spectastic

i want to get rid of my car so bad. I wonder what it will be like to sell the car and get a utility e bike like a felt bruhaul, pedego stretch, or juiced rider odk. I've got a gas motorcycle that i would use for long distance road trips. but for hauling groceries, equipment, etc, i think the ebike would suffice.

has anyone gone car free in favor of ebike? how has it been?

Robert C

In a word, yes. With a good rack and a trailer it is pretty easy. I ended up getting rid of my car in 2006. For part of that time I, also, had a motorcycle; but right now, and for the last several years, I have only used my bicycle.

There are quite a few people here that will, effectively, say that, if you are going to use an e-bike then, you should just drive a car. There is a world of difference.

It does work. As I said, a trailer is close to essential. You wont need it on day-one; however, eventually you will get one and then wonder why you didn't get one sooner. I am a bit unhappy with the batteries range and expect to order a better battery soon; of course, I think the cold weather has a lot to do with that (batteries loose a lot when it is below freezing).

powell

O yes, I would love to get rid of my car but not in my climate.
I got winter to fight with: minus 20Celsius, salt on the roads, 2 foot snow , winter. Of course I have winter and summer ebikes.
But I can imagine life without car in warm climate.
Main thing is quality and reliability of your ebike, no cheap junk here, unless you like having your hands dirty from constant repairing, adjusting shoddy components.
Some even open and rebuild their hub motors.
Are you technical/electrical person with tools? - Makes big, big difference.

NoPhart

Makes dating a bit difficult

2old

RC, I think that lithium batteries have been reported to lose 20% of their capacity in freezing temps; would be interesting to see something quantitative.
Obviously, best to keep them inside before use and insulated during.

fietsbob

Add a motor to a cargo bike.. for more capacity ..

spectastic

you know I might just bring my cargo trailer i made back in iowa. when I was in college, I converted a burley kid trailer into a giant 6' cargo trailer for hauling newspaper. it's heavy as hell, but it'll get the job done. now it's just sitting there... I could hook it up to my mtb. no need for a utility e bike afterall, because I'll likely rarely use it.

Robert C

I notice that my batteries loose a big chunk of their capacity if it is below freezing. I use my e-bike in the city I work in, in Kansas; so yes, it gets cold. I bring the bike inside at night. That helps with the capacity on the way to work.

hoodat

During my heart operation I had a seizure and went into a two week coma. When I recovered I was no longer safe to drive so I turned in my license. I have been riding an etrike ever since. I highly recommend a trike over a bike if it is your only transportation. You can haul more and don't have to worry about balancing your load.

SchwinnSuburban

I ditched my car this past summer, picked up a hub mount motor and mounted it to a bicycle with a step-through frame (otherwise known as a "girls bike"), so far I've been extremely happy with it, one of the top 10 best decisions I've made in my life. The rare times I need a car I just rent. According to AAA the average cost of car ownership is around $8,000.00 per year, I can rent a car for quite a number of days for that amount of money, even if the cost of the bicycle motor, etc. is subtracted from that. Will you need a cargo bike? Hard to say, but you can always go take what bike you currently own and try doing your usual errands, if you find that you can do most of your errands on a regular bike you probably don't need a cargo bike. This is assuming you have a rear and front rack on your bike with folding baskets and/or panniers. I do also have a trailer, and have used it from time to time but not day in and day out. Because of that I've decided against getting a cargo bike, which, if you're not utilizing the cargo part of that bike on a regular basis you are just peddling around extra weight draining more energy from you and the battery for your motor. If you go with a hub motor you can switch it from bike to bike so if later on you find you need the extra capacity of a cargo bike you can just swap the motor wheel over to it.

To those who say if you ride an electric bike you should just drive a car I have the following to say: the world would be a lot better off if the majority of people commuted via electric bicycle during the week and drove their cars only recreationally (or peddled non-motorized bicycles) on the weekends. Should you show up to a group ride with a motorized bicycle while everyone else has a non-motorized bicycle? No, that would be stupid. Another way to look at it is that if a motorized bicycle is so bad, then we should all just go back to riding horses. Lastly, the environmental impact of an electric bicycle is far far less than a car, so I'll ride my electric bicycle and always be happy.

P.S. In warm weather with conservative use and regenerative breaking I'm getting about 50 miles round trip on flat land with moderate hills. When going in the hills alone I get around 20 to 30 miles round trip.

InTheRain

Why do you say that a trailer is close to essential? I've seen a surly big dummy e-bike in the area. The rider hauls kids, groceries, supplies. I could see a use for a trailer, but I would think most of the riding would be done without it. What is it that you haul that makes a trailer essential?

CrankyOne

A bakfiets with pedal assist is a great option. This has become the overwhelming choice in northern (and the rest?) Europe. I have one from bakfiets.nl but plan to sell it to get a Workcycles Kr8.

alterz

One cannot

Robert C

Sure, a long bike is a good alternative. I continually consider getting one. A long bike with side platforms would probably do al I need a bike to do. However, it would be hard to bring in the back door every day.

