E-BikeKit
Electric Bicyle Conversion Kit
E-Bike News
E-BikeKit Founder on Energy2Travel
Interviewed By Sandy Dhuyvetter
Travel Talk Media June 14, 2009 Segment 10
On the Streets of China, Electric Bikes Are Swarming
By Austin Ramzy / Beijing Friday, Jun. 12, 2009
A woman rides her electric bicycle past a residential block in Beijing, China
Andrew Wong / Getty Images
Of all the things that have changed in China over the past 30 years, transportation has undergone one of the most obvious of transformations. Where city streets once swarmed with bicycles, they are now full of automobiles. Cars clog intersection and expressways. Their exhaust clouds the sky and the air is full of the sound of horns. But zipping through the congestion is the vanguard of another transportation revolution: vehicles that use no gas, emit no exhaust and are so quiet they can surprise the unwary pedestrian.
In China, electric bicycles are leaving cars in the dust. Last year, Chinese bought 21 million e-bikes, compared with 9.4 million autos. While China now has about 25 million cars on the road, it has four times as many e-bikes. Thanks to government encouragement and a population well versed in riding two wheels to work, the country has become the world's leading market for the cheap, green vehicles, helping to offset some of the harmful effects of the country's automobile boom. Indeed, as engineers around the world scramble to create eco-friendly, plug-in electric cars, China is already ahead of the game. Says Frank Jamerson, a former GM engineer turned electric-vehicle analyst: "What's happening in China is sort of a clue to what the future will be."
Right now the future buzzes along at a sedate pace. Government regulations limit the top speed of e-bikes to about 12 mph. But manufacturers are building bigger and bigger machines with speed regulators that are easily removed. E-bikes that are basically pedal-powered machines with an electric boost are common in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but e-scooters with heavier motors and top speeds of around 30 mph, fast enough to rival mopeds, are growing in popularity.
The e-bike boom owes much to Chinese policy. The government made developing e-bikes an official technology goal in 1991. Major Chinese cities have extensive bicycle lanes, which means riders can avoid the worst of rush-hour congestion. In cities such as Shanghai, local governments have drastically raised licensing fees on gas-powered scooters in recent years, effectively driving hoards of consumers to e-bike manufacturers.
The relative simplicity of the machines and their components has encouraged a huge number of e-bike companies to open in China. In 2006 there were 2,700 licensed manufacturers, and countless additional smaller shops. Rising to the top of the heap is not easy. Leading manufacturer Xinri (the name means "new day") was founded in 1999 by Zhang Chongshun, an auto parts factory executive who recognized the potential of the field. In its first year Xinri built less than 1,000 bikes; last year it churned out 1.6 million.
Xinri's Zhang puts in thousands of miles on the road a year, visiting as many as six cities a day to investigate local market conditions. But ultimately what makes Xinri successful is that electric bikes have hit a sweet spot in the Chinese economy. As Chinese grow richer, they want more convenient means of transportation. But not everyone can afford a car. "Motorcycles are too dangerous, cars are too expensive, public transportation is too crowded and pedal bikes leave you too tired," says Hu Guang, Xinri's deputy general manager. "So people buy e-bikes."
The company's ads show Jackie Chan riding an e-bike alongside a model in a glamorous European capital. Reality is much more mundane. E-bikes are commonly used by migrant laborers who schlep across town from their quarters in the suburbs to work sites across town, with their drills and saws strapped to their bike racks. Police stations are often fronted by a row of blue and white patrol e-bikes. Delivery workers from McDonald's and KFC haul plastic cases stuffed with Big Macs and fried chicken to office parks. "At first, I picked an e-bike because I couldn't stand the sickening smell of gas from my scooter," says Zhang Dengming, 50, a construction supervisor in Shanghai. "But after a while, I realized that e-bikes are actually much safer than motorcycles, and better for the environment. Although e-bikes are generally slower than gas scooters, I find them fast enough for my daily commutes. Their price, which is typically just over 2,000 renminbi ($290) is also more acceptable, so I don't feel as bad when they get stolen."
Last year Chinese bought about 90% of the 23 million e-bikes sold worldwide. Experts say that next regions to likely embrace e-bikes are Southeast Asia, where gas-powered scooters are popular, and India, where rising incomes mean personal transportation is starting to be in reach of hundreds of millions. Japan has seen steady annual sales of about 300,000 for several years, and in the cycle-crazy Netherlands e-bikes are beginning to take off. In the U.S., where bikes are still overwhelmingly used for recreation rather than transportation, e-bike sales are expected to break 200,000 this year, or about 1% of China's sales.
E-bikes weren't always so popular on the mainland. Early models were even slower than today's; range was limited and batteries died in less than a year. Now they can travel as far as 100 km on a full charge, more than enough for a day's riding. But batteries remain the weak point. Most e-bikes rely on lead-acid batteries, cheap century-old technology unsuitable for the growing demands of daily commuting. "The battery is the key limiting factor," says Jonathan Weinert, a transportation expert who wrote his doctoral dissertation on electric bikes in China.
