Yes, You Can Charge Some Electric Bikes by Pedaling!

Articles mentioned in this interview:

[KlipschHead]

As somebody who bought the bike specifically to get into shape because his knees are shot, if somebody considers it cheating who gives a frig? It works, I got my RadRover almost 2 months ago, I have 300 miles on it now and have lost 25lbs doing so. Doesn't sound like cheating to me and for those that buy one and never pedal good for you, you decide the best use and all the nay sayers can walk up the hill while I smile and ride on by.

[MoPoppins]

Mike's got such a calming presence.

[MidnightMarrow]

Ultra or super capacitor bank could be used to minimize the mechanical to electrical to chemical losses. Specially if used with a small high powered battery. Capacitors can charge and discharge near instantly and be used to more efficiently charge the battery through a trickle or directly powering the motors as wanted / needed. For example a capacitor bank could be charged as you bike and if you need assistance up a hill or just a boost of speed here and there it'd be there.

[psycholist]

"...it would take the whole day pedaling, you'd be eating pizza to keep your energy level up..." Yeah? And???? Don't see a downside here. :-)

[lawneymalbrough]

Regenerative braking can extend the life of your charge. So if you have a long way togo you should probably use the feature as often as possible. Some E-bike owners ride long distances.

[UrjunkMygold]

Regen braking is fantastic! It's not about recharging the batt by pedaling (mainly since pedaling with the brake on is stupid), but rather to get some energy back from slowing or stopping which would otherwise be totally wasted by the use of the friction brakes. Two bikes climb a hill. One has regen braking other does not. Both put in same energy to climb the hill (human plus battery).. On the downhill side the bike with regen controls speed and gets a bonus of some energy back into the battery that the other bike does not. Result... bike with regen gets to go a little further with its battery than the other bike. Is that desirable on an ebike? I think so!

[damongonzalez]

I rode an ebike for the first time last year and fell in love. Havent bought one yet because looking for the right one. But the bike i did ride through a hill filled 25 mile ride. I only used mild assist on uphill would break often on downhill and held a steady 25 mph and when i got there bike had a full charge. Id say the terrain matters i probably would have lost more charge on a flat road. But these bikes are dope i want one

[PowerThrough]

what a good story. I never understood the topic until now. good job.

[viejolemuroloco]

"noise wise" i love the motor noise when it kicks in

[robertb]

I appreciate you paying attention to what people have issues with. Good job on this topic.

[ajemohaltom]

Nice topic. I think the appeal of having alternative ways to charge an ebike is in its universal utility and how many other problems the ebike can solve as being an energy transport/storage solution. The bike itself gives masses of people access to many times more efficient transportation than walking (even without paved roads).

I mean the whole conversation of why we would even need electric cars when we seem to be doing fine with gas... Its about the number of ways you can charge that battery compared to the one way you can put gasoline in the tank. EVs have Wind, Hydro, Solar, Thermal, Coal, Propane, Nuclear, Gravity... I mean a massive list of ways to get those ions to one side of the battery cell. Plus, not to list all the different battery chemistries available.

[jamesdeegan]

i just want a bike that can charge itself when going down hills, imagine doing a 7 day hike in the middle of nowhere with all your gear either on your back or on the bike, a self charing feature would be great!

[FightFilms]

Imagine going to a shop to change brake pads. Some people are helpless.

[t.dwhitaker]

The fact that you get any energy back into your battery is amazing 10 to 20% it’s really cool that it’s just a side effect of what it does

[coolrayfruge]

I had a front wheel alternator on a old English bike for the bike light. If your riding your bike your not constantly pedaling you coast for a while. If your alternator hub is giving it a constant charge to the battery while riding. Would keep your battery from draining and getting low. Kinda like a car alternator does a car. Solar panel battery covers for the electric bike with the triangular covers that fit the frames. could keep them charged while not riding.

[anthonykinneen]

A big question I have been trying to figure out since I got myself an E-BIKE is would it be possible to extend the life of the battery, meaning that you could travel that much further on a single charge. So I am just wondering if a Dynamo would help extend the battery life making longer journeys possible on a single charge

[johndennis]

As anybody thought about fixing a capacitor to charge up a battery like they do in self-charging watches.As you move it trickle charges or even like me use an old type wheel dynamo used for lighting to trickle charge but have not found a way of of getting the power to the battery in both cases.

[ragnardanneskjold]

A two-wheel upright bike will never be very efficient (with current technology) at battery regeneration.

What you need is a recumbent 3 or 4-wheel with a capacitor on each wheel generating 3x the power, and with multiple batteries so you can switch between spent and fully charged batteries as needed. The recumbent position is more efficient at generating power than upright, and produces a lot less drag. With a recumbent platform you can also add an adjustable sail, such as what you'll see on a blokart. This will become your main source of locomotion with the electric motor and pedal action providing extra power for low-wind days. You can even add a wing to the vehicle to produce a small amount of lift to reduce power consumption. The sail doesn't actually need to be very big to generate enough power to propel the vehicle at speeds up to 15--30kph. With battery assistance and/or pedal power you can easily get up to 45-50kph.

[OregonDARRYL]

Regenerative braking is fine. Pedaling to charge is stupid because you get only 50% back. Get 100% out of your muscle energy by just pedal assisting while riding to extend range and/or go faster....

[biggusdiggus]

What if there were two batteries using one at a time but switch when required that way one battery would help to charge the other, using an external independent dynamo.