Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
He has now introduced cost into the discussion.OP was not asking about the cost effectiveness of doing it
He has now introduced cost into the discussion.OP was not asking about the cost effectiveness of doing it
My hands, arms, and elbows are useless after 80 miles... throttle contact point goes totally numb!My butt can't handle more than 40 miles.
I usually take a break every 10-15 miles. Even with a good seat my 60+ year old butt needs a break!My butt can't handle the 4-6 hour ride time I get from my ebike already.
My butt can't handle more than 40 miles.
Maybe so, but what if it takes you two days because your dragging a solar array with you. Two days of lost wages can be pretty expensive.Peddling home when the battery is empty is very inexpensive.
Maybe so, but what if it takes you two days because your dragging a solar array with you. Two days of lost wages can be pretty expensive.
Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.I was mostly just joking - should have made it more obvious. I look at the project and estimate a budget of ~ $1 - 1.5K but I am a bit jaded as everything always costs more to build than I have ever expected from my various hobbies and ventures. That is 5x his goal so the only "in budget" idea I could think of is to pedal.
I posted earlier a very viable technical solution but it didn't seen interesting and is definitely out of his budget.
Actually the drag from the motor is not inconsiderable. I have to have the power setting at 1 on level ground and rarely go below 2. I wonder if there's some kind of regeneration going on but I've no way of testing it.Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.
I did locate an ebike motor that was only 250 watts, which puts it slightly more in the "doable" category.
250 watts would only add an assist. That with the drag from a 250 watt panel would probably make it just as hard as no panel at all.
Unfortunately it was too tempting to not joke about it.
I did locate an ebike motor that was only 250 watts, which puts it slightly more in the "doable" category.
250 watts would only add an assist. That with the drag from a 250 watt panel would probably make it just as hard as no panel at all.