Can batteries be charged while the bike is on?

[Dolfino]

Therefore "TV dinner fuel" costs 150 times as much money for me as electricity to power my bicycle.

Wow, I had no idea. Are you sure about the 300 Calories= 10 miles? All of a sudden this seems depressing. I think the exercise might be worth the extra cost of "fuel" considering how much some people pay for a gym membership but I'll have to recalculate whether or not this'll actually be helpful. I'll still build it of course (coolness factor) but that's something I had no idea of entirely. By the way, I think I understand that you're just trying to help me see something I didn't see before, I just hope I can come up with a good response. Thanks Gregte.

EDIT Does part of that 300 Calories include starting and stopping. Since a person on this design can pedal at his most efficient speed, he doesn't have to reduce his efficiency during acceleration. Since the electric motor is more efficient at slower speeds, this helps to increase the overall system efficiency. And at least it beats a car which can use over 15,000 Calories per ten miles, which is essentially what it is intended to replace (for short distances while the engine is cold).

[Bikemad]

Are you sure about the 300 Calories= 10 miles?

I made it 270Kcal/10 miles.

Check out the useful information here:

            Bike Calculator

I obtained a figure of 344Kcal/hr using 100w of energy travelling at 12.76mph.

A 150Lb rider would lose 1oz of their body weight every 37.5minutes (1lb every 10hrs)
(That's only 62.5 days before they weighed absolutely nothing at all!)

Alan
 

[Gregte]

Are you sure about the 300 Calories= 10 miles?

These are ballpark figures. It might take one person way more calories to pedal a mile than another person.

And at least it beats a car which can use over 15,000 calories per ten miles

Are you sure about beating a car? I don't know where your 15,000 calories comes from, it may very well be accurate, but keep in mind that 300 Calories of food means 300,000 calories of energy.

A food Calorie is a kilo calorie which simply means 1 food calorie is 1000 calories of heat energy.

Whether food calories is 150 times as much as the cost of electricity or 100 times or 50 times as much, either way it is WAY more expensive as a fuel source. Keep in mind, I was stating the cost of food before preparation such as cooking. That can take a lot of energy.

You might spend 0.5 kwh just to cook a meal. My bike's battery is 36v x 16 Ah which is just over 0.5 kwh, about enough to cook that meal. I could ride the bike for 30 miles with a charge of the battery or I could cook a meal with that same charge. Yikes!

The need for exercise is way over due for many Americans so your pedal generator has merit for sure. I am just saying it is not an economical source of energy in and of itself. But perhaps it is economical if you consider it may make a person healthier and live longer and feel better, and that person was willing to pay money to get that exercise otherwise, whether paying gym fees or other costs.

[Dolfino]

All the times where I wrote calorie, I meant Calorie. I guess I meant for this to replace a car, not necessarily an electric trike. The difference is that in this one, the pedaling can actually extend the range of the vehicle. This can be operated just like another plain old electric trike, you can plug it into your 115VAC outlet and charge it like that. Tis just gives you options. I guess I just didn't make that point before. I went a bit overboard in the savings department, I guess you'll still be however many dollars this costs richer if you don't buy or build it. For those who are healthy it might not pay as much, or it might pay more. It does depend on the person. I just think that the technology has a lot of potential. That's all. After all it is the same concept that is applied to the Aptera cars and the Chevy Volt. I don't want to seem like the ignorant optimist, I know it has problems, I just think that it may be worth it. Why do some people buy $100 bikes while others buy $1000 ones, is the performance really worth $900? For the cost, I think it is worth the time and money.

[Gregte]

I sure don't mean to discourage you from building it. I too think it is a great idea for many reasons. It is better to get that human energy than not. I was only looking at it strictly form a cost-of-fuel viewpoint.

One thread in this or another forum pointed out that the ebike was the cheapest form of transportation yet developed. That is what got me thinking and looking up the numbers and doing the calculations in the first place.

Anyway, I hope you do indeed pursue your project. Who knows what it might turn into. It may turn out to have even more benefits than the obvious ones. Good luck!

[e-lmer]

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Alan