I commute to work and back on a 2015 Yamaha PW powered de restricted Haibike sDuro Hard seven mountain bike with rear rack panniers mudguards and puncture resistant tyres.
I have just completed four days with a total of 94 miles covered, averaging around 24 miles a day.
My total milage since buying the bike is now just over 9500 miles.
I needed a crank drive as my 14 mile route to work is mostly off road and in my opinion you need a crank drive for serious off road.
My ride home is 10 miles on the road where I consistently manage to achieve an average speed of 20 miles an hour. I use around 35% of my battery on the road trip home sometimes a bit more and sometimes a bit less (only 33% last night). In winter my battery consumption is more variable due to the weather and temperature and I use up to just over 40% in poor conditions (Cold/Wind/Rain).
I weigh over 100kg and carry 5KG in two panniers.
So in this glorious summer weather I am using 35% of my 400Wh three and a half year old 9500 mile battery to cover 10 miles in thirty minutes, or 140Wh for the journey or 14Wh per mile.
This would equate to using 420Wh for a 30 mile journey or 84% of a 500Wh battery, but only if you can consume the same amount of your battery per mile as I do.
If your battery consumption was higher in the winter as mine is you would be right on the limit of the range of a 500Wh battery consuming the same amount of electricity as me.
I am still using my original battery (now in fourth year of ownership) but my battery is discharged a relatively small amount on any part of my commute before I charge it up again which lithium batteries seem to like and regular deep discharges may wear a battery out much quicker.
On my 20mph average road ride home I never ride on full power but mostly in my lowest power setting eco of the three I have and use this power level for all the level slightly up slightly down sections. I do use the middle standard power setting to climb my steeper hills quicker or maintain my speed over the crest of longer hills to keep my speed up. I turn my power off for the steeper downhills.
I put in a lot of effort myself and this morning my legs are tired after my four days commuting.
This is far from an effortless commute and I take my work clothes with me in my panniers and allow half an hour when I reach work to flannel wash get changed recuperate and leave my bike locked and on charge in a room I can use before heading to pick up my schedule of work and make a cup of tea and chat to my work colleagues.
I need to shower when I get home. At the moment in the heatwave I have an intex 12 foot by 3 foot deep pool on my back patio that I jump in when I get home. Lovely.
I am still very impressed by the build quality of my Haibike which is standing up to the regular punishment I am dishing out really well. Remember that at least half of my miles are off road where the bike gets a proper pounding.
If I am honest I probably think that a 30 mile one way commute is a bit far and right on the limit of what you can regularly do on an ebike. Averaging 20 mph which is a tough target you will be riding three hours a day.
However a lot of people at work think I am crazy to do what I do and your proposed commute should be at least possible. I would definitely be inclined to buy as high a quality bike as I could afford.
Probably a high speed dual battery Reise and Muller Delete Rohloff would be my choice. However my Haibike cost £1750 and is holding up really well.
I notice Reise a d Muller also sell a high speed touring bike for just under £3000 with a 500Wh battery, Hydraulic brakes (essential) as well as lights mudguards and pannier rack. Pretty much ready to go.
That would be an interesting bike to have on a long term test. It also looks very much like an ordinary bike.
The bike shop I bought my bike from have provided really good customer service and back up when I have needed it and when you do high milages you will at some point need mechanical support.
The Reise and Muller bikes I mention above were on the 50 cycles web site and I bought my first Oxygen Emate city from 50 cycles in 2011 and got really poor customer support from them, and although this may have changed it has put me off buying from them again.
The perennially thorny issue of either de restricting a legal bike or using a high speed pedelec needs careful consideration and brings undoubted risk. The vast majority of my own riding at busy times is off road in the middle of nowhere away from cars and people (where incidentally I do not need my bike to be de restricted) and as a shift worker my road riding is done either very early in the morning or very late at night when the roads are very quiet.
You need to think about the risks of your particular journey, the times you are riding and how busy the roads are. You need to ride more carefully and with even more due diligence for other people. Being cynical you need a speed up device that can be removed quickly.
At the moment The Old Bill seem not to be interested at all. I am sure they would be if you were at fault in an accident where someone got hurt. The thing about risk accessing is that it is not infallible and you have to keep doing it and potentially change what you do if the risk changes. As ebikes become more popular the attitude of the police might change and the risk of riding an illegal bike become unacceptably high. That would be the time to change.
Some people would never countenance riding an illegal bike and I respect this. This whole issue has been debated to death, and at the end of the day it is a personal choice with some serious implications. Light the blue touch paper!
I began this reply really just to talk about how possible a commute like this might be in the light of my own experience committing.
