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Old 03-27-2017, 06:23 PM   #1 (permalink)
cts_casemod
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: East Midlands
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Electric bycicle/moped/scooter

Hi guys,

Ill be moving to Arizona soon for a six months work assignment.
I'm planning on getting something to commute and would like some feedack to make a informed choice:

Over here, in old England, a bicycle suffices. Temperatures are cold and the sun doesn't bite your skin! Terrain is more or less flat.

I just cant imagine myself doing the same under the sun over there.

So the options I seen are:

Lightweight scooters with lithium battery

Heavy scooters powered by lead acid batteries (obviously the Li-Ion would, at least, double this). I used one back in 2008 which was retired after being a commute bike for 8 months, 12 miles a day. Was working fine, but as I changed jobs the 7 mile range was not enough anymore. Technically these weren't legal here in Europe due to the 250W motor limitation, hence changing to an electric bicycle



Dirt Bikes - I know these are small but they look really good and have nice suspension, brakes and a powerful motor. They also have storage compartments useful for a second battery and are a bit too heavy to be easily stolen. They are 24V, so at 36, I imagine I can get at 30MPH easily!



Electric bicycles:
I like a good old fashioned bicycle.
A good option, but anything above 250W seems overly expensive and I know I need 500W as I own one. They are easy to get stolen Since most are 36V, overvolting generally requires a rather expensive 48V battery.
Mostly overpriced
Conversion becomes messy due to lack of compartments to store a custom battery


Things I want to know are regarding how legal all these options are, insurance requirements and any other problems you guys may see.

Very Thankful for any help!

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