Bosch owners in US sought for academic ebike study

[Dewey]

I received this invitation this morning on Facebook so thought to repost here.

“Citizen Research: Join the E-Bike Travel Behavior Study in 2019 (National Science Foundation)

Electric bikes (e-bikes) are a new mode of transportation that could substantially improve efficiency in the transportation system if adopted as substitutes for cars. Researchers at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Portland State University, and Bosch E-Bike Systems have received funding for a study "Novel Approaches to Model Travel Behavior and Sustainability Impacts of E-Bike Use" and they're looking for a cohort of current e-bike users to participate in the study for one year.
We will measure real-world travel behavior and assess the sustainability impacts of those choices. We are developing a platform that is easily deployable, non-invasive, and leverages computing resources enabled by e-bike technology and smartphone sensor capability.

Current practices of tracking e-bike data rely on memory recall and self-reporting from the user. Our approach will instead leverage smartphones to conduct ad-hoc travel surveys to supplement the passive data collection and, using machine learning algorithms, create the largest and richest dataset to support the growth of e-bike use as a transportation option.

If you'd like to learn more about the study, or be notified when we open up participation in the study - add your email in the form linked below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZv-aBiZUWRLEtiW6ZzcPXy-Ik-_OIpc8pw9gf7Rg98BbF_w/viewform

Questions? Contact John MacArthur at [email protected]”

 

[ebikemom]

Too bad it’s Bosch only. That makes no sense to me.

 

[rich c]

I'd like to receive an invitation to study why 400wh Bosch battery pacs won't boot up after a couple years, while the cells seem to be just fine!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I'd like to receive an invitation to study why 400wh Bosch battery pacs won't boot up after a couple years, while the cells seem to be just fine!

One of the downsides of proprietary systems like Bosch or Shimano or Yamaha is that there are very few repair centers and a small malfunction in the BMS renders the whole pack defunct.
90% of the time they work fine but sometimes, things do go wrong and when things do go wrong, it is an expensive endeavor.
see if you can talk to Bosch USA and get a new pack for subsidized amount. It is not fair to spend $700 on a new pack when the old pack is just over 2 years.

In that regard, I appreciate Yamaha bicycles for offering 3yr warranty on batteries. BMZ is now coming up with 4yr warranty on their batteries used on BULLS.

throwing away a perfectly good pack when you know only a small component needs repair is a utter waste of everything and promotes wasteful culture. Bosch should fix it and offer some repair services for packs like this. The # of bikes they sell is increasing every year and they have to address this issue instead of promoting heavily locked down technology and throwaway culture for batteries/motors that are beyond 2yr limit.

 

[ebikemom]

I think a study that includes hub drive bikes with throttles would be great because some folks choose that type of bike because they need a throttle sometimes because of hills or medical issues or whatever, so it would broaden the type of cyclist participating and better show transportation impacts.

 

[rich c]

Thanks Ravi, I'll take it up to Lenny's soon. This is the Full Seven you rode.