it’s time. It still stands up pretty well next to what’s out there right now. Granted the motor at 350 watts is a bit underpowered but on the whole it’s one of the lightest and most efficient off the rack bikes that has ever been made. You can still find new ones on line and they usually about USD $1000. Which is a STEAL compared to other off the rack e-bikes bike out their today.
If you’re going to try a mod like mine try to find a step through model. The step through makes more sense if your going to extend the back end and make it a two seater. Throwing your leg over the back of a bike that’s 7 feet long isn’t so easy. Also I think the step through model is easier to find.
If you are truly in need of step by step advice on how to covert a Giant Lite to a faster viable urban transporter then send me an email and I’ll send you detailed instructions. I’m not going to post them here. I’ve had great success with this bike but I think there are better and cheaper alternatives that have developed since I built it. There are some links to said alternatives at the end of this article.
Batteries:
The Giant uses NiMh batteries and like all rechargeables, they have a finite life-span. The good news is they are easy and inexpensive to refurbish. The even better news is that when you refurbish your batteries you can buy new ones that have a higher storage capacity and will give you more range. The process of upgrading your batteries is called re-celling them. You can buy the kits on-line. The original battery packs for the Giant are around $400. The re-cell kits are half that price.
For any other kit avoid old school led acid batteries. They are cheap, but can’t be recycled and have a very poor power to weight ratio. There is a good on-line distributor for battery tech:
http://www.batteryspace.com/?SSAID=297581
I’m currently investigating LifePO4 batteries as the power source for my next bike. Lithium seems to be the way to go now.
Currently I think the best and also the easiest option is to go with a high output hub motor combined with some advanced battery technology. Just make sure you match the battery voltage to the motor your are powering. Most e-bike systems are either 24 or 36 volt technology. Hub motors can be configured to drive either the front or rear wheel and can be fitted to pretty much any standard bike.
http://www.falconev.com/E-Bikes.html
http://www.wildernessenergy.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1
For an in-depth DIY concept and overview
http://www.electricycle.com/ebike2.htm
Marked as: Governmental Policies • Introspection • Science • Societal Policies • Technology — 7 comments (RSS)
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I am anxious to be making one of these with my next tax return, that is if inflation doesnt rise by %400. (as said by Glenn Beck on Fox News) Either way I will still be making one.
I tend not to pay much attention to the news, but if what is true about this whole ‘Global Treaty’ to be considered in 3-5 weeks, then it would a smart time start to consider more ‘underground’ solutions to the way society normally does things.
My Goal for the next few years, depending on resources; to be building a self sustainable house off the grid. DIY or DIE.
Please send me the step by step advice to increase the speed as I am a new owner of a “Giant Lite” and as you mention its a bit slow.
Not sure how long ago this post is from… I am NOT a techie, but do own the Giant Lite. I love the bike, but now have a battery whose life is over! I am anxious to get a new one, but don’t want to spend $400 to get one from Giant. The link you included to the battery site looks promising, but it is not clear to me which battery to buy and whether a non-techie could complete the replacement. Can you help? David
Hi, I have been looking all over for a post like yours regarding the Giant Lite. I am about to purchase one at a great price but I am sure I will need a new battery soon. Could you send me the guide to re-cell the bike with higher capacity batteries and also how to increase the speed. This is my first foray into e-bikes and after a long search for something someone needs to get rid of the Giant Lite. I am excited to start of with a classic, from what I hear and read. Thanks for your help.
Hi, I have been looking all over for a post like yours regarding the Giant Lite. I am about to purchase one at a great price but I am sure I will need a new battery soon. Could you send me the guide to re-cell the bike with higher capacity batteries and also how to increase the speed. This is my first foray into e-bikes and after a long search for something someone needs to get rid of the Giant Lite. I am excited to start of with a classic, from what I hear and read. Thanks for your help. Dave
Here’s a article regarding the Giant Lite and how to replace the battery core. It’s really not that complicated and can be accomplished in under an hour.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/flecc/
Thanks for the link. More Ah means more power (6.4 Ah to 8Ah)? Does that translate to speed or just battery range? How high Ah can I go? Also, any way to increase speed?
Thanks,
Dave