Ebike Revolution Underway

This is something that we in North America are quite blind to. The bicycle is the anchor to improved human mobility everywhere else and the advent of the electric version has enhanced that.

Improving battery technology has provided sufficient range for the ebike to be practical and you would not wish to travel further on a bicycle anyway.

Our human future will consist of ecars with ample range and all bicycles using the same advanced battery technology as the best ecars. There will then be no weight penalty. Rather obviously, there will then be little need to produce bicycles without the option. After all, do we really want to end our bicycle commute with an unassisted hill climb? Vigorous exercise has its time and place, but not every time and place.

And that is the real issue. Actual fitness sufficiency has held back broad adoption of the commuter bicycle. An ebike does allow you to make a commute and not break a sweat.

Since the product can now be delivered, the next step is to promote the ebike as a lifestyle choice in North America that appeals to all ages. Let us put a billion on the roads and let us rework our systems to support them.

Electric Bikes are triple the number of all other alternative fuel vehicles combined

APRIL 06, 2013

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/04/electric-bikes-are-triple-number-of-all.html

In China, more than 200 million electric bikes have been sold and account for the single largest adoption of alternative fuel vehicles in history.

In 2011,there were more than one billion cars and trucks in use in the world,compared with around 70 million alternative fuel and advanced technology vehiclesthat had been sold or converted worldwide as of December 2011.

* 27.1 million flexible-fuel vehicles mostly in Brazil

* 17.5 million LPG powered vehicles by December 2010

* 14.8 million natural gas vehicles by December 2011

* 5.7 million neat-ethanol only light-vehicles built in Brazil since 1979

* More than 5.2 million hybrid electric vehicles have been sold worldwide by the end of September 2012

* More than 530,000 plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) sold worldwide by December 2011

Carbon dioxide emissions for a Chinese e-bike are about one-tenth of what is emitted by a conventional electric car, when factoring in the electricity source needed to power the car's much larger batteries, according to research published recently by Cherry and colleague Shuguang Ji.

Adoption of electric bikes is strongest when there is more urban congestion, a lack of sufficient parking for cars and a cultural acceptance of two-wheeled vehicles as a viable form of daily transportation.

There will be about l of 25 million light duty NGVs on the road by 2019. Pike Research expects annual worldwide sales of pure electric, plug in hybrid and hybrid vehicles, collectively referred to as electric vehicles (EVs), will reach 3.8 million by 2020.\

There will be about 450 million electric bikes worldwide by 2020. Electric bikes need twenty to one hundred times less battery than electriccars.

Non-electric bicycles have about 130 million sales per year. However, the highest usage of non-electric bicycles for commuting are in places like the Netherlands where cities are made bicycle friendly and have 30% of all trips made by bicycle. Bicycles also dominate in less developed countries in Africa and Asia.

The UK has boosted commuter bicycling by 17% to 760,000 people. Bicycling is 2% of all trips in the UK. The US has about 1% of all trip using bicycles.

MARCH 26, 2013

Over 200 million electric bikes in China in 2013 and What to Look for in a $1000 E-bike

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/03/over-200-million-electric-bikes-in.html

People in China rode more than 180 million e-bikes (electric bikes) by the end of last year, up 36 percent since 2010, according to Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Average lead content in a two-wheel e-bike has dropped from about 13 kilograms (29 pounds) in 2010 to 11 kilograms last year, according to the Edinburgh-based researcher. There will be about 33 million electric bikes sold in China in 2013. China will have about 210 million electric bikes at then end of 2013.

Two- and three-wheeler e-bikes account for more than half of all lead consumption in China and about 20 percent of global demand, Huw Roberts, a founder of CHR Metals, said at a Metal Bulletin conference in Istanbul today. The nation used 4.63 million metric tons of refined lead last year, or 44 percent of global demand, Standard Bank Plc says. Batteries are the biggest use for the metal.

The worldwide market for e-bicycles is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% between 2012 and 2018, resulting in global sales of more than 47 million vehicles in 2018. China is anticipated to account for 42 million of these e-bicycles that year, giving it 89% of the total world market. The e-bicycle market is anticipated to generate $6.9 billion in worldwide revenue in 2012, growing to $11.9 billion in 2018. If the 10% forecast for 2013 electric bike growth holds then the world e-bike total could be on track to 51 million in 2018.

There are foldable e-bikes with 48volt lithium ion 1000 watt power with a range of 30 miles and a top speed of 36 mph (on a flat road).

What to Look for in a $1000 E-bike

If you go with a no name made in China bike you can get a decent lithium powered electric bike for the $1000-1200 range. The bie is cheap and dependable.

Ebay is loaded with such bikes. People in the US import 50 or so of them and then sell them from their garage. If all you want is a commuter bicycle, buying one of these is well work the risk.