on Oct 10th, 2008Interbike Expo - eBikes
Las Vegas, NV - Frankly, the phenomena of the electric bike, or so-called eBike hybrid because it can be ridden in either motor-assist mode or as a conventional bike, is completely lost on me [then again, as a bike snob the idea of the traditional hybrid, the cross between a road and a mountain bike, was lost on me]. But the numbers are hard to argue, and they are staggering.
According to the Electric Bikes Worldwide Report, 2008 Update, 20.8 million eBikes were sold worldwide in 2007, a total expected to show only modest worldwide growth in 2009 to 21.6 million units. However, eBikes represent the fastest-growing bicycle category within the U.S., Europe and a number of other regions.
For example, U.S. eBike sales are projected to hit 220,000 units in 2009, a two-year increase of 83 percent from 2007 U.S. eBike sales of 120,000 units. Projections for Europe are even more robust, with eBike sales in Europe expected to hit 750,000 units in 2009 a three-fold increase versus 2007 sales of 250,000 eBikes in Europe.
As I walked around the Interbike expo floor, it was difficult not to run into some form of an electronic powered bicycle. Established manufacturers, like Schwinn, which currently boast six models in its electric bicycle line, with the Tailwind expected to arrive in dealer stores in early 2009, and new companies specializing in eBikes were practically around every corner…
[Via www.triplecrankset.com]
Ebikes exist because they fill practical transportation needs. For example…
I’m a telecoms geek who usually telecommutes but occasionally has to drive to client sites to add or move telephones (etc.). Normally I use a minivan (which gets 20 miles per galllon in normal usage, or up to 28 on the freeway at 50 - 55 mph.). However, many of those sites are within a 10-mile radius of my home base. A conventional bicycle doesn’t have the carrying capacity for my toolboxes, laptop bags (two of them, Mac and Windows), and so on. Frankly I’m not in the kind of shape it would take to do my field rounds purely by pedaling (years ago I tried, using a bike trailer). However, I just ran across the iZip Tricruiser. Bingo! Solution!
In its stock incarnation, the rear basket could be replaced with a platform of some kind that would make it easier to tie down my gear with elastic straps.
However, more interesting would be to add a full enclosure built from aluminum electrical conduit and sheet aluminum. The result would look like an odd home-made Tuk-Tuk, with one side door for entry/exit and a rear hatch to access the cargo space in back. The doors would be locking, to discourage thieves. To bike purists this would be a heretical contraption, but for urban tradesman applications it would be perfect. Since it would be fully enclosed it would also be all-weather. Speed and range might be reduced slightly, but could be made up via an additional battery pack.
Vehicles of this type would also be useful for urban delivery applications such as pharmacy, grocery, and restaurant (pizza etc.), for municipal services such as street sweepers’ carts and park grounds keepers’ carts, and for industrial plant applications such as security patrols and carrying supervisors between points on assembly lines.
At this point in history, anything we can do to reduce ecological impacts and particularly carbon emissions, is a good thing. Moving niche transport applications into lower-impact vehicle types is a necessary part of the overall solution, even if the results are what regular bike enthusiasts think of as heretical contraptions.