While lead-acid batteries are improving, Weinart says that electric bikes will create a larger market for lithium-ion batteries — a newer, lighter technology whose development is key for the future of electric vehicles. Already Giant, the world's largest manufacturer of pedal bicycles but a small player in the Chinese e-bike market, has made headway in northern Europe selling high-end e-bikes that use lith-ion batteries. "To the extent that the electric bike industry can help get battery costs down, test the technology and get it in the market, that may lead" the development of electric vehicles with more than two wheels, Weinert says.
Chinese market leaders like Xinri and Yadea have partnered with top schools like Tsinghua and Peking universities to improve battery technology. And like a slew of other Chinese companies, some e-bike makers are already working on electric cars. Yadea plans to create electric cars for special uses such as shuttling sightseers at tourist destinations. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Xinri provided e-bikes and an electric car for use by police at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Electric cars will require more powerful recharging stations than the standard wall outlets used to juice up bikes. But when four-wheeled technology becomes road-ready, it will find a willing customer base in China. "The Chinese have a hundred million people on electric bikes," says Jamerson. "That means a hundred million potential customers" for electric cars. When he worked at GM, which filed for bankruptcy on June 1, Jamerson said he once suggested the company give away an electric bike with every new car, just to get customers used to the idea of a means of transportation you plug in every night. His bosses thought he was joking. When the electric revolution final comes, China's e-bike makers could have the last laugh.
—with reporting by Jessie Jiang/Beijing and Natalie Tso/Taipei
Best Buy Offering E-Bikes; Look before Buying
E-BikeKit Dealer Doug Daut of Fairfield, CA comments on
Best Buy's decision to offer electeric bikes
6/5/2009 10:22:33 PM
Best Buy is beginning to offer Curry Electric Bicycles. This should say a lot about how quickly this technology will move into the main stream and I am glad they are promoting them. However, it is important to look closely at what is being purchased. Most notably the battery, the critical component of an electric bike, is marginal at best for the bikes they are offering. Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) technology does not provide the long lasting durability and power of a more modern lithium iron phosphate battery (LifePO4). Combine the SLA battery with just a 24 volt output and this will leave the buyer wondering if that is all there is! They do offer a 24 volt lithium battery in a much more expensive bike ($1899). This is much better than the SLA technology, but again, the 24 volt output will just leave one wanting. Make sure to test drive and price a 36 volt LifePO4 battery, 500 watt motor, electric bicycle/kit before jumping in...you will be glad you did! CLICK HERE TO READ DOUG DAUT'S INFORMATIVE E-BIKE BLOG
Save money, save the planet
E-BikeKit.com Dealer makes the local news!
By Amy Maginnis-Honey | Daily Republic | May 22, 2009 08:27
Doug Daut and his wife, Marty, pose with their two electric bicycles in front of their Fairfield home. The bikes have allowed the couple to get rid of one of their cars.
Photo by Brad Zweerink
FAIRFIELD - For Fairfield's Daut family going green has been a win-win situation. They are saving money while helping save the environment.
After reading American Automobile Association statistics that Americans spent more than $8,000 driving a medium-size sedan 15,000 miles last year, they eliminated one of the family's three cars. Now, Doug Daut uses an electric bicycle and public transportation to get around. 'The bike basically paid for itself in the first month (no insurance, registration, gas, payments, etc.),' he wrote in an e-mail to the newspaper. 'It's fun to ride, and I still can peddle and get exercise as desired.' After receiving many comments on it, he decided to get a home business license and sell and install electric kits on existing bikes.
The family has also significantly reduced using the clothes dryer. 'It costs nearly 50 cents a load to dry clothes' Daut said. 'It could even be more when you consider it is taking us into PG&E's second and third tier of kilowatt per hour pricing.' So, with some spare items that were laying around the shed, he created a closet-type hanger system from hooks in the ceiling of the family's garage. Clothes get hung up there after washing and then tossed in the dryer for 5 to 10 minutes to fluff them up. Anybody in the house that doesn't want to hang up their clothes first has to deposit 50 cents in a cup above the dryer when they use it. This is saving $35-plus per month. For more ideas on saving money, Daut suggested readers visit the PG&E Web site at www.pge.com, which offers alternatives and posts the cost of things.
The dryer, he added, is an easy place to start. 'There are ways (around using it),' Daut said. 'There's not always ways around using other things.' 'I'd love to do more,' he added. 'The whole solar thing, wind energy, especially living in Cordelia Villages. It would be nice to harness that. But that technology is unreachable for the average person, especially in urban areas.'
The family, Daut said, are big fans of going green. 'You have to start somewhere,' he said!
Shirley Osborne, also of Fairfield, has created her own faux compost bins, catches water from her leaky faucet and takes the train and bus to work even though it's about double the time of driving.
