Electric Bikes - Can an eBIke help on my long commute?

Is asking for an extra 3-4mph average for 42 miles too much?

I ride my fuji touring loaded down to what will probably be 60lbs overall once we move buildings. The thing is the building is 21 miles from home where I'll be forced to park far away from my desk and plugging in anything will get confiscated by security. Lovely pro employee place.
Right now I'm averaging about 14.5 mph for my 22 mile round trip. I've done the 42 miles a few days for practice and it goes up to almost 16 due to alot less stops and my body being warmed up and legs ready to go after at about the 7 mile mark. I'm counting on only 14.5 though because well that is along way.

Yeah 2 hours 54 minutes riding time.. Probably 3 and a quarter overall for the round trip.
If I could bump up my average speed to 18.5 it would be 2 hours 16 minutes plus I think having a little electric boost would help off stop signs/lights cutting time even further.

Is asking for an extra 3-4mph average for 42 miles too much?

I ride my fuji touring loaded down to what will probably be 60lbs overall once we move buildings. The thing is the building is 21 miles from home where I'll be forced to park far away from my desk and plugging in anything will get confiscated by security. Lovely pro employee place.
Right now I'm averaging about 14.5 mph for my 22 mile round trip. I've done the 42 miles a few days for practice and it goes up to almost 16 due to alot less stops and my body being warmed up and legs ready to go after at about the 7 mile mark. I'm counting on only 14.5 though because well that is along way.

Yeah 2 hours 54 minutes riding time.. Probably 3 and a quarter overall for the round trip.
If I could bump up my average speed to 18.5 it would be 2 hours 16 minutes plus I think having a little electric boost would help off stop signs/lights cutting time even further.

You're talking 42 miles total between charging opportunity? That's gonna be tough but not impossible. I have an extremely efficient BB drive which can average 14-16mph level with very mild legwork but I can see 30 miles from 15AH 24V NiMh battery. With a frugal motor, I'd say you need minimum of 20AH 24V to cover 42 miles assisted.

In the world of eBikes that's a big battery footprint though and SLA (sealed lead acid) would be impossible. Maybe not impossible, but a deathtrap to ride with that much weight/bulk. Lithium would be the best route but for enough capacity you're looking at well over $1,000. NiMh ain't much better in price and if I had it to do over again, I would have gone Lithium instead of NimH.

Design a battery pack that you can remove and charge by your desk and that would cut weight/size roughly in half? Plus, I'm often uneasy leaving an expensive battery pack sitting on a parked bike.

You're probably a good candidate for ebike commuting. Keep your weight low, under 20mph and pedal, eBikes can surprise you with their hybrid range. You also already deal with riding in weather and stuff, yes? Besides the type system to install and battery chemistry/capacity you'll want to factor in a little weatherproofing for your setup too.

A 400 series brushless hub motor and controller/throttle would add about 18lbs BEFORE batteries. Shesh - can't remember exactly but I think lithium would keep you under 10-15lbs for a 20AH/24V pack? Keep a charger at work and home and you can save some weight there. By my guesstimate - your 60lb bike would probably be around 90lb eBike if you use Lithium. Double the battery weight if you go NiMh.

BB (bottom bracket) motors are usually lighter and use the bike gearing but require getting into your crankwheel to install. A 400 series front hub motor would be the easiest and least permanent way to go if using a "good" bike for your platform. These are just my thoughts and ramblings - keep reading, check more links to other forums and learn all you can before jumping into the ride. It's pretty cool and not too hard once you know the names/nuances of all the parts. Particularly, BATTERIES...

Oh how I hate batteries!
I owned an electric car since I could drive, electric lawn mower and tons of other electric stuff. About 10 years ago I got some cheap front hub/wheel which was a terrible piece of junk.

I ride in all weather except lightning. Down here that just means rain and extreme heat though. We don't the same kind of weather I got when I was in Connecticut. Boy do I miss my ice bike and the winter commutes it was the best part of my week.

I'll have to ask security in the new building if there is anywhere I could plug in. They won't let anyone plug in any non company equipment and it is enforced with confiscation until your boss signs it out. :(

O have to wet nap shower now but will have a real shower at the new location when I join the gym meaning I can really pedal hard. That could cut down on it's use to help me get home faster mode. Yeah I'll be dragging it around but if I can just get help on some inclines, certain tight stretches and from stops it could be pretty good. I'll take a closer look again throughs some posts and try to weed out some with actual ebike data in them.

I've been thinking of building a recumbent with fairing and 1kwh of batteries for a 20+ mile one way trek ($3000 with lithium batteries) but if your boss won't let you charge the batteries at work, you will be limited to less than 20 mph.

A faired recumbent from years back (http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/435) that does 27mph top speed an says 20 miles. It uses some old heavy stuff. I do have a bike E but it is SLOOOW. It might make a good test platform though because it isn't my daily ride. Gotta check through the forum for more modern recumbent solutions.


This is possible if I xtracycle my bike (http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/155) 32mph top speed.. 30 mile range if he pedals.. I'm sure it is a little overly positive but if I only go 20 (the legal limit) while under power it should get me home pretty quick. And with an xtracycle no one would know it was electric anyhow because it would all be hidden :)

Here's a place that specializes in recumbents and other unusual eBike designs.

http://www.evsolutions.net/

You're gonna need 36/48 volt for a 400 series hub motor though.

check with http://www.electricrider.com/ for more motor/controller/parts supplies.

I basically have one of these so it's very hard to tell it's electric:

http://www.extraenergy.org/img/677_270_1.jpg

But, I also have a hub motor throttle custom from a couple years ago that I enjoy riding too. Trouble is, it needs double the battery capacity to do the same mileage as the Panasonic.

I'll have to ask security in the new building if there is anywhere I could plug in. They won't let anyone plug in any non company equipment and it is enforced with confiscation until your boss signs it out. :(

O have to wet nap shower now but will have a real shower at the new location when I join the gym meaning I can really pedal hard. That could cut down on it's use to help me get home faster mode. Yeah I'll be dragging it around but if I can just get help on some inclines, certain tight stretches and from stops it could be pretty good. I'll take a closer look again throughs some posts and try to weed out some with actual ebike data in them.

Oh what a difference a good employer makes! Mine encourages everyone to ride a bike. They realize that a healthy, happy employee is a productive employee. They provide us with a shower and changing facilities and shower us with incentives when we bike commute every day. My employee has built a special place for me in the parking garage and supplies an electric plug for charging. Everyone should be doing this.