By Hutton Marshall
E-bike expo rolls into San Diego Feb. 26-28
The world has changed enormously in the past two decades. The way we power our cars, our homes and even our blankets has altered radically since we entered the new millennium. Even the bicycle, long praised for its simple but effective engineering, has begun to change as well.
In an age where city planners would like to see a greater share of residents commute by bicycle, electric-powered bicycles — e-bikes — appear to loom in the very near future.
E-bikes, for those unaware of the hottest new two-wheeled technology, is a bicycle powered partially by pedaling and partially by an electric motor. With their meager sales growing steadily each year, coupled with the constant breakthroughs in battery efficiency, e-bikes may not sound like the oddball niche transportation method for much longer.
How they work
With folding bicycles, recumbent bicycles, adult tricycles and every other variety of “traditional” bikes, it might surprise the uninitiated to learn that e-bikes can be just as varied. The basic idea behind them, however, is a relatively small and debatably lightweight electric motor typically powering the back wheel and controlled either manually with a handlebar throttle or automatically by sensing the rider’s pedaling power and adjusting accordingly.
Not all e-bikes are inherently bikes by design, either. Some manufacturers have unveiled designs that transform good ol’ fashioned bicycles into e-bikes through an added-on modification. The most popular and promising example of this is the Copenhagen Wheel, a sleek motor built around a modified back wheel.
The Copenhagen Wheel also shows how technologically complex e-bikes can be. The MIT-designed motor is designed to conform to the bicyclist’s existing riding habits as smoothly as possible, starting by working off the bike that the rider was using before hand.
The back wheel adjusts its speed based off how hard the rider pedals (i.e., by providing more power as the rider pedals faster, and the motor switches off when the pedaling stops). The back wheel is also controlled through a smartphone mounted on the handlebars, so it can be switched between low- and high-power modes, as well as display data captured by the system. The back wheel also locks itself when the controlling smartphone is more than a few meters away.
While devices like the Copenhagen Wheel impressively display the technological heights e-bike technology is capable of reaching, the technology doesn’t come without a price. The Copenhagen Wheel can currently be pre-ordered for more than $900.
State of the e-bike market
The United States has yet to find a market for e-bikes. Just a few hundred thousand are sold each year. They’ve proven much more popular elsewhere, however. Europeans buy over 1 million e-bikes each year, and one estimate found that as many as 32 million e-bikes were sold in China in 2013.
Personally, I’m not going to run out and buy an e-bike — not yet, at least. At this point, they remain too expensive and, as a lesser consideration, too heavy.
However, I don’t identify with the attitude of the cycling purist who scoffs at e-bikes for their partial reliance on electric batteries over human-power. No one argues that we should allow e-bikes into the Tour de France. This technology is for commuters who just want to get from point A to point B in an affordable, fun and environmentally friendly way. Who cares if they do so by expending less energy.
How San Diegans can buy and use them
The way Americans can use an e-bike varies from state to state, even city to city. San Diego doesn’t lay out specific regulations for bikes of the electric variety, but California provides fairly lax rules governing their use.
In the eyes of California law, an e-bike is effectively just a bike. So long as it’s not capable of exceeding 20 miles per hour, that is. Ride them on bicycle paths or mixed-use trails — anywhere you would typically ride your human-powered bicycle.
E-bikes capable of reaching speeds as high as 28 mph, classified as “Type 3 electric bicycles,” are prohibited from bike paths.
As far as purchasing options go for San Diegans, online retailers may provide the most affordable route for those who know exactly what e-bike variety they desire. Local retailers such as SD Fly Rides, El Camino Bike Shop and Moment Bicycles have a variety of options as well.
As for the majority of cyclists unfamiliar with the emerging technology, the 2016 Electric Bike Expo will stop in San Diego Feb. 26-28. Some of the world’s leading manufacturers will be selling and offering test runs. Even for those without the resources or motivation to invest in an e-bike this weekend, the expo will be a great place for curious cyclists to experience the contraptions first hand. Find out more about the event at electricbike-expo.com.
An e-bike future
Multiple challenges may continue to slow the pace of e-bike sales in San Diego and beyond. For one, regulations are very much still being hashed out, although San Diego e-bikers don’t have to worry about such concerns yet.
Every year, batteries grow more efficient and less expensive. This means that e-bikes should continue to grow lighter and more affordable as time passes. Without the dense field of regulation and an unwelcoming legacy industry that electric cars face in the automobile industry, e-bikes have a much easier hill to climb to widespread acceptance.
Five years from now, maybe electric bicycles will be more widespread and affordable enough to become the norm among urban commuters, or maybe they’ll go the way of the Segway, adopted exclusively by dorky tourists on guided excursions through Downtown. Only time can tell where e-bikes will take us.
—Contact Hutton Marshall at [email protected].