On a different note, yesterday I needed to carry a bundle of 1"x10' PVC. I t would have been easier with a long bike; but I managed.

drumbent

I've not owned a car since 1999, and also work as a musician, so I have stuff to haul around. I, 2003 I built a recumbent cargo trike for this (mentioned somewhere back in this forum), that I added e-assist to in '06. For the most part it worked great; I'm a member of our local car-sharing program so have do have access if I really need it (winter, long hauls), but the trike got used a lot. In the winter I'd use my regular winter bike with trailer whenever possible.

Two years ago I took the trike off the road. Mostly because it needed a new battery pack at roughly $700 Cdn., but also because I was wrestling with some of the practicality issues (long story - will give details if anyone asks). Fast-forward to last October, when I decided to instead use my mountain bike with a trailer. I removed the assist from the trike, took the motor out of the 20" wheel and rebuilt it into a 26". A friend of mine works in the e-assist business, and knows all the electrical stuff (I don't) so that was a big help. The old battery pack he had let us know that we hooked everything up correctly, and it worked for a while before it died (as we knew it would). Now that Spring is arriving here my friend told me he can get a 20a/h pack for a great price, and I will go for that and get back into the assist world.

All this to say to the OP: yes, you can do it! I've moved drums, amplifiers, household items, even an old refrigerator, with my cargo trike. I plan to do much of the same (well, maybe not the fridge) with my new set-up, and continue using automotive power as little as possible.

Crazy_Lenny

Yuba Spicy Curry with its powerful 500W TranzX motor, 48v, 9Ah battery is a great substitute for car.
One of our employees commutes on her Yuba Spicy curry and sometimes carrying two kids on the back. This bike was designed to haul 400lbs of cargo and the motor is geared for extra torque.

7up

I love the Spicy cargo bike but the Curry part I'm very iffy on in my opinion.If only I could trust the reliability of Curry I would buy that sexy low slung cargo bike in a heartbeat.

Dunbar

There's also the Rad Bikes Radwagon for $1600 but it's a hub motor so steep hills are not going to be its forte.

Firedog91902

I have a older Santana Rio "mountain bike". Those are very sturdy steely tandems with 21 speed gear train, 26" wheels. Lot's of em for sale $300 to $500.

I added a 36v, 800 watt front hub ebike kit. I use six, 18v 4.5AH Makita tool batteries (clones) in a 2S3P to get 36v 13.5Ah. They are designed to deliver high current, recharge in 45 minutes and designed for abuse. The tandem's long frame allows plenty of room to mount a buss for the batteries snap into. Before the e hub, the tandem was not much fun to ride alone. With the motor it's great and handles surprisingly well.

Here's the point. It's become our second car. Wife and I can go about 35 miles at over 25mph and the hills are no longer an obstacle. Together we can haul quite a bit in the rear wheel rack and backpacks. But, I plan to build a cargo rack that replaces her and mounts in the stoker's seat and handle bar tubes. Then, I should be able to haul a trunk load.

Who said you can't take a date?

deronmoped

I go to Costco on my moped, saves me a ton of money only being able to buy what I can put in my backpack and in a box on the rack on the back of the bike.

chas58

I built a pair of bikes and sold a car. It was a summer, fair weather car, but I just didn’t use it any more, as I would rather be on the bicycle.

I use the bike for rides under 10 miles pretty consistently, and for trips up to 20mph.

Drawbacks:
Can’t carry other people.
Limited cargo carrying
Need a plan for rain.

Given my average speed on my car’s computer is about 34mph, and on the bike is 20mph, the bike only adds about 10 minutes to a 10 mile commute. And, that time can often be offset by dealing with parking.

chas58

I guess in practical terms, that means range?

I don't go long range in the winter, so I never noticed a difference in winter vs summer "capacity"

I did use a Chevy volt in the winter, and its range was about 30% lower. But on a bike, well, I'm not doing 20 mile rides in the snow at ebike speeds. If it is below freezing, I'm happy pedaling myself since I'm going slower. But its something to keep in mind.

Ray_R

Check out the Larry vs Harry Bullitt cargo e-bike. I rode one this past weekend, and it's definitely on my short list. It uses the Shimano STEPS system or BionX D-500 for pedal assist. They're not cheap. But they're certainly a good value for what you get. Tank build quality but with excellent road manners. You can also get them without e-assist, and in many different component configurations.

blue192

I don't know as I have met some pretty smexy women out on the bike paths/trails here in Ottawa...

unterhausen

I always wondered if you could use the battery to power a small heater. And take them inside when not in use.

I think I could mostly get by with a ebike and no car. Not sure I would really need a cargo bike. I could probably make do with a couple of stout racks.