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Actually, Electric Motorcycles May Be The Way To Go

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#21 Quartermaster

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Posted 03 September 2016 - 07:38 pm

Quietness - fine by me (many of us are too loud). 144 torque - just what I want (more useful in this crowded and restricted island). Clean air from my activity is good. Weight not so good. But range - no good for me. Battery life is a big issue for me (and does the world have enough metals for everyone?) Finally, do I want to live near one of the new power stations that would be needed?

I think this is the crux of the matter isn't it? I don't know what the power requirements would be if the entire nation switched from fossil fuels to electrically powered devices but I doubt it would be deliverable. Remember that we are going into a Winter this year where doubts have been expressed as the whether the power companies can "keep the lights on" if we have a particularly harsh and sustained period of cold weather. Successive governments have put off the commitment to nuclear energy, the game of pass the parcel springs to mind.


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#22 Quartermaster

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Posted 03 September 2016 - 07:44 pm

By the way, if you live in the West Midlands then Streetbike of Halesowen are the Zero dealers and it was their demonstrator that I was riding. If you give Jason a ring I'm sure he will let you have a test ride.


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#23 Gowza

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Posted 03 September 2016 - 07:51 pm

For those that like looking at their dials...

 

www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk


Edited by Gowza, 03 September 2016 - 07:51 pm.

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#24 Gowza

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Posted 03 September 2016 - 08:17 pm

 

But also a key role is surely for off road "trail" bikes. This would help address walkers and farmers/residents complaints about noisy motor bikes in an unspoiled landscape.

 

 

Sadly most of the BOATs and RUPPs are already closed or have restrictions on them as it's cheaper for councils to stop all vehicle use than pay for maintenance - something they're obliged/meant to do on all legal carriageways. 

 

Mentioned EV's to someone who works in F1 - apparently the teams spend millions on battery technology, KERs etc and dump the batteries down a mineshaft after each race as they're no use and can't be recycled...! 


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#25 Robodene

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Posted 04 September 2016 - 03:59 pm

If you ask the question in Google: 'how many more power stations would be needed if we all drove electric cars?', you get an answer from 'Quora' for the US petrol cars (most of them). Its 29% more. How's that going to come about here (and where)? And this would bring 8% less CO2 emissions (if I've understood it all). There could be endless arguments about the detail but as a rough indicator I'd say don't bovver. Try to keep cleaning the IC engine outputs instead perhaps?

 

(Could not copy and paste the link maybe cos its an https string)


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#26 dandywarhol

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Posted 04 September 2016 - 10:00 pm

I like the concept but have a look at Autotrader for the price of a used Nissan Leaf, £5000 for one only 3 years old and £25,000 new  :sorry:

 

A Honda Insight hybrid has a 7 year guarantee on it's battery, so expect around 8/9 years from the battery - an new battery is £8000 - the car is a write off! There are a lot of 9 year old cars going around with plenty life left in them.

 

There's a long way to go yet - don't get me wrong, I like electric and like driving the Leaf - I just wouldn't buy one. The battery for my Giant (yeah, yeah, I know, it's an oxymoron) is £300 - bike is scrap when it goes phut.


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#27 Bjørge

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Posted 05 September 2016 - 06:02 am

Ultimately once the range of these things becomes more realistic, it'll be the powers that be that'll decide their future, not us. Just as they've pretty much done with 2 strokes. Look at Norway, it has the highest EV ownership per capita as environmental tax breaks make it more economical to own a Tesla (other EV's are available...) than a combustion engine vehicle. True Bjorge? 

 

Very true ! To a point that it almost feels like some sort of corruption:

- No payment in tollboths

- No road tax

- No VAT

- No import toll on vehicle (a new MT-09 costs £15,000 over here)

- May use the bus lane (some restrictions have come up lately)

- Some intown free parking lots with free! leccy outlet for charging

 

...while most experts say that electric cars don't save the climate (an extra kWh is produced with coal) nor are a good solution to city transportation....


