The electric bike graveyard stands as a warning to all entrepreneurs who think that the electric bike market is a lucrative easy business. So far there has been lots of investment money, and lots of attempts to start electric bike companies, but no real success stories.
Electric bikes remain a hard sell to consumersbut an easier sell to investors. This is just a sampling of significant electric bikes that bit the dust.
There are numerous other companies that did not get off the ground, or barely got off the ground. We will add to this list as time goes on because unfortunately we expect more casualties. Take a look at our for a list of dead products that did have their moment in the USA limelight, and are now just landfill. Are electric scooters and electric bikes really that much different Tidal Force Tidal Force had over 30 million dollars of investment money, a retired army general as its CEO, and an emphasis on grabbing military contracts. (read our interesting story on the.) The Tidal Force had an innovative design with a state of the art hub motor, nickel metal hydride batteries built into the front hub, and a purpose built frame which contained all the wires. Mercedes Electric Bike Mercedes dumped a lot of money into developing this nickel metal hydride powered, belt-driven electric bike which sold at a hefty $2000.
The product never took off, although it did make it to stores across the world. Mercedes is taking another crack at the electric bike market with the Smart Bike EV Warrior EV Warrior was started back in 1995 with over $10 million in funding from big name investors such as Sanyo and Currie. Containers of these bike arrived from China but the $2000 retail price for a lead acid powered bike was too high, and the styling was dorky and the brand bit the dust shortly after its debut. Ebike (EV Global) 100 million dollars of investment money quickly turned into vapor when Lee Iacocca (former CEO of Chrysler) started an ebike company, and began selling heavy lead-acid powered bikes with Heinzman hub motors. These bikes made it to market in the early 2000’s but there was not much demand.
Because they were lead-acid they were heavy, cumbersome, and short ranged. They came in a full sized and a nifty folding version. The most notable thing this company did was they made popular the term “Ebike” which was the name of the company. It is rumored that the final straw is when the company started offering the electric bikes with not-ready-for-prime-time lithium batteries and burned down a few garages. Picycle The Picycle is an extremely unique designed bike designed and made in the USA.
Picycles originally had a deal with Best Buy to sell hundreds of their bikes, but last minute in 2010 Best Buy decided to stop selling electric bikes. Picycle like many in this grave yard stayed afloat with millions of investment dollars. Picycle now is dead and gone.
A2B Despite 10’s of millions of dollars of investment money, A2B has struggled almost from the offset and has recently. A2B has a decent product which looks and handles more like a small moped than a an electric bicycle. Although the company has now been sold and is under new management, and A2B electric bikes are still being sold at retail outlets. Only time will tell if the A2B can be resurrected. As of this writing its hard to get A2B on the phone for product support or replacement part ordering. Sad news for what was once one of the bigger players in the industry. Ultra Motor Europa.
The Ultra Motor Europa. Ultra Motor is more well-known for the A2B (listed above), but they also made a model called the Europa. They can still be found occasionally in the “used for sale” listings. They use a high-quality Heinzmann motor and a form that would fit right in with modern E-bikes that are still selling well.too bad. Although the battery (back in 2010) was a very progressive Lithium pack, the motor is old-school brushed.
Ford Think Ebike The Ford TH!NK was a line of electric vehicles produced by the TH!NK Mobility, then an enterprise of the Ford Motor Company. ( Later the company would go under and this ebike is no longer in production. Merida Electric Bike Pedal assist mid drive electric bike, with lead acid batteriesthe Merida had a lot of promise. Taiwanese company, in 2001 Merida bought 49% of Specalized bicycles for $30 million dollars. They apparently gave up on electric bicycles. In 2013 Specialized would introduced the exciting.
Giant Lafree Giant, a Taiwanese company and one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, decided to go electric with the Lafree, a mid drive, pedal assist, Nickel metal hydride battery powered electric bike. The Lafree had a lot of promise, but right before the bike was scheduled to arrive in North America, Giant unexpectedly pulled the plug. The Charger The Charger is still another mid drive lead acid powered bike to bite the bullet in the late 90’s. It has a torque sensor pedal assist. Motobob The Motobob was an innovative motorized bike trailer powered by lead-acid batteries and a 48V hub motor which could easily propel a bicycle at 20-MPH thus converting any bike to a cargo electric bike with just an easy attachment. The Motobob sold for a very affordable $500. At this price point, was not able to make a decent enough profit to keep the Motobob in production.
Today a similar Chinese-made product is on the market called the which is enjoying reasonable success. We list the Motobob here because this is a product that could still potentially make it in today’s market and we would like to see it come back from the dead since it is so innovative.
