Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Where is the best place to buy an E-bike?




jvclassic


I'm thinking if going into the E-bike business and need a source of good E-bikes, preferably at a good price for a quality product. And suggestions?


Answer
Think real hard about it first.

IMHO, the market is not mature enough yet. Gas is too cheap, battery tech is not there yet (too expensive, not powerful enough) and too many people are too lazy to ride. The bikes available from China are cheaply made and not reliable, incredibly heavy and very single purpose (they are all impossible to ride without the motor). The ones from Europe, etc., are too expensive with the same problems.

In short they are cheap, underpowered motorcycles with lousy range.

I know a couple who started an electric bike business here in DC. They did everything right. Great location on a major road near a bike trail, Insanely low overhead through cheap rent, careful retailing and no labor costs. Plus they were terrific, intelligent very personable folks with a history of successful businesses. It tanked after six months. They said the reason was the poor quality and high expense of the products they could get from China and Italy.

The folks below make the BEST, most powerful electric bike out there but it ain't cheap.They've laid out lots of bucks on R&D and they have a great organization in place with good marketing. They're fairly new and they are looking for dealers. It can't hurt to give them a call.

Have you considered a business retrofitting motors to customer-supplied bikes? That seems to me a better bet for a mom and pop operation.

Good luck with whatever you choose. E-bikes are a solution waiting for the problem to catch up.

Save for first car or go through with electric car build?




Alex King


I cannot decide if I want to wait one more year and get a car, or convert another car to electric like I had planned to do. I am afraid that if my dad and I buy the car for conversion, he will not be as willing to put in as much money for my first real car (we have already decided that he will help pay). Which way should I go?


Answer
What do you want to achieve? How much budget do you have? What sort of driving do you do?

If most of your journeys are long distance, or high speed, then forget electric cars right now: they're not the right power source for the job. If most of your journeys are short and on slower roads, then an electric car is in its ideal environment.

If you are converting a car, you'll probably end up with a car with a range of 40-60 miles and a top speed of 55-60mph (depending, of course, on what budget you have). You will end up with something that is unique, but it will probably be fairly slow.

If most of your driving is in a built up area, then that probably isn't an issue for you. In which case, you can go the self-build route if you want an electric car. If you are using new components, then budget $3-4000 for the conversion, on top of the price of the car: more if you want the latest lithium batteries (between you and me, don't go there: they're troublesome. Stick with lead acid batteries which are a lot easier to implement for a home conversion).

If you want a more practical car, that will have great performance and a decent range, you'll have to go the purchase route. Mitsubishi will have their 'i' electric car out in the US very shortly. I've used one in Europe for a year and it is a very good car. Nissan have their LEAF electric car out now, and again that is a superb car: in Europe, it won 'European Car of the Year' award, as voted by the top automotive journalists across Europe.

I've been driving various different electric cars over the past five years, and before that ran a company selling electric bikes. I am the author of 'The 2011 Electric Car Guide'.




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