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#28 fixitsan

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Posted 05 September 2016 - 09:56 am

Electric bikes feel great to ride, they're most suited to local trips and don't need to be slow.

 

The aim with my electric build is to get to Edinburgh and back on one charge.

 

Regarding charging, night time charging is the way to go  and the grid has enough supply capacity if everyone switched over tomorrow, .....but the future projected model is that not every car needs a full recharge every night, and therefore programmed charging slots could suit future expansion too.

 

 

Typical UK peak demand, during the day (mostly industrial demand) = 45GW

Typical UK demand during the night = 18GW

 

Easily a lot of free capacity during the night. Pumped hydro stations might need some revisions about how the operate though

 

 

Raw National Grid data here  http://www2.national...t.aspx?id=33512

 

(I modeled the issue at Uni as part of my degree, I have mountains of data if anyone wants it)

 

 

 

Battery recycling is an ongoing issue, and the latest 'flow cell' technology means we could end up using a liquid fuel once again, by replacing the electrolyte to get 300+ miles range, in a matter of minutes.

 

The Tesla Gigafactory is under construction, and is going to be the world's largest factory and the most complete battery factory ever built ....raw lithium ore in one end and batteries out of the other.

 

 

I personally don't get completely behind the manmade global warming issue yet, and anyone who criticises me for taking that position is brainwashed and has no data to back up what they argue ;)

 

 

This weekend I freed up my electric bike from the mountain of junk in the garage and intend to finish it soon, it hasn't moved on much from here....

 


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#29 Quartermaster

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Posted 05 September 2016 - 03:04 pm

That's an impressive machine Fixit. Could you tell us a little more about it?


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#30 dandywarhol

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Posted 05 September 2016 - 03:55 pm

Haaaa - love it fixxy  :badgerrock:


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#31 fixitsan

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Posted 05 September 2016 - 04:16 pm

That's an impressive machine Fixit. Could you tell us a little more about it?

 

 

It's an old fz600 i bought from Kyle of Localsh (was an ex track bike)...bought for £50....  sold the engine for £100,  exhaust and carbs for another £100 !

 

The motor is from a golf cart, designed for full duty at 36V-48V, estimated at 3kW (about 4HP)  fed with upto 80V (the brushes just start to arc at maximum load)......full load peak power is over 30HP now, and so much toarque that the front sprocket sheared the motor spindle woodruff key !

 

I've had to go up to a 72 tooth rear sprocket to put less load on the motor/key !

 

The speed controller is an old SCR unit from an ancient forklift or pallet truck, limited to 300Amps

 

Batteries are 'second life', ex laptop batteries, taken from battery packs which were thought to be dead, but actually only contain one or two dead cells per pack.....I've got nearly 900 batteries in total, they're assembled like this.....

 

 

 

 

I can get it road legal as far as DVLA is concerned, quite easily......, the problem will be the insurance company needs an engineers report and I'm not allowed to write my own......  it needs a teardown and rewire to get it roadworthy, everything is just 'first build' at the moment.

 

It's been in the making for far too long now and I was tempted to sell it, but after clearing my garage out it's going to be much easier to work on


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#32 Bjørge

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Posted 06 September 2016 - 07:06 am

 

Isn't it typical that you use km/h to make top speed figure look better :-)


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#33 fixitsan

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Posted 06 September 2016 - 07:26 am

Isn't it typical that you use km/h to make top speed figure look better :-)


Hehehe if only kmh really were quicker than mph, eh ?

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#34 Bjørge

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Posted 06 September 2016 - 09:24 am

Really impressive work, I must say ! Even if top speed is 41mph  :pimp:


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#35 fixitsan

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Posted 06 September 2016 - 10:11 pm

Tedious work in fact !   I think i need to change over to an AC motor drivetrain to get higher speed and better efficiency if I'm honest


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#36 Bjørge

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Posted 07 September 2016 - 07:14 am

Tedious work in fact !

 

That was what impressed me ! Great stamina ! 


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#37 fixitsan

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Posted 14 October 2016 - 08:39 pm

Might help a bit  http://www.mslmagazi...ment-subsidies/


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