( November 9, 2012 ) I think the design and style are very important to an ebike selling well. Many ebikes I have seen look strange or weird. People just don’t want to be on something that going to make them stand out in a ridiculous way. The ebikes that look more like your standard bike seem to sell well. The growing use of geared hubs help make ebikes look more like standard bikes since the motor hub is small and doesn’t attract attention while providing more power at the same voltage.
If you encounter this problem, you should re-initialize the Xboard's UART calibration. Note: A small number of Xboard 25/49 may encounter difficulties such as blank screen or incorrect knob response after installing the firmware. Minimum System Requirements: • Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2, Windows XP x64 Edition, or Windows 2000 SP4 or greater • E-MU Xboard 25, Xboard 49, or Xboard 61. When the Found New Hardware Wizard appears, click Cancel. Wacom intuos drivers os x.
I own a Pedego City Commuter ebike and with Panniers on the back covering the battery. To the average person on the street this bike look normal and doesn’t attract attention to itself. $3000 is the upper limit if you want a successful ebike. Lower price is better if you can keep the quality up.
Junior pilot program answers sheet uss midway. People are used to not paying large sums for bicycles. It is stick shock to many when ebikes are 3 times as costly as regular bikes.
To many, just because you added a motor doesn’t justify the large cost increase. The industry need to work on lowering the price of batteries to help lower the price of ebikes.
Ev Warrior Parts
( September 13, 2014 ) I think that the Giant Lite (the smaller cousin to the Giant LaFree) is still the best ebike ever made. The newer ebikes are heavy, despite their use of lithium ion batteries. A heavy ebike is not fun to pedal – you’re really dependent on the motor. The Giant Lite was light enough to pedal normally – the motor was useful for initial acceleration, hill-climbing, or when going long distances. Also, the Lite could be carried upstairs without giving yourself a hernia. I wish Giant still made the Lite.
. 1 Answer SOURCE: I have a PDF of the schematic i drew for my bike.
It is posted on the Yahoo power-assist group. Look in the files section. There is also a text file there that lists all of the wiring connectors and where each of the wires goes. As well as connection diagrams for the Curtis 1505 speed controller.
The charger circuit is very simple. The black and red wires from the charger port go straight to the batteries +24V and 0V terminals.
The third white wire connects through a bullet connector to pin#7 (EPO wire) of the Curtis speed controller. This acts to turn off the motors while the batteries are being charged.
Inside the charger male connector the pin for that 3rd white wire is shorted to ground. So when you plug the charger in the white wire is grounded thru the charger plug. I really enjoyed my EV-Warriors while i could still ride them. Rick Posted on May 23, 2009.
2 pack so 6volt each, I will assume standard lead acid batteries as the is common, and that is what the pic shows. Depends on what you call standard charger, I would not do it with my 40 year old standard charger, although at a push, it will still charge them, but need to keep a check on them, later chargers, monitor the battery voltage, and adjust output to suit. All chargers work the same way, so basically yes, but keep a check on them, not running to hot etc. Check voltage if you can. But they all work the same way, just later cells are used to the controlled cct of later chargers. Especially with them being so called sealed, they still let gas escape, via a pin hole, If they get hot, to much gas, going out, reduces the effiency of the electrolyte, so will reduce the life, BUT as long as you keep checking them and stop if they get hot no problem, they will get warm anyway.
Jul 29, 2014. I have a PDF of the schematic i drew for my bike. It is posted on the Yahoo power-assist group. Look in the files section.
There is also a text file there that lists all of the wiring connectors and where each of the wires goes. As well as connection diagrams for the Curtis 1505 speed controller. The charger circuit is very simple.
The black and red wires from the charger port go straight to the batteries +24V and 0V terminals. The third white wire connects through a bullet connector to pin#7 (EPO wire) of the Curtis speed controller. This acts to turn off the motors while the batteries are being charged.
Inside the charger male connector the pin for that 3rd white wire is shorted to ground. So when you plug the charger in the white wire is grounded thru the charger plug. I really enjoyed my EV-Warriors while i could still ride them. Rick Mar 12, 2009.
. EV 30i INVERTER GENERATOR.:6. MANUAL I nverter Generator EV 30i. PREFACE Thank you for purchasing our generators. This manual covers operation and maintenance of the EV30i generator.
Publication is based on the latest product information information in this Available at the time of approval for printing. We reserve the right to make changes at any time without notice and without incurring any obligation. CONTENTS 1. S AFETY INSTRUCTIONS -1 2. SAFETY LABEL LOCA TIONS -3 3. SAFETY INSTRUCTI ONS A.WARNING.Our generators are designed to give safe and depe- ndable service if operated according to instructions. Read and understand the Owner's Manual before op- erating the generator.
