I'd love to agree with you that it was simply people breaking the law that encouraged the government to change it.Don't forget that we were all riding round on 250w bikes when the law was 200w. We got enough critical mass that they had to change the regulations.
So do I but its a privilege not a right on an ebike.I don't see why tax, insurance and mot shouldn't apply to standard bicycles. They're also road users after all. Some of them tank along at 35mph, with untested brakes.
Maybe they should lobby for that change too.
We're not the soviet union Flud. It's great to be able to use our national parks. Freely.
Who's illegalising pedelecs? If anyone is going to do that, it will be you Flud. You rant over it quite a bit mate. To be fair though, that'll have about the same impact as standing on a motorway bridge shouting at the fast lane to slow down to 70mph.So do I but its a privilege not a right on an ebike.
Just don't get the reasoning behind illegalising pedelecs. They are brilliant as they are. If you want high power,faster speeds just get a motorbike.
Would be easy to police no ebikes in country parks, impossible to differentiate legal from otherwise.
We are making it easy to justify.
Can you get 100 A from a 48 V battery? As well as the 250 W and 25 km/h remember there is a 48 V cap on maximum legal voltage.You can pump 100A through it, still legal. (although your motor would go a little bit melty/on fire)
Discharge rate is theoretically unlimited as you can just add more capacity to increase the maximum of a battery pack.Can you get 100 A from a 48 V battery? As well as the 250 W and 25 km/h remember there is a 48 V cap on maximum legal voltage.
The Vulcan Aircraft had internal 112v lead acid batteries (4 x 28v in series). Normally to start their engines you would use an external diesel generator plugged in under the wing. However when dispersed to unequipped sites for Quick Reaction Alerts they could use their batteries to start 1 engine which would then be used to start the other 3 engines. The load to start that one engine from the battery was 700 amps and the batteries sagged from 112v to 100v. Once one engine was running I think they could start the remaining 3 engines simultaneously from its generator. The internal busbar installation was epic engineeringTotally feasible for 'regular' packs. Samsung 25R 18650 cells are good for 10C, so a 10Ah pack of these would be good for 100A discharge.
That's the advantage of lipos. A pair of these are smaller than your average ebike battery, but can give 400 amps at 48v.Can you get 100 A from a 48 V battery? As well as the 250 W and 25 km/h remember there is a 48 V cap on maximum legal voltage.
I absolutely agree with your comment, riding a powered vehicle without the need to register, tax, insure etc is a privalige and not a right. We need to be very careful that we don't give any reason for the government to reconsider.So do I but its a privilege not a right on an ebike.
Just don't get the reasoning behind illegalising pedelecs. They are brilliant as they are. If you want high power,faster speeds just get a motorbike.
Would be easy to police no ebikes in country parks, impossible to differentiate legal from otherwise.
We are making it easy to justify.
Good post and points well made.I absolutely agree with your comment, riding a powered vehicle without the need to register, tax, insure etc is a privalige and not a right. We need to be very careful that we don't give any reason for the government to reconsider.
However... 350W nominal bikes with a 28mph limit are not motorbikes. Even standard mopeds are many times more powerful. They are a little bit more powerful than a standard pedelec and don't gave the pesky cut off at 16mph. They are more useful and certainly more fun. There should be discussion about where they are used, the use of helmets etc, but in my oppinion we should be working towards a specific class for these bikes as in Germany, Holand etc.
There is absolutely no doubt they will be sold and used in the UK in very big numbers. This may possibly jeopardise the special position in law of the standard pedelec, so let's all push for legalisation.
All the best, David