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Re: "Electric Bikes Are Taking Off" (International Herald Tribune 3/14/2007)
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Cycle Santa Monica
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Apr 04, 2007 02:59 PDT
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Re: When did the City of Pasadena (California) start giving $500 bucks to
people that frequently ride e-bikes? I want in on that! (see article and
source link below) If anyone has more info on that Pasadena e-bike program,
pleas let me know.
eugene chu wrote:
"Yeah, how about financial assistance for those of us who ride just, bikes?
We must be even less resource intensive than electric bikes, and contribute
less to pollution. All that electric power for charging the batteries have
to come from somewhere?"
.
Eugene, you bring up a good point. And interestingly, I read that Santa Crus
not only is offering a rebate for the purchase of electric assist bicycles,
they are also offering a $200-300 rebate for the purchase of folding
bicycles. (see: http://www.santacruztma.org/folding_bike.htm ).
And for me, the prefect marriage of the ultimate utilitarian bicycle for
urban environments would be a folding bicycle with front and rear
suspension, full fenders, and full chain cover, and a lightweight electric
assist hub motor in the rear wheel, a heavy duty bicycle rack in front and
front of the bike. (see video of Brompton Folding bicycle with Nano Elsctric
Assist hub motor kit:
http://cyclesantamonica.blogspot.com/2007/04/folding-e-bike.html )
And regarding the comment about charging batteries. Electricity to charge
batteries can come from many natural sources that go unused around us, such
as Solar, photovoltaic, and solar thermal energy, wind energy, and geo
thermal, and hydroelectric to name a few. Also, the amount of electricity an
electric assist bicycle would use to go 50 miles would probably be half or
less the amount of electricity the typical CRT computer screen uses for a
couple hours, which equates to about 20 cents or so of electricity.
I think it is very important to remember that a bicycle with an electric
assist motor is a fully functional human powered bicycle that has full
capacity to be pedaled as a bicycle in addition to being able to be
propelled by the assistance of varing amounts of power from the motor.
I welcome further comments.
(smile)
thanks,
Michael
Cycle Santa Monica!
Empowering Cyclists, Skaters, and Pe4estrians
In Santa Monica and the Westside
Using Environmentally Friendly Vehicles
Using Earth Friendly Renewable Fuels
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyclesantamonica
http://cyclesantmaonica.blogspotlcom
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