With all the discussions going on in here about meeting up and the challenges faced by our batteries to get to the meetup locations, I was wondering just how far people do travel on their ebikes or escooters?

I live in the York Mills and Don Mills area, would love to ride downtown -- but I appear to suffer from something not all that uncommon with electric CARS -- yes eCARS.

Last Saturday, The Toronto Star's "Wheels" section had a story about an electric car being sold in limited quantities in North America -- I think less than 20 are slated for Canada, on a four-year lease, where owners have to return 'em at the end of the lease (sounds suspiciously like General Motors scheme for killing their electric car, for those who saw the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car").

According to automotive journalist Jim Kenzie, who wrote the piece on the electric car, the biggest concerns people have is running out of battery power, so for the first couple of months, they only drive the electric car within their neighborhoods, when they were designed to travel much further.

This fear -- let's call it sans-electrophobia (the fear of no-electricity) -- has affected me.

When I first got my ebike, I'd only ride it to the corner store and back. It wasn't until I got up the courage to do a couple of test drives from my home to my office (MCNabb and Warden in Markham) that I realized I could get their and back.

Since then, I've slowly been venturing further and further, but I still haven't gone all the way downtown, thanks to sans-electrophobia.

I know there are plugs and outlets and some coffee shops may even let you plug in, but part of my fear is getting into a situation where there aren't any spots to charge, and not enough "juice" to get back home.

Sound familiar? Have you suffered from sans-electrophobia?

Hi Jordan

In the "traditional" EV world of cars converted to battery-electric this is termed "range anxiety"... and it's mostly an affliction of the wannabes and noobs. I am only familiar with a tiny 240Wh lead battery pack where my usual commutes are 20kms one way, including 401 feet up from the harbour to Downsview and Don Mills. That 240Whs of lead only provides a range of 10-20km depending on ups/downs, age of pack, showing off, ambient temps etc.

But my rides have also been hybrids... not hard to kick (like pedals but without the chain and sprockets and gears and... pedals) to get around, so I know I can still get places w/out a charge.

And I've carried a little charger with me too (24V 2A, the size of a deck of cards)... and cultivated restaurant and bar owners along my usual routes, and allowed extra time on my commutes for breaks with a meal or coffee plus the Globe and a plug in...

So short answer to your question is, no, I haven't really suffered range anxiety, and EVen where I have been "handicapped" by limited range for one charge, have chalked this up to life with EVs and more than a fair trade to the pleasure afforded by this mode of transport.

I expect (finally) to be riding around on 480Wh of LiFePO4 this August and while this should give me the (minimum) 20km range I need for non-stop commutes, I still expect to be stopping for "opportunity" charging at my usual haunts because this has been part of the pleasure of living better electrically. My stops to plug in have been almost invariably accompanied by questions and comments and conversations from passers-by and fellow patrons about my rides and EVs generally...

I also have now a "Current Analyst" that reads off total Whs consumed. I am used to sensing the lead pack "sag" as the charge is consumed and with Lithium I have lost this sixth sense, but the CA will keep me informed pretty well so I'll know exactly how I am doing as far as remaining charge is concerned.

The CA and other watt-meters like it do not come standard on most scooter-style ebikes but are a highly recommended accessory if you do happen to suffer from range anxiety.

Cheers
L0Kc

didn't you once Skoot from the Harbor Ferry Docks to Pearson Airport?

Hehe... ya, that was a "24hr trip" with stops for a couple of meals/full recharges... but isn't this watt "vacation-time" is all about??? A highlight was re-assembling the scoot in the airport and riding it around inside the Terminal Building to prove it wasn't a "bomb" (odd, given the prepondence of battery-powered golf carts thereabouts?)

Re tommorow:

Issued : 3:30 PM EDT Saturday 26 June 2010
Tonight Cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers early this evening. Fog patches developing overnight. Low 18. Sunday Cloudy with sunny periods. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h in the afternoon. High 24. UV index 7 or high.

I love fog! On the trip back home (returning from that trip, from Malton back to the Islands) it was extremely foggy that night and almost EVer my only regret on a scoot on the sidewalks was after leaving Malton meeting up with a drunken guy at 2-3am who never expected to encounter a soul on two wheels "floating" at a silent 20kph in the foggy dark... Made him jump, and this I still regret...
lLoK

Lock,

You live downtown right? Hope everything is ok by you, and anyone else that lives down there. These G20/G8 protests are crazy.

-Vic

A friend in Virginia told me tonight the only mention on TV of the G20 event today in Toronto was about Michelle Obama's designer dress.

Experience comes from "bad judgement". I have only run out of "power" once and learned to read the battery level indicator better and found the odometer very handy. Google mapping is great and I have been downtown and back many times. I too live in the Don Mills, York Mills area. The time I ran out of "juice" was because I did not charge my bike over night and decided to "risk" the trip. I found a park, and an outlet, and 45 minutes later was on my way.

The further I go, the less fear of running out of juice I have. Worst case scenario, I can go see a movie while my bike is charging and come back to it later.

Problem is finding a good movie these days :)

Interesting... so you guyz carry a charger with you eh? I do this also. But it's only been a 24V 2A charger the size of a deck of cards. Small enough power-wise they have no cooling fans/noise. But even with a smaller-ish 240Wh pack the 48W charger has never meant a "fast" charge... Most of the time (charging while working or sleeping) the slow charge rate hasn't mattered, but for opportunity charging it's always meant a long lazy meal/timeout/etc with the Globe & Mail etc... I imagine the stock chargers that come with Velotecs and other scooter-style ebikes are quite large and heavy and still not that "fast" given the larger pack sizes.
LoCk

Lock,
You live downtown right? Hope everything is ok by you, and anyone else that lives down there. These G20/G8 protests are crazy.
-Vic

Not affected exactly. Disturbed, sort of. Headed home on Sunday from the MeetUp(TM) at Joshuas place I got off the streetcar to transfer to the subway at Queen and University. Waiting for the light to cross University a police officer walked up to me and asked watt I had in my pockets!!! (My cargo pant "leg" pockets.) I replied "a telescope"...
The officer asked "May I see it please?"...
So I dragged my telescope out of the pocket and showed him (Watt, you didn't think I HAD a telescope in my pocket (hehe))
Then he pats my leg pockets watt were empty at that point (I usually only carry one telescope with me (hehe)) and walked away saying he just wanted to check that I wasn't carrying stones in my pockets...

STONES IN MY POCKETS??? WTF????

I thought the whole exchange quite bizarre, but didn't try and engage the guy `cause I wasn't carrying any ID at the time.

Lock