Electric bikes, anyone ridden one?

[gadget]

A while back I had the opportunity to ride an electric bike (scooter type thing actually), it looked quite ordinary really, nothing about it stood out that would give the game away.
The overall impression it gave was nothing I would describe as horrible, it handled as well as a scoot ever can but the real surprise was the seamless power delivery and the mountain of torque it punched out.
Really easy to spin up the rear even on sticky dry tarmac, and this was just a commuter type scoot not a sporty thing by any means.
Coming away from it I was quite impressed, it begs the question... just how good the race versions are/must be!?
The reason I posted this is... I saw the owner today and asked him if he still had the scoot, he said yes but it's now dead! Apparently the batteries died after three years of constant commuter use and the replacements will cost in the region of £3000, the scoot was £5,500 new so just not worth the outlay. His honest opinion was that it's great fun
but after three years running, the initial outlay and now the further outlay to keep it going is just not worth the money which Kind of sums up electric transport at present me thinks. Glad I've had the opportunity to take one for a spin though, but I'll stick with my SV ... at least until the government tell me otherwise!

[SV650rules]

Good saying, if its got t1ts, tyres or a battery it's gonna give you problems....

Electric motors have max torque when not turning and after that the torque decreases and top speed is the problem, electric car makers thinking of fitting a gearbox to help this. Nearest to an electric bike I have ridden is a Segway a few times - amazing for its balance, not acceleration or speed....

[DJ123]

For bikes, its a fairly pointless exercise at this stage whilst the battery technology is still not where it needs to be on a size/weight/mileage where it makes sense on a Motorcycle.

[Chris_SVS]

Rode an E-MX bike earlier this year, immense fun.

[Bibio]

i was thinking of a leccy pushbike with a top box. i only go too and fro the shops. furthest i have been in 6 months is about 3 miles away (6 mile round trip) oohh apart from getting my bike mot.


what puts me off is the cold/wet weather.

[ethariel]

Took a Livewire out on a test run, it's different, you lose a lot of the notion of speed without engine noise, very easy to speed significantly without really trying.

Shame it's range is just so limited, if mileage was at 220 to 240 mile range it's a potential contender as a fun bike, but at 100 miles it's much more a shed ornament/Sunday coffee than anything else as yet.

[Calix Lee]

I haven't tried to ride one, but a couple of my friends own one. How was it different from a normal bike?

[svenrico]

I rode a pedelec 5 years ago for about a year before the battery failed . A new battery was nearly half what I paid for the bike so I didn't bother with it and left it in the garage. The range was only about 16 miles on fairly level ground . I realise bikes ,batteries and range have improved since the but prices have increased too! I would want a motorbike for the price of some electric bikes nowadays!
ps I still might get a replacement better battery for the pedelec as the exercise is good even if pedalling is assisted.( The motor only kicks in when pedalling )