'I recycle everything, I cash in my cans,' she said in an e-mail. 'I rarely water my back lawn and have a drip for my roses. 'I run through the sprinklers instead of using the air conditioner and save my baking and laundry for night. I have a push lawn mower,' she added.
Eva Rivera and her family started off by switching to low-energy bulbs, a low-flow shower head and using shower towels more than once before putting them in the laundry. The Fairfield resident also created a recycling center in her home's laundry room. 'This was actually easy to get the family on board with, because everything goes in one location,' she wrote. 'The bottles and cans are taken to our local recycling center. The deal is that whoever takes (the recycling) in gets to keep the money. It usually totals anywhere from $40 to $80.' The family has also put the sprinklers on timers and uses solar lighting outside the house. 'Our next purchases will be a composter for the back yard and a rain barrel that collects water from the gutter drain for watering plants,' Rivera said. 'My dream is to someday get a solar roof.'
Go Green!
Electric Avenue
IS IT FINALLY TIME TO STOP HATING ON E-BKES?
By Ian Dille
Bicycling Magazine May, 2009 Issue Page 23
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Modern Electric Bikes Are Here!
But They Ain't Cheap
(Compare the cost of these WIRED reviewed electric bikes with conversion)
WIRED Magazine March, 2009 Issue
Jackson Lynch
Commuters beat the high price of gas with hybrid electric bikes
By John Lehndorff, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 14, 2008 at 3 p.m.
At the beginning of the summer, John McLinden had a problem. Actually, make that two or three problems.
The 59-year-old Denver resident wanted to get some exercise.
He was annoyed at high gas prices.
He was also committed to finding a greener way to commute six miles to work as a plumbing-inspection supervisor at Denver Wastewater.
However, the obvious solution - riding a bicycle - was out of the question.>>>Read More>>>
Electric Bikes Remove Strain Of Riding
August 25, 2008
The Whole World’s Hopping on Electric Bikes
Monday, 18 August 2008
Jaymi Heimbuch
E-Bikes, Soon Everyone will be Riding One!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Joel Hood Tribune reporter
Riders say 'e-bikes' give them extra spark
Dave Kennedy is part of a two-wheeled revolution. Or so it seems some days.
Fed up with $4 gas, the war in Iraq, America's automotive obsession and the seeming reluctance of leaders to fully embrace alternative energy, Kennedy bought an electric-powered bicycle for his 2-mile commute to and from work in Tinley Park. And if it were up to him, he'd probably never step on a gas pedal again.
Whether their reasons are financial, political or both, Kennedy and others are at the forefront of a new era in two-wheeled transportation: the "e-bike." Widely used in Europe and parts of Asia for a decade, battery-powered bicycles have found a home in America.
It's a trend that has some in the industry thinking big.
While some cycling purists might be turned off by the notion of battery-assisted riding and others by the cost—starting at about $2,000—the e-bike's fans say they're practical, fun to ride and make it easier for non-cyclists to leave their cars in the garage.
"You don't know how great it feels to be able to hop on a bicycle and ride it to work," Kennedy said. "It's total freedom."
Yes, those statements could be said of a traditional pedal-power bicycle. But at 50, and admittedly heavyset, Kennedy is typical of a lot of e-bike customers in that he didn't want his physical limitations to dampen his enthusiasm for riding and for the outdoors.
The Schwinn model he owns looks like a typical recreational bike but is powered by a slim lithium-ion battery that fits on the rear-mounted rack above the back wheel. The battery, which can be fully charged within three hours at home or work, powers a small motor inside the front-wheel hub. Riders engage the motor by pedaling but must continue pedaling, even slowly, to keep the motor running. That's an important distinction that makes e-bikes different from scooters or mopeds, which are not allowed in bike lanes.
The motor makes the rider's legs feel supercharged; it takes the slightest effort to breeze past joggers and other cyclists. It's an unfamiliar sensation at first, but soon the rider settles in to enjoy the ride. The motor shuts off the instant the rider taps the brakes.
But most riders can pedal without motor assistance, which increases the range, said Brian Poncin, owner of My Bike in Tinley Park, the top selling dealer for Schwinn e-bikes in the country. "We liked the technology from the beginning, and so we committed heavily to these early," he said. "We didn't know gas would do what it did. That's been a bonus."
Schwinn, based in Madison, Wis., had sold electric bicycles in Europe for nearly a decade before it rolled out a limited number of the bikes here last year. Schwinn declined to release overseas numbers, but Giant alone has sold 15,000 e-bikes in Europe.
"We're in our 50s now, and we wanted to remain active and outdoors," said Frankfort resident Joe Popik, who recently bought an e-bike after falling in love with the one his wife, Margorie, bought last year. "I've ridden bicycles all my life. But now, if we go on a long ride, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to get back."
The Popiks frequent the network of paved bike trails that wind through the south suburbs. They also use the e-bikes to run errands around town and have taken them along on trips.
"My first thought was, 'Man, these bikes are expensive,' " Joe Popik said. "But after riding one, I just thought it was great. These things are really going to take off."
