Electric Bikes -N- Scooters Blog

Posts Tagged ‘e-bike batteries’

When you consider the slew of electric bike companies that are in the market today, you really have to appreciate the care and technological research that goes into building a unit.  Not too long ago, mainstream electric bicycle companies were a minority and there we few clear leaders.

One of the leaders in the new arena of e-bikes, was Currie Electric Bikes.   Predominantly, Currie had two distinct strains of bikes, the Izip and Ezip lines that were good, stable products in the market.  Today, Currie Technologies is clearly taking the lead in the production and sale of electric bikes and now, you can actually purchase these bikes directly from the company instead of going through a dealer.

Today, the Currie Electric Bike has evolved along with the company, and the Izip Express is a very good example of this.  This is a human assist e-bike (or an electric assist bike,  whichever way you would like  to look at it) that uses  the EVO Assist,  a high torque Currie electric bike motor.  Just to be clear, the electric motor assists you as you pedal, creating plenty of power as you do.  This feature allows you to bike with minimum effort.   This also includes climbing hills and tackling different types of slopes and headwinds as if it were very easy.    This is possible because the Evo Assist 2.0 is a 750 watt powerhouse that is fed electricity byway of a 36 Volt 8 Amp battery pack.

This powerful system will give you somewhere around 20 plus mile per hour speeds (32+ kilometers per hour) and a range of approximately 31 miles for a person that is under the recommended weight of 240 lbs. ( I wonder when they are going to make an electric bike for people over that weight!)

I think one of the cool things about the Currie Electric Bikes that are on the market today is that they have a device called a Cadence Sensor, which automatically detects human power and adjusts itself according to your needs.  So imagine you are starting to ride out of your driveway and your wife starts to chase you because you didn’t wash the dishes like she told you to.  No problem, just start pumping your legs and the EVO Assist on the bike will take you briskly to the bowling alley, adjusting to the amount of effort you put into the system.  (Not that this has ever happened to me.)  There is even a power boost built into the system to get you out of those real tight situations.

The Izip Express also carries other high quality features such as double wall alloy rims, stainless steel spokes, tires that are double shield puncture – protected, and a host of other high quality features too long to list here.

To find out more about the Izip Express and the entire line of high – quality Currie Electric Bikes, go to this link:

Currie Electric Bikes

One of the most important facets of electric scooters and ebikes is battery capacity.  Over the last 10 years there has been some brilliant advancement in the technology behind the batteries and their capacity.  The one thing that you must keep in mind with electric bikes is battery capacity, because it may take some time before technology can improve batteries to the point where they can compete with gas.  As I just said, battery capacity is the key.  The more efficient the entire system is the greater the distance and longer the charge will last you.

Now for some tips on how you can save energy and reduce the battery output of your electric bicycles charging system.

Here are several basic ways you can add power and recapture energy with your electric bicycle

1. Pedaling – There are some models of electric bicycles on the market that allow you to charge the batteries while pedaling.  The concept is pretty basic, as you pedal the e-bike the power is generated and sent back into the batteries.  Of course, this means that you will be pedaling and that while you are charging the pedaling may become harder because of the drag due to a heavier bike and the generator creates more drag as well.  However don’t despair, because if you get to a hill you can use the second method of generating electricity for your electric bicycle which is ….
2. Coasting – Some ebikes have systems that can recharge while you coast on an ebike. The downside to this method, however is that you can’t generate very much electricity using this method because you obviously need to climb a hill to be able to ride down it and generate the electricity and the amount of energy you will spend as well as the slope down will determine how much electricity is generated and stored into the batteries.
3. Regenerative Breaking – Now, believe it or not, one of the best methods of charging your batteries outside of plugging the darned thing into the wall is by regenerated breaking. Quite simply, this method stores electricity into your batteries by using the breaks.  Some of the electric powered cars of the 1990’s had this option, but since the electric car pretty much got squelched, some of the advancements in the technology got shelved and was not improved upon.  Once again, there is a downside to this system and that is you don’t normally ride on your breaks.  So, once again, there is a limited amount of energy that you will be able to create using this method.
4. Motor Generating-Last, but certainly not least, is the system of recapturing energy by doing so while the motor is running.  However, this method of generating electricity is in the experimental/ development phase right now.  Hopefully, by the end of the next decade we will have something like this to look forward to.  If it becomes a reality, then the electric bikes and scooters will be greatly enhanced and electric biking and electric scooter use will be something that will be very desirable in most households.

We have only to wait and look forward to the future!