Electric Bikes - Looking for help choosing an electric bike

Hi,

I'm looking for help in choosing an electric bike. I work very close to where I live (roughly 2 miles), but its on top of a pretty significant hill. I'd really love to figure out how to go to and from work without burning gasoline. The hill is too steep for me to handle pedaling, so I've been looking for an electric bike or scooter that can help me do the job.

First, the task:
The horizontal distance is about 2.5 miles
The vertical distance is about 190 meters (most of the hill takes place in the final 0.7-1.0 miles; that makes for a pretty steep grade)
I weigh rougly 180 pounds with all of my stuff
I have good weather all year round

Needs:
An electric bike or scooter than can reliably handle the hill with minimal pedaling
A good braking system (I have to come down too)
10 mile range
15 mph uphill (so that I dont get run over by the car drivers)
Good construction

Wants:
15-20 mile range so that I can take it other places
25 mph on flat areas
Ability to extend range by pedaling
Not ugly
Ability to take "the expensive part" inside when I lock it up (if it folds, I might take the entire thing inside)
Lights and mirrors (or I have to add them myself)
Good, no-nonsense warranty
Purchase in northern california


My absolute max is $2500, but for that I would expect something that goes 35 uphill, has a range of 30 miles and offers a 5 year warranty. My "real budget" is $1500 and I'd like to stay under $1000-1200, but how much I put out really depends on what I'm getting. I'd really like to get something very well built that I can use for the next 10 years, changing the batteries every 2 years or so. I hate to say it, but I've seen so much low-quality, disposable crap with "made in china" stamped on it in other areas that I'd have a hard time spending a lot of money on an electric bike that was made in china.

From what I've seen so far, the more powerful vehicles blur the line with (or simply are) scooters/mopeds, so I'm willing to give up pedals and removability/make it a scooter or moped if I have to.

The eGO looks nice, but a bit expensive at $1400, and I've heard that it can burn out on steep hills. There are lots of $300-$500 motorized bikes, but I tend to wonder how they do on hill climbing.

Any suggestions?

I suck at math, but i think that final 190M portion over a mile equals to about a 12% grade? That is fairly steep. Are you looking for a ready made ebike or are you willing to build your own? You may have to adjust your specs a bit, 15mph up a 12% grade with minimal peddling is large demand. I'm sure it's possible, but you may have to increase your budget.

Actually, the vertical/horizontal ratio is about 0.3 and the angle is just under 17 degrees. Thats pretty steep.

I've been looking at the forums and considering building my own since the posting, but I know that I'm going to have higher component costs than any of the manufacturers.

I also dont really understand what I need to build a good hill climber. The ego scooter has a 1.5 kW motor, but burns out on some hills; the charly has 750 watts and is said to climb hills well. I dont understand what makes the lower power motor climb better than the higher power one.

I think building your own, for what you're getting, would be cheaper then buying an ebike scooter. I just built up a crystalite system and it works great, for what i want. If you're looking for a ready made ebike, perhaps you could rent the ones your considering and try them on the hill?

Email me to discuss your options
I advise putting the components on your own bike, custom to fit your needs
'pre-made-china bikes' are too underpowered