Comment by Obi_Juan_Kenobi | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Obi_Juan_Kenobi | Hacker News Reader

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Obi_Juan_Kenobi

A reasonable-quality battery pack for an ebike costs at least $400 at the retail level. That gets you about 600Wh with actual name-brand cells and a BMS that might last a few years or more. Add in a motor, controller, and incidentals, and it's at least a $600 premium for electrification. But most people like mid-drives (torque-sense pedal assist), so it's more like $800.

So far, the economics have only hit mid-market. No point in spending over a grand just to get a truly shit Walmart-tier bicycle. Instead, they go to $1,500 and you get something more balanced. Check out Rad-city for economical examples.

For conversions, $600 is about the current minimum for a 'reasonable' build. That's a $200 eBay hub-drive kit and a $400 name-brand-cell battery. $500 if you want a better build and individual-fuses on each cell (important for peace-of-mind if you're storing in an attached garage or something). $900 total if you want a decent mid-drive.

It will come down, but right now no one is leaving profit on the table. The batteries and electronics simply cost a fair amount.

> [...]$600 premium for electrification. But most people like mid-drives (torque-sense pedal assist), so it's more like $800[...]

I don't know about the US, but in the EU that "like" is a must-have, your bicycle isn't street-legal as a bicycle unless it's a pedal assist (pedelec). The cheap option of pressing a button to get power makes the bicycle an electric motorcycle or scooter, needing a license, helmet etc.

So part of why they're expensive in the EU & other markets is regulatory, a drive train that can smoothly mix motor and pedal input without being clunky is more expensive to make than an electric scooter.

I wonder how if this European study holds true in North America. The US and Canada have a regulation for maximum speed/power, but pedelec is optional.

In Canada it's pretty easy to build faster/more powerful e-bikes that break the laws without getting caught, though I'm sure off the shelf bicycles do adhere to the regulations. I ride a conventional racing bike myself, but I like e-bikes because having more cyclists and faster cyclists is a good incentive for making more bike paths.

The basic EU street legal setup is a cheaper magnetic sensor that just sees if the pedals are rotating and toggles the motor on/off. Torque sensor gets you continuously variable motor power, depending on how hard you pedal.

https://www.juicedbikes.com/pages/torque-vs-cadence-sensors

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