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Old 07-14-2022, 09:45 AM   #10 (permalink)
The Toecutter
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ghettoville, USA
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Rebellion - '16 KMX Framekit Custom electric velomobile
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Fully recumbent 2-wheelers are difficult to ride. I'd recommend saving up and getting a trike. You could build a velomobile out of it and get the equivalent of thousands of MPG.

That's what I did to mine. Best of all, I designed it to where it is fully operable as a "bicycle" if I shut the motor off, and the body was slippery enough that even at 91 lbs weight for the complete vehicle and with the motor imposing cogging torque losses, when disabling the motor I could maintain rolling averages significantly faster than I could with a normal bicycle for a given pedal effort in a hilly area.

Mine used 8-10 Wh/mile with the shell @ 30-35 mph riding speeds, but without the shell, energy consumption for the same riding conditions is about 40 Wh/mile when I tested it last month.

If I can sort-of replicate the slipperiness of my Milan SL velomobile for my next design, and perhaps end up with twice the Milan's CdA after I make concessions to practicality, I think 5 Wh/mile @ 30-35 mph is possible, as well as 20-25 Wh/mile @ 70 mph(once the vehicle is set up for cruising at that speed, that is).

A normal electric bike can do 30-40 Wh/mile @ 30 mph, but double that speed to 60 mph and it quickly gets into the triple digit Wh/mile territory or close to it thanks to drag.

What kind of Wh/mile figures have you gotten with each of those e-bikes you've ridden?
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