Think about this one:
Mopeds in Ontario were all the rage in the early 70's with Moped stores opening up everywhere and Canadian Tire selling the Caddy Moped and then the accidents started to happen and the Media got into it and started turning the Public against Mopeds and the Police started to come down on Moped riders. Queens Park reacted by reclassifying Mopeds and all the Moped Stores closed and Canadian Tire stopped selling the Caddy and within a year Mopeds virtually vanished.
So how hard would it be for E-Scooters to become the Mopeds of 2010 and be Legislated out of existence?

Already have thought about this one in a sense... thinking about the last wave of cheap kick scooters hitting the USA, and the US CPSC noticing a rise in the numbers of kids showing up in Emergency Wards with "scooter-related" injuries... The press picked up on it too, publishing lots of negative articles about the scoots, even quoting parts of the study that the CPSC put out as a result of their investigations.

The CPSC didn't study the vehicles themselves, just the hospital admission reports...

Watt the press neglected to mention were the conclusions of the CPSC study which noted that the scooters seemed to produce about half as many injuries as other kids learning pedal bikes and their injuries tended to be less severe, also that the scoots and bikes were FAR less likely to produce injuries than inline skates and skate boards...

We (ebikers) have one advantage these daze... Often times negative reports published on news and other websites invite [Comments]... So we need to be vigilant and "seek out and destroy" this sort of distorted reporting!

Tks
Lock

... As for Queens Park the 3 Year Pilot Project under the MOT did NOT include Stakehholders representing E-Scooters. When the Government declared an E-Scooter to be the same as an E-Bike they had no idea what an E-Scooter was.
Me thinks that in time the Government under public pressure will reclassify E-Scooters as Handicapped Mobility Scooters and remove them from the E-Bike category.

Interesting. BTW I have never seen anything official from the Feds or Ottawa acknowledging "e-scooters" that fall with the Fed definition of power-assisted bicycle as anything different than "ebikes" generally.

How would you define the scooter-style ebikes as different? By vehicle weight only? Any other features that distinguish the scooter-style ebikes from open frame ebikes generally?

Lock

Joshua I was the one that countered you the other day. But you made a good point here. But I only look at the power meter now because of past experiences as I'll detail below.

Well that may be but what if you are in traffic when your Controller LVC kicks in and shuts off your power?

This would be OK on side street. Could still peddle the scooter although the location of the peddles makes it very awkward. But on a busy road it's a whole different story. It DID happen to me once. I was riding my scooter up Weston Rd the first day I had it. I was almost home and then the power went dead. The secondary battery had some charge so that's how I was able to keep going or else I would have been a sitting duck. Keep in mind the LVC tends to happen when going uphill. Even a very gradual incline on an almost empty battery is enough to set it off. I don't really worry anymore because I know the limit of my LifePO4 battery after doing range tests. But the old SLAs were somewhat unpredictable.

I think ebike training would be a great idea. Although I fully know what I'm doing now. The first couple of days with an ebike I made a lot of silly mistakes. Reason being I was treating the ebike as a peddle bike. I don't want to see any kind of bans. But I think it would be great to do a workshop of some sort on ebike safety as suggested already. I saw someone leaving the Daymak dealer on Bloor Steet some time ago. She almost full throttled into the store front. Why? Because she had never been on one before and didn't know yet how to handle the controls properly. I could be wrong but I think Daymak now includes some kind of training with the PDI

-Vic

I'd nominate Lock to teach a class on e-Scooter safe riding techniques.

Hehe... Thank you Joshua but I think you jest. The best education I ever got for two wheels were trips down to the harbour to go sailing with two bike couriers... Amazing to see them "take the lanes"... but we were moving pretty fast, faster than most pedal bike folks travel around.

Actually what I'd like to see is something like weekend workshops that would cover both safe riding techniques, the LAW and repair/care of what you ride.

Capital idea J. It would be a smart move for an ebike shop to start offering this right away... Had to cringe on Tuesday walking past a new ebike shop not yet open on College (south side, just west of Spadina.) One guy assembling some of the worst examples of Yong Kang product getting ready for the store opening. Pretty sure his customers will get zilch training about simple battery care and rules of the road (and I don't mean just the legalities, but the civilities also.)

I am all in favour of regulating behaviour and not technology.
Lock

Interesting new article in the Asia Times--so new it's dated tomorrow!

(When I first read it it took me seconds to remember timezones. )


China switches to e-bikes

http://www.atimes.com...

Terrific article thanks Sharon! Amazing times for ebikes!

