Re generative charging
- Thread starter digiman
- Start date
Sorry if my post sounds negative, but it reminds me of my neighbour the other day, asking if my bike recharges as I pedal.
IMHO, what electricity you can put back into a battery with regen is negligible, puts unnecessary strain on your drop-outs, and can make the riding of the bike feel unnatural.
I would spend the extra cash on buying a higher capacity battery in the first place, and forget about chasing that elusive pot of gold
IMHO, what electricity you can put back into a battery with regen is negligible, puts unnecessary strain on your drop-outs, and can make the riding of the bike feel unnatural.
I would spend the extra cash on buying a higher capacity battery in the first place, and forget about chasing that elusive pot of gold
Regenerative charging will not/ cannot work with either geared hub motors or mid drives. It can only work with direct drive hub motors. It would be felt as a slowing bias and put precious little back into the battery. A bike does not have the mass to make it a worthwhile excercise.
I agree with Fordulike, it would be cheaper to buy a bigger/second battery than spending on extra technology that will disappoint.
I agree with Fordulike, it would be cheaper to buy a bigger/second battery than spending on extra technology that will disappoint.
Regenerative braking is not worth basing a whole build around.
However, if you feel that a direct drive motor is the the right type of motor for you due to its reliability and high power capability, regeneration is a nice extra that is worth setting up.
IMO, the main advantage to regeneration isn't the recaptured energy, but the maintenance free braking that it provides.
However, if you feel that a direct drive motor is the the right type of motor for you due to its reliability and high power capability, regeneration is a nice extra that is worth setting up.
IMO, the main advantage to regeneration isn't the recaptured energy, but the maintenance free braking that it provides.
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KTM E-Race P and E-Cross P using Panasonic hub motors have regen feature - Only really useful for long downhill descents, certainly not for use on the flats to charge on the go. I might use it for 0.05 of the time I ride more for the braking effect than for any range extension, but if you lived in hillier parts then it might get used more. Overall as mentioned above it's a bit of a gimic feature.
Originally equipped when released with a 412 Wh battery now comes as standard with 562Wh battery so no problem with range.
http://ebike-mtb.com/en/back-issue-ktm-erace-p-29-review/
Originally equipped when released with a 412 Wh battery now comes as standard with 562Wh battery so no problem with range.
http://ebike-mtb.com/en/back-issue-ktm-erace-p-29-review/
there will in due course be many along who will say it wont work (and their absolutely right; think of the experience of freeing down a hill and losing your momentum/kinetic energy before you managed to get a tenth up the next incline: there isn't any real surplus energy worth having, period). HOWEVER, there is one rather silly way of reaping some(very little) electric energy for no recognisable effort - get something like an e-werk
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/dynamos/busch-muller-ewerk/
and use it to charge your phone or satnav, ive got one from a bicycle tour before, it works
D
Deleted member 4366
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It takes about 60w to pedal a non-assisted bike on the flat at 12 mph.
It would take 6 hours to charge a 10Ah 36v battery at 60w from empty to full.
That means that if you had your bike on a stand in your living room, you could pedal for 6 hours to charge the battery. If you took the same bike out on the road and pedalled normally, you wouldn't have any power left to go anywhere, but if you pedalled twice as hard as normal, you could go somewhere and charge the battery at the same time. Say you were using your bike to travel 12 miles to work and back each day: It would take you 6 days pedalling twice as hard as normal to charge your battery from empty to full. No thanks!
An electric bike is supposed to make life easier, not harder.
The best thing about cycling is being able to freewheel down hills after all the work to get up them. If you had regen, to use that energy to charge the battery, it would be like going downhill with your brakes on. No thanks!
Say the regen only works when you put the brakes on. That would be an advantage because it saves on brake wear and you get something for nothing; however, there's no free-wheeling motor that I've heard of that can do regen, which means that you pay a continuous penalty of compromised free-wheeling all the time you're riding for a very small gain in battery charge. No thanks!
It would take 6 hours to charge a 10Ah 36v battery at 60w from empty to full.
That means that if you had your bike on a stand in your living room, you could pedal for 6 hours to charge the battery. If you took the same bike out on the road and pedalled normally, you wouldn't have any power left to go anywhere, but if you pedalled twice as hard as normal, you could go somewhere and charge the battery at the same time. Say you were using your bike to travel 12 miles to work and back each day: It would take you 6 days pedalling twice as hard as normal to charge your battery from empty to full. No thanks!
An electric bike is supposed to make life easier, not harder.
The best thing about cycling is being able to freewheel down hills after all the work to get up them. If you had regen, to use that energy to charge the battery, it would be like going downhill with your brakes on. No thanks!
Say the regen only works when you put the brakes on. That would be an advantage because it saves on brake wear and you get something for nothing; however, there's no free-wheeling motor that I've heard of that can do regen, which means that you pay a continuous penalty of compromised free-wheeling all the time you're riding for a very small gain in battery charge. No thanks!