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Old 01-10-2008, 05:52 PM   #10 (permalink)
bennelson
EV test pilot
 
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Oconomowoc, WI, USA
Posts: 4,435

Electric Cycle - '81 Kawasaki KZ440
90 day: 334.6 mpg (US)

S10 - '95 Chevy S10
90 day: 30.48 mpg (US)

Electro-Metro - '96 Ben Nelson's "Electro-Metro"
90 day: 129.81 mpg (US)

The Wife's Car - Plug-in Prius - '04 Toyota Prius
90 day: 78.16 mpg (US)
Thanks: 17
Thanked 663 Times in 388 Posts
E-bikes really are insanely efficient!

One thing you do have to watch is what charger you use.

I did some tests on my cycle using a cheapo 1.5A 36V trickle charger that came with my electric bike hub wheel kit. Man does it charger the cycle slow!

However, I also tried charging my batteries with a couple big old "charge your car batter" 12v chargers which were higher amp. They were about HALF as efficient as the little solid-state trickle charger!

A Killawatt is a great device for measuring electric use. I have slain phantom power in my house down to a $30 a month electric bill.
I think measuring power use at the wall is the only fair way to do it, because it builds in charger efficiency into all the equations. This encourages people to use better chargers!

I saw an E-bike that ran off a couple of DeWalt Lion batteries - that was pretty cool too!
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