Charging Station For E-bikes

[donnoirf]

Was just browsing & came across this site listing charging stations for ebike at various locations across the country.

probably old news, as I am fairly new to this, but I thought I would share it anyway

link below

Charging Station Locations - Smartebike.co.uk Electric Bikes

 

[jasono]

Interesting, I live in Leicester and didn't know about the charging facilities at the High Cross. Next time I go in to the city I'll find out more

 

[jumpin]

Is there an update on charging stations across the country. I remember a few year back someone was trying to organise such stations, would be interested to know what the outcome was.

 

[vfr400]

The campaign fizzled out.

 

[jumpin]

The campaign fizzled out.

I remember sending some guy a bit of money towards getting it up and running, as did a few other people, shame it fizzled out, it would be a handy thing to have a map of places to charge your bike up

 

[vfr400]

I remember sending some guy a bit of money towards getting it up and running, as did a few other people, shame it fizzled out, it would be a handy thing to have a map of places to charge your bike up

Yes, I gave a £100 too. The guy running the campaign had some illness, then he came back, but he seemed to have gone a bit weird. The woman who was helping him got cancer and disappeared off the forum. She was very nice and very friendly. I hope she's OK, but as she never came back, I fear the worst.

 

[soundwave]

 

[jumpin]

Yes, I gave a £100 too. The guy running the campaign had some illness, then he came back, but he seemed to have gone a bit weird. The woman who was helping him got cancer and disappeared off the forum. She was very nice and very friendly. I hope she's OK, but as she never came back, I fear the worst.

So did anyone get their money back, or was it all a con job.

 

[Jimo]

Illness is most times NOT a con job - as those of us afflicted know, its too easy to be flippant about such things when one is fit.
If you have health you are a lucky one so just hang in there.


Jim

 

[flecc]

So did anyone get their money back, or was it all a con job.

I also gave £100, twice, but the money wasn't returnable, at least some was spent in printing, mailers, window stickers for enlisted premises, travel costs etc.

The problem was that the scheme was premature, far too few e-bikes in the country at the time. Even now they are still far too rare in many areas. As we know from the add-on petrol motors for bicycles back in the 1950s, it takes around a million to make a new vehicle type start to be noticeable in Britain, and e-bikes in use are not much more than a quarter of that at present.
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[vfr400]

So did anyone get their money back, or was it all a con job.

That's a good question. I can't really say much about the guy that started it except that he was dealing with at least one other scheme where he was seeking government funding. I've got a feeling that his motivations were more financial than anythng else. I knew Lynne much better, and I can say that her intentions were mainly if not completely in the interest of making ebiking easier.

I don’t know how much money was raised by private donations, but I can't believe that it could be much more than the spending on the project.

 

[jumpin]

That's a good question. I can't really say much about the guy that started it except that he was dealing with at least one other scheme where he was seeking government funding. I've got a feeling that his motivations were more financial than anythng else. I knew Lynne much better, and I can say that her intentions were mainly if not completely in the interest of making ebiking easier.

I don’t know how much money was raised by private donations, but I can't believe that it could be much more than the spending on the project.

I went for a ride up the pennine way today, I spoke to a ranger about the possibility of charging stations along the route, and maybe charge people 50p for an hour's charge, he seemed quite interested in it. If someone had the money to put the infrastructure down, they could make a profit sooner or later, maybe big companies like halfords, or other bike related businesses. On my travels today I saw 6 e bikes on the route, so the numbers are growing.

 

[Andy McNish]

I don't really see the need if I'm honest. It's a lot different than the need for charging stations for cars as the vast majority of us take the battery off to charge.

Just take the charger with you when you're on a long tour and then you can use any plug in any office, B&B, pub or cafe. Far better security than leaving a battery on a parked up bike.

 

[Laser Man]

Maybe some bikes have batteries that can be charged quickly, but I suspect that the vast majority don't.

My battery charges at about 7.5 miles per hour - an eight hour wait before setting off for home if I started off fully charged and ran it flat!

 

[Andy McNish]

Maybe some bikes have batteries that can be charged quickly, but I suspect that the vast majority don't.

My battery charges at about 7.5 miles per hour - an eight hour wait before setting off for home if I started off fully charged and ran it flat!

Yes. Charging is something you do on a long tour overnight or for most of a day in the office. In either case you would take the battery off and use your own charger. Maybe if I owned a bike barn or specialist cyclist cafe I would invest in one or two Bosch fast chargers for customers, but that's about it. A nationwide network is a pipe dream.

 

[RobF]

Lynn was very active on here a few years ago.

I met her a couple of times.

Unfortunately, she fell ill and we lost touch.

Certainly no conwoman.

As stated, the other guy, Morphix, disappeared for a year or two, and when he returned he had become rather odd, making long posts which had very little meaning,

 

[vfr400]

I think I heard that his illness was something to do with his head or brain, so maybe it had some affect on him.

 

[flecc]

Just take the charger with you when you're on a long tour and then you can use any plug in any office, B&B, pub or cafe. Far better security than leaving a battery on a parked up bike.

I used to use multiple batteries, riding with two or even three, one in use and the other two one in each pannier. With today's larger batteries two would be plenty.
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[RobF]

Charging rates mean in-ride charging is next to useless.

I like my stops, but an hour is plenty which is not enough to punch any meaningful charge into an ebike battery.

Someone - it may have been Toshiba - produced a fast charging battery, but its capacity was too small for ebike use.

Technology may improve, but the pace of battery advance is glacial so it will be many years before we have a high capacity battery you could recharge over lunch.

 

[flecc]

Someone - it may have been Toshiba - produced a fast charging battery, but its capacity was too small for ebike use.

Yes, it was Toshiba's SCiB lithium titanium oxide battery, only ever used on one Schwinn bike. It still took half an hour to charge though, and only to it's 5 Ah capacity.
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