1996 Ev Warrior Electric Bicycle Manual
Failure to do so could result in personal injury or equipment damage. To ensure safe operation- SAFETY LABEL LOCATI ONS AWARNING. Gasoline is extremely flammable and explosive under certain conditions. 2.1 Outside view Refuel in a well ventilated area with the engine stopped. Keep away from cigarette, smoke and sparks when refueling the generator. Always refuel in a well-ventilated location.
Control panel PRE-OPERATI ON CHECK SMART throttle switch Be sure to check the generator on a level surface with the engine stopped. Check the engine oil level. A.CAUTION.Using nondetergent oil or 2-stroke engine oil could shorten the engine's service life.
Gasoline’s containing alcohol.A.CAUTION If you decide to use a gasoline containing alcohol (gasohol), be sure its octane.Running the engine with insufficient oil can cause serious engine damage. Rating is at least as high as that recommended by us. There are two types of.The Low Oil Alarm System will automatically stop the engine before the oil 'gasohol': one containing ethanol, and the other containing methanol. 4.3 Insert the engine key, and turn the engine switch to ON position. STARTING THE ENGINE CAUTION.When starting the generator after adding fuel for the first time, after longterm storage, or after running out of fuel, tum the fuel valve lever to position, then wait for 10 to 20 seconds before starting the 'ON'.
4.5 Push the choke k n o b to the OPEN p o s i t i o n as the engine w a r m s 5. GENERATOR USE Up, see page 10.A.WARNING.To prevent electrical shock from faulty appliances, the generator should be grounded. 5.3 DC application 5.1 AC applications 1.
Start the engine and make sure the green output indicator light comes on. The DC receptacle may be used for charging 12 volt automotive-type batteries only. Confirm that the appliance to be used is switched off and plug in the appliance. Output voltage is 15-30V when current receptacle on no load.
Ev Warrior Bicycle
Start the engine 7. MAINTENANCE.The DC receptacle may be used while the AC power is in use. An overloaded DC circuit will trip the DC circuit protector (push button comes out).
I f this happens, wait a few minutes before pushing in the circuit The purpose of the maintenance and adjustment schedule is to keep the protector to resume operation. Changing oil 1. Revolve the l e ft side cover knob; open the l e ft side maintenance cover.
Drai n the oil whi l e the engine i s still warm to assure rapi d and complete draining. Unsnap the clips, remove the air cleaner cover. Install the spark plug carefully, by hand, to avoid cross-threading. 7.5 Spark plug service 8.
After a new spark plug has been seated by hand, it should be tightened 1/2 tum Recommended spark plug: WR7DC To ensure proper engine operation, the spark plug must be properly gapped and with a wrench to compress its washer. Spark arrester maintenance 8. TRANSPORTING/STORAGE 8.1 When t r a n s p o r t i n g t h e generator, tum the fuel v a l v e lever O F F and keep the generator level to prevent fuel spillage. Fuel vapour or spilled fuel may ignite.
back cover. Appliance does not operate: 9. TROUBLESHOOTING I s the output i n di c ator light When the engine will not start Refill the fuel tank. I s there fuel i n the tank?
11ol Take the generator to an Is the overload authorized dealer. SPECIFICATIONS 11. WIRING DIAGRAM Model EV 30i Rated frequency (Hz) Rated voltage (V) Rated current (A)::::J 12.2 23.3 11.7 Rated speed (rpm) 3600 Rated output (kVA) Max. Output (kVA) DC output DC voltage 12V-8.3A Electric circuit breaker Without. WHEEL KIT 13. The choice of the electric cable The unit comes with the rubber mounting feet already installed. If you wish to The choice of the electric cable depends on the allowable current of the cable install the wheel kit, please perform the following procedure.
And the distance between the load and the generator. Modified coefficient table of ambient condition power The conditions generator rated output: Altitude: O m Ambient temperature: 25'C Relative humidity: 30% Ambient modified coefficient: C (Relative humidity 30%) Ambient temperature ('C) Altitude 0.98 0.96 0.93 0.90 0.93 0.91 0.89 0.87 0.84 1000 0.87.
I have a PDF of the schematic i drew for my bike. It is posted on the Yahoo power-assist group. Look in the files section. There is also a text file there that lists all of the wiring connectors and where each of the wires goes. As well as connection diagrams for the Curtis 1505 speed controller. The charger circuit is very simple.
The black and red wires from the charger port go straight to the batteries +24V and 0V terminals. The third white wire connects through a bullet connector to pin#7 (EPO wire) of the Curtis speed controller. This acts to turn off the motors while the batteries are being charged.
Inside the charger male connector the pin for that 3rd white wire is shorted to ground. So when you plug the charger in the white wire is grounded thru the charger plug. I really enjoyed my EV-Warriors while i could still ride them. Rick Posted on May 23, 2009.
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