Ebike charging
- Thread starter Biker man
- Start date
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ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Not sure what you mean
Do you mean regen braking so that going downhill or stopping at lights puts extra charge into the battery?
or something else?
Do you mean regen braking so that going downhill or stopping at lights puts extra charge into the battery?
or something else?
"Self Charging" Hybrid cars are a joke, they get a little bit of power from regenerative braking, but mostly they just charge a battery from the engine, which is about as efficient as you'd imagine.
For regenerative braking on a bike you'd need to use a hub drive motor system which is less efficient than a crank drive, and overall there would be little benefit for lots of additional complexity and weight.
For regenerative braking on a bike you'd need to use a hub drive motor system which is less efficient than a crank drive, and overall there would be little benefit for lots of additional complexity and weight.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Ho ho, you'd have to pedal a bit harder to charge your batteries if you needed self charging. 
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Quite. Why Toyota did a hybrid Yaris, when the engine only one can do 60 mpg ? SIL's Prius isn't that 'efficient'.
classic33
Leg End Member
Pedal or find a decent hill.Ho ho, you'd have to pedal a bit harder to charge your batteries if you needed self charging.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
the snail
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham
It wouldn't be difficult to do - just tow a petrol generator behind you in a trailer?
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
TBH, the bike would be even heavier with some sort of re-generative braking.
Battery technology really needs to be improved, it's still pretty rubbish.
Battery technology really needs to be improved, it's still pretty rubbish.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
I read an article about this sort of thing a year or two ago - hence no link
But anyway - what it said is that it is possible to make an efficient motor and it is possible to make an efficient generator
but it is not easy to make an efficient motor than is also an efficient generator if you push it backwards
Hence - to get regen braking and charging on downhills then, if you want it all from the one system, you can only have the motor OR the genny being efficient.
And, in any case, it turns out that the extra power that you manage to push into the battery is minimal.
TBH I have answered this sort of question many times on other sites - although it is normally someone who has worked out that if you have a rear drive ebike and put a dynamo onto the front wheel then you create an ebike that charges itself and never needs to be plugged in
either that or they want to mount a small solar panel on the rear rack to do the same thing.
At least the OP makes more sense than this!!!
The article I mentioned above was written some time ago.
SInce then I have seen some ebikes that have regen - but they tend to be small companies or start-ups and next time I look they have gone
so maybe the technology has advanced and we are nearly there!
But anyway - what it said is that it is possible to make an efficient motor and it is possible to make an efficient generator
but it is not easy to make an efficient motor than is also an efficient generator if you push it backwards
Hence - to get regen braking and charging on downhills then, if you want it all from the one system, you can only have the motor OR the genny being efficient.
And, in any case, it turns out that the extra power that you manage to push into the battery is minimal.
TBH I have answered this sort of question many times on other sites - although it is normally someone who has worked out that if you have a rear drive ebike and put a dynamo onto the front wheel then you create an ebike that charges itself and never needs to be plugged in
either that or they want to mount a small solar panel on the rear rack to do the same thing.
At least the OP makes more sense than this!!!
The article I mentioned above was written some time ago.
SInce then I have seen some ebikes that have regen - but they tend to be small companies or start-ups and next time I look they have gone
so maybe the technology has advanced and we are nearly there!
classic33
Leg End Member
You go up one, you tend to have one to go down as well.Come on, it's an ebiker we're talking about here.
the snail
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham
I think the technology is pretty good. I can get 50-100 miles on a charge, which is plenty for me, and most people I suspect. If I was still commuting, I could easily do a week on one charge. I think the only situation where I would struggle would be long distance touring or audaxing, but I don't do those sort of rides anymore. For my use, the technology is plenty good enough.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
There are only up's round here - what's this mythical 'downhill'.... or that's how it feels.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Z’ha’dum
Thanks - you are clearly someone who can be bothered to spend 2 minutes on a search engine
I was apparently in a 'can't be bothered' mood but I suppose I should have looked it up myself first
looks like a decent article