Where do your recharges come from?
05-15-20, 12:05 PM
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Where do your recharges come from?
I just wondered if you know from where your electricity comes? Ours comes from hydroelectric and coal fired plants. If I'm saving on the environment how is that? My power is generated somewhere? I would like to set up a generating source like solar/wind for a battery set in the basement. My solar panels would make use of rare earth and I always thought that oil and rare earth were some compelling reasons for being in Afghanistan. So is charging our electric bikes a saving on the environment??? Be Well, Bluesfrog.
05-15-20, 02:14 PM
#2
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Charging my ebike draws about 250W for 5 hours = 1.25KW, and costs about $ 0.16. I doubt that has any signifcant effect on the environment but it sure helps my old knees!
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05-15-20, 02:16 PM
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Where I live ...Illinois ... electricity is
30% Coal
54% Nuclear
7% Natural Gas
10% Wind
It cost about 13 cents for 1000WH. here.
We have ridden our ebikes 1012 miles this year, and average 8.8 WH/mile, so we've used 9000WH. That's $1.17 USD. Add utility taxes, service fees, and we'll call it 5 dollars.
It's not worth the $500 for me to buy a solar panel setup, unless civilization were to collapse.
30% Coal
54% Nuclear
7% Natural Gas
10% Wind
It cost about 13 cents for 1000WH. here.
We have ridden our ebikes 1012 miles this year, and average 8.8 WH/mile, so we've used 9000WH. That's $1.17 USD. Add utility taxes, service fees, and we'll call it 5 dollars.
It's not worth the $500 for me to buy a solar panel setup, unless civilization were to collapse.
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05-17-20, 09:44 AM
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Where I live we have the option of fossil fuel free electricity from renewal resources; it adds a tiny bit extra to the bill each month. I do that and would do it regardless of using an e-bike. My great-grandfather died from black lung from working in coal.
05-17-20, 05:29 PM
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I suspect that a lot of the power, where I am, is wind-generated. However, when touring, solar is the way I charge.
I am working on another generation of my solar tour bike. It is nowhere near done yet.
I am working on another generation of my solar tour bike. It is nowhere near done yet.
05-18-20, 12:37 PM
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Well that's a good question. I use 2 panels at 100 watts each and this recharges my ebike in about 4-5 hrs (14 Ah battery at 36 volts - 504 Wh) so this begs a question. Was it cost effective? Never. It costs me about $900 (CAN) to setup this system and maybe 6 cents worth of home electricity to charge the battery. But if the power ever goes down, I have the ability to do more than just charge a battery for transportation. I can run my internet (if this doesn't go down with a city wide power failure), I can charge my cell phone, I can charge my other devices such as tablets and run a computer. So it was constructed with this in mind as well. BTW Vancouver area is hydro electric.
05-22-20, 04:16 PM
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Robert C could you start a thread on your build? You know, the parts list, methods of assembly, things you have solved, and things to be solved. Thanks and Be Well, Bluesfrog.
05-22-20, 04:21 PM
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I started this just to make the vegan, global warming nimrods start to think. We really haven't figured out how to hear the screams of the vegetables as their bodies are ripped apart just so the vegans can taste the bodies of countless vegetables. And if it is bad to eat meat why are animals made of it??? Rhetorically speaking of course. Be Well, Bluesfrog.
05-31-20, 04:34 PM
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I just wondered if you know from where your electricity comes? Ours comes from hydroelectric and coal fired plants. If I'm saving on the environment how is that? My power is generated somewhere? I would like to set up a generating source like solar/wind for a battery set in the basement. My solar panels would make use of rare earth and I always thought that oil and rare earth were some compelling reasons for being in Afghanistan. So is charging our electric bikes a saving on the environment??? Be Well, Bluesfrog.
06-04-20, 02:21 PM
#12
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Electric motors are much more efficient than gas powered engines so you are helping out in that sense.
I think I read a gas engine(in a car) loses 70 percent of it's energy as heat and an electric is close to 100 percent efficient.
Another stat I saw somewhere, maybe this site, is that in a car 85 percent of the energy goes towards moving the car. With a bike it is reverse, 85 percent goes towards moving the passenger.
I think I read a gas engine(in a car) loses 70 percent of it's energy as heat and an electric is close to 100 percent efficient.
Another stat I saw somewhere, maybe this site, is that in a car 85 percent of the energy goes towards moving the car. With a bike it is reverse, 85 percent goes towards moving the passenger.
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06-06-20, 10:54 PM
#13
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I just wondered if you know from where your electricity comes? Ours comes from hydroelectric and coal fired plants. If I'm saving on the environment how is that? My power is generated somewhere? I would like to set up a generating source like solar/wind for a battery set in the basement. My solar panels would make use of rare earth and I always thought that oil and rare earth were some compelling reasons for being in Afghanistan. So is charging our electric bikes a saving on the environment??? Be Well, Bluesfrog.
I have it purely for enjoyment and running local errands (I dont even own a car....my wife does).
FYI I actually do charge mine from a solar charge station that is attached to the south side of my house,
The panel materials are 90% silicon substrates (Si is the 2nd most abundant element on earth). 5% aluminum (way up there as well), glass, and some copper.
Not a lick of rare earths are used in most panels.
Last edited by pullings; 06-06-20 at 11:00 PM.
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