Charging at work
 

My wife was riding my electric Big Dummy to work. At first they were asking a lot of questions and were a little back and forth on letting her charge it there. They finally came out an said she couldn't. She works for the state of PA in a mental hospital.
Now you would think that if someone wants to use a clean, healthy way to commute to a hospital they would totally back her.
We recently bought an electric car and received a $3500 rebate check from the PA Dept of Environmental Protection. So it would seem that the state of PA would be in favor of this.
The guy who made the final decision makes the financial decisions for the hospital. He claimed that he already had one person say that if they're going to pay for my wife's transportation they better pay for their gas too.
Right from the start she offered to pay for the electricity, you know the $.10 a day that it uses. :rolleyes:
He claims he's looking into a way to do that, I don't buy it.

So I wondered if anybody had any problems charging up at work.

I used to bring my battery and charger inside to charge up. People at my office found it strange at first but none of them said anything about the cost to the company. (of something like $0.05/day in my case)

My company is pretty good at 'don't sweat the small stuff' and place importance on things that affect us a lot more than a nickel does.

Tough call, Metal Man. You have a couple options:

1) Seek assistance higher up the chain of command. Talk to your wife's boss' boss.

2) Try to get comparisons of other personal electrical devices in your wife's office that her coworkers use such as radios, heaters, personal laptops, etc.

3) Get written support that would show the company could save on taxes if they could show that x amount of employees were riding their bikes instead of driving. Get proof to show a positive spin would happen if everyone in the company saved on gas. The company could present a positive image to the surrounding community.

4) There are also the health benefits to riding bicycles which would decrease the company's health costs.

5) Do an internet search on overseas countries whose populations use bicycles as their primary source of transportation and find out their benefits. Here's one such example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swqaA...ure=plpp_video
Here's another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn2s6...ure=plpp_video

I think a lot of the problem (not that they know this problem) is how different individuals charge their batteries \. And what kind of batteries they are charging. Some people (maybe not you) use no protection at all and there's no way to know what kind of cells their charging.


Bob

I think the root of the problem is that it's a state run hospital, not a
commercial business. I couldn't imagine a commercial business giving more than a
few seconds of thought to this and then moving on to more important
things.
She met with the "CEO" she said the business manager would make the
call on it and he say's no. I know at this point they have wasted hours of tax
payer time to hassle my wife about this.
My electric kit is an E+ so the
batteries don't come off the bike. They haven't mentioned safety as one of there
reasons ...yet.
We have a few avenues we are trying by way of the state
capitol, but no progress at this point.

Find a outlet in the back of the building and just park it by that, LOL

Buy a portable solar panel :)

I find it VERY hard to believe that any business would deny you pennies worth of electricity to charge the battery. It just amazes me.

I would make them sooo ashamed they would beg me to plug my bike in, if for nothing more than PR reasons... :)

At a former job, a coworker was basically compelled to stop cycling, because company policy didn't provide for a space inside to store a bicycle (it was not an office job), and management insisted he chained up behind the 'employee parking' line, way out in the lot. He chained to a parking lot lamp, and was written up for taking up a space with a non-car object, and was told to chain to one of the light posts just off the property, along the road, which was very busy with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. When he expressed his concern about that putting his bike in greater risk of being stolen, the response was predictable: "Why don't you just drive your car [the two miles] to work?"

I wouldn't doubt many claims of a company denying something like charging an electric bicycle's battery.

That's the problem, it's not a "business", but a state run
facility. I guess it's more like asking your drill sergeant to be reasonable
than it is like dealing with a true business manager.
Sneaking it is not a
possibility, there is security and they are fully aware of the bike.

I think it will come down to this, I'm not sure of the path it will take to get there, but my feeling is this is how it will end up.

Metal Man, you need to fight a state run facility with another state run facility. Talk to the leaders in the state's transportation department, i.e. - the secretary of transportation. How about the PA Department of Environmental Protection? Send them a letter too.

Have you talked to local bicycle clubs? Email all the leaders of your local bicycle clubs, local bicycle shops, etc.

What about a local news station? :thumb:

How many miles is her commute?

It's 13 hilly miles each way.

+1

I would go so far as to collect the above data and input it into a presentation with a comparison to the battery charger.

I measured my 36v 3a charger and found that it used 187w or the equivalent of 2-3 lightbulbs

Less efficient than I would have estimated to use 187W input to get 36V x 3A = 108W output.

Any chance for the OP to get an auxiliary battery pack to extend the range so no mid-day charging is needed?

No any problems to charge my E+ in my company which is small manufacturing company.
Who cares about pennies of electricity, much bigger problem is walking my E+ in after riding in snow or rain over the carpet.
I would also try to get intrest of local newspaper , TV news, etc.
Are you sure it is not about "bicycles not allowed" thing rather.

They have a bike rack, I guess it's not in the best location, but the bike isn't the problem. Their latest proposal is that if she buys a meter to their spec (for $200) they will install it and bill her for usage.
They have not said where this would be and how it would be secured so she isn't billed for someone else using the outlet.

This sounds so utterly ridiculous I cannot imagine anyone in this age of the importance of being "Green".

Someone near the top is too into bureaucracy and not enough into human beings.

I would think that a local TV station might like to play with this story.

$200 would be 5.5 years worth of recharging at $0.10/day. I think the person(s) who came up with that decision in that mental hospital need to be admitted as patients. Seriously. :rolleyes:

If I were as much marketer as I am inventor, I would consider developing a prepaid charging device for just such a situation.

How far does she get without charging? I can get about 36 (not too hilly) miles out of my E+ running at +3 power and pedalling at a fairly relaxed effort. I suppose you could loosen up the brake calipers a bit so you could easily activate the regen going downhill to squeeze out a bit more range.

We know they're in bed with big pharma. I wouldn't look for reason and logic at the nut house, something more diabolical and sinister lurks there in every corner.:(

Strangely enough I visited patient in mental ward years ago here in Western Canada more than once in summer.
I came on MERIDA ebike /lead acid/ and just used common sense, didnt ask anybody, left bike between entrance doors /my favourite spot/ so I can see it from distance, dismount battery , carried it with me and plug it in plain view in wait area where I met patient.
Just imagine,
If I asked what answer would I get?
I understand she works there - completely different situation and on E+ you cannot disconnect hub battery,
but MetalMan
I thought you bought extra hub battery, I saw on your pictures.
I know it weights about 9kg but it still can be moved around

Yes, I have an extra battery on it. It could be removed , but it would be
pretty awkward to remove it to recharge it daily. There is no chance that she
can sneak a charge inside or outside.
While she may be able to make the
round trip without charging under ideal conditions. She's not in the shape that
I am (but getting better) and I think she would have to slow way down to do it.
The colder temps are coming soon too and with it slower speeds.

I wheel my bike into my office and plug it in, so I guess I'm lucky. But my understanding is that is uses almost no electricity. Can you get a KillAWatt meter or something like that to see how much juice it actually takes? Then you can present that information. I really is pennies a day.