...and Joshua, the Rockettes were a long, long time ago. (hehe)

I'm still not convinced that ebikers need any more special knowledge about navigating in traffic than pedal-only bretheren... Just a bit more knowledge about the vehicle tech, especially care and feeding of the battery pack! On pedal bikes if the brakes rub or the chain needs oil or the tires are a little underinflated we just burn a little more food energy and don't think much more about it. But on ebikes where energy storage is such an absolute the difference in range and performance is sooo much more noticeable, and preventative maintenance becomes so much more important.

...I asked earlier watt the differences might be in the education of an ebiker versus a pedal-cyclist with no response. Of all the silly objections about ebikes that I have heard from the rabid pedal-bike fringe, the only one I thought might have a little truth to it was about starting off from stops with a mix of pedal-only and electric bikes. Where the ebikers can hammer their accelerators and speed ahead w/the electric torque (fun for showing off but not smart for extending range per charge or the cycle life of the battery) then the pedal-folks - the ones that move around faster than most - catching up and overtaking the ebikes that are motor speed-limited to 32kph or lower if their lead-acid packs are older or getting low on charge and voltage is sagging...

So two overtaking events in mixed groups... where any overtaking can be seen as increasing risk as the overtakers are probably moving out of the bike lanes to overtake...

Having said this, I have to say I thought Joshuas concern about battery power cutting out unexpectedly in traffic a legit concern and one I haven't considered before... This can happen for several reasons, including overtemp and low voltage cut-offs built into controllers, bad connections that shake loose from road vibrations, moisture from rain and slush... I would say that any ebikes are like any human technology. Guaranteed to break down at some point, so always well to keep this eventuality in mind while in traffic.

Lock

People who use Lithium batteries need to be aware that water and Lithium is a bad mix...

Just to be clear Joshua... Lithium METAL and H2O are a bad mix but "lithium" badderies are not metal at all but maybe only 10% lithium ion... the really poisonous mix is salt (urban road slush) and copper (wiring.) On little EVs I have replaced yards of rotten copper wiring (and switches and fuse holders and etc) but this has been cheap and for me and just a Right of (Canadian/Urban) Spring. Like fresh lead ( EVery new SLA pack) definitely a feel-good thing...
Lock

Had to cringe on Tuesday walking past a new ebike shop not yet open on College (south side, just west of Spadina.) One guy assembling some of the worst examples of Yong Kang product getting ready for the store opening. Pretty sure his customers will get zilch training about simple battery care and rules of the road (and I don't mean just the legalities, but the civilities also.)

Found them... operating as Green Choice Moto, and listing their product on Kijiji:
http://hamilton.kijij...

...actually they have branded themselves as Green Choice Moto - Best Quality Electric Scooters & Bicycles

Gawd...
Pretty sure their model TDP 207Z ("$799 + PDI + Tax") is straight from the Yongkang Sanrenhe industrial & Trading Co.,Ltd., here:
http://chanelsales.di...

Sanrenhe looks many of the older Yongkang companies... been around for decades making wire brushes but these daze they will assemble ebikes for you if you ask...

Curious how Green Choice Moto believes their product is "Best Quality"?
Lock

One thing that bugs me is people assume because their E-Scooter has Turn Signals that they don't need to use arm signals anymore (if they ever knew what those were to start with). The MOT requires you use arm signals not turn light indicators and the logic here is the Light Bulbs used in E-Scooters are pathetic and nowhere close to what exists on a Motorcycle or Car and a Car Driver cannot see your flashing turn signals in daylight or until the street is dark. Not sure if you can switch bulbs and use CREE Leds but if you can go for it.

The turn signals on my Veloteq scooter-style e-bike are quite adequate. I'd feel silly and foolish having to use arm signals in addition to the turn signals. Also, having to take a hand off the handlebars/grips isn't necessarily a safe thing to do, especially in traffic or when about to make a turn. Maybe converting the lights to LEDs would help?

The only problem with turn signals and my bike that I've encountered is remembering to turn them off after making a turn or changing lanes. Usually I keep my finger on the turn signal knob until the turn's complete, so I give myself a little reminder to disengage the signal by pressing in the knob. YMMV

The only problem with turn signals and my bike that I've encountered is remembering to turn them off after making a turn or changing lanes. Usually I keep my finger on the turn signal knob until the turn's complete, so I give myself a little reminder to disengage the signal by pressing in the knob. YMMV

I had this problem and installed these little (12V in my case) buzzers inline with the turn signals. The beeper noise is so annoying that I never forget to turn the signals off. Buzzers are very inexpensive. You can either use 1 buzzer plus a bridge rectifier for both sides or take the easy route - a separate buzzer for each side. Think I got mine from The Source. I have some instructions somewhere on how to do it if anyone wants them, but it's obviously not rocket science