E-bike Battery Charging Experience

[designstudent]

Hi guys,
I'm an industrial design student and I am currently working a project which has to do with an improving of the charging experience whilst charging an E-bike battery. To be able to do this it would be very nice if you could take around 8 minutes to fill in this questionnaire. If you guys help me, I might come up with a solution so that you will have a better experience!!

Right here --> Questionnaire

Thanks a lot!

 

[Feliz]

My charging experience is good as is, no issues. Thanks though.

 

[DouglasB]

Yeah I agree, I can't imagine it being much simpler than it already is. Maybe on some bikes it's harder but on my Cannondale its a breeze.

 

[JRA]

Pretty much the gold standard already exists: https://www.ebikes.ca/product-info/cycle-satiator.html

As well as many threads here about maximizing battery life via % of charge/discharge.

 

[Feliz]

Ya, I see our resident battery expert Ravi has a good article in the latest Electric Bike Action magazine.

 

[J.R.]

Hi guys,
I'm an industrial design student and I am currently working a project which has to do with an improving of the charging experience whilst charging an E-bike battery. To be able to do this it would be very nice if you could take around 8 minutes to fill in this questionnaire. If you guys help me, I might come up with a solution so that you will have a better experience!!

Right here --> Questionnaire

Thanks a lot!

Does this have to do with public charging stations? If so that would be a worthwhile endeavor. It would require manufactures to decide on a standard interface or going wireless. Every brand has different chargers and plugs as it stands.

 

[ebikemom]

I'm super happy with my charger and charging routines. We set up "parking spots" with individual charging stations for our bikes. Each charger has its own spot, including a place to velcro the end of the cord to the wall so it always is right there, easy to find. At work I have to fish around on the floor to find the end of the charging cable if I need to charge at work, so not as handy.

 

[designstudent]

Does this have to do with public charging stations? If so that would be a worthwhile endeavor. It would require manufactures to decide on a standard interface or going wireless. Every brand has different chargers and plugs as it stands.

No not really, mostly for charging either at home or at work etc.

 

[designstudent]

I'm super happy with my charger and charging routines. We set up "parking spots" with individual charging stations for our bikes. Each charger has its own spot, including a place to velcro the end of the cord to the wall so it always is right there, easy to find. At work I have to fish around on the floor to find the end of the charging cable if I need to charge at work, so not as handy.

Great that you already came up with a solution at home!

 

[6zfshdb]

I'm super happy with my charger and charging routines. We set up "parking spots" with individual charging stations for our bikes. Each charger has its own spot, including a place to velcro the end of the cord to the wall so it always is right there, easy to find. At work I have to fish around on the floor to find the end of the charging cable if I need to charge at work, so not as handy.

You might like this Pedego charger caddy:

https://www.pedegoelectricbikes.com/product/pedego-charger-caddy/

I have one on the wall above the shelf where I store my five batteries. It keeps the cables neat and readily accessible.

 

[6zfshdb]

Hi guys,
I'm an industrial design student and I am currently working a project which has to do with an improving of the charging experience whilst charging an E-bike battery. To be able to do this it would be very nice if you could take around 8 minutes to fill in this questionnaire. If you guys help me, I might come up with a solution so that you will have a better experience!!

Right here --> Questionnaire

Thanks a lot!

I mean no offense by this but your questionnaire asks for personal information that would seem to have no bearing whatsoever on how I charge a battery. Your survey may be well intended and I'm sorry if I seem suspicious. I learned the hard way not to give out personal information unless I fully understand the reason. Perhaps a more detailed explanation would help.

 

[DouglasB]

I mean no offense by this but your questionnaire asks for personal information that would seem to have no bearing whatsoever on how I charge a battery. Your survey may be well intended and I'm sorry if I seem suspicious. I learned the hard way not to give out personal information unless I fully understand the reason. Perhaps a more detailed explanation would help.

Respectfully, and no negative inference intended but those were my thoughts exactly.

 

[designstudent]

I mean no offense by this but your questionnaire asks for personal information that would seem to have no bearing whatsoever on how I charge a battery. Your survey may be well intended and I'm sorry if I seem suspicious. I learned the hard way not to give out personal information unless I fully understand the reason. Perhaps a more detailed explanation would help.

Okay I'm sorry that I didn't explain it clear enough. The fact that I wanted some personal information is because then I could categorize my target group according to age for example of where you live. My goal for the questionnaire was to find out if there are e-bike users that have problems when it comes to charging a battery, so that then I could come up with solutions. Sorry for not being clear.

 

[AHicks]

It sounds to me like you have a solution you're trying to find a market for.....similar to why a spammer might be trolling a potential market?

 

[DouglasB]

I am considering making a simple rack in my laundry room for our chargers and batteries. During the winter months, we bring them inside and it would be handy to have a rack for everything to kept it up, out of the way. Other than that I wouldn't make any changes.

 

[6zfshdb]

Okay I'm sorry that I didn't explain it clear enough. The fact that I wanted some personal information is because then I could categorize my target group according to age for example of where you live. My goal for the questionnaire was to find out if there are e-bike users that have problems when it comes to charging a battery, so that then I could come up with solutions. Sorry for not being clear.

I'm not trying to discourage you here and I really would like to help but there are some facts which are difficult to get around.

90% of battery charging problems have to do with hardware, IE the charger, cables & connectors or the battery itself. The other 10% are caused by people who don't read directions. There are so many different proprietary battery / charger / connector configurations out there that it's hard to believe the results of a questionnaire could produce a universal solution. Can you post a hypothetical case where some benefit would result?

In any case, good luck and I wish you well with your project.

 

[Cowlitz]

I would like to have fast chargers located on the trails and backroads so I could bikepack with my e-bike. Please work on that if you want a project. Perhaps a way to have a small solar charger of some kind. Now that would have a market!

 

[Alex M]

Your questionnaire starts from too far away, 1st page is not charging-specific and it's impossible to see the entire list without answering the 1st page, so - no, thanks.

What kind of "project" and what exactly you think needs an improvement? If you are familiar with Lithium batteries or batteries in general, you probably understand the relationship between charging time, battery capacity and maximum (in some scenarios also - minimum) charging current.

As others noted, Justin at ebikes.ca have already developed what is considered the gold standard in chargers. He also elaborated on lower and higher charge levels vs battery longevity (there was a video, don't have a link now). And there are other educational materials on this subject , if you need it. batteryuniversity.com is a good source.

 

[ebikemom]

Okay I'm sorry that I didn't explain it clear enough. The fact that I wanted some personal information is because then I could categorize my target group according to age for example of where you live. My goal for the questionnaire was to find out if there are e-bike users that have problems when it comes to charging a battery, so that then I could come up with solutions. Sorry for not being clear.

If that's the case, all you need is age, state, and a box to tick for "urban," "suburban" or rural.

 

[ebikemom]

You might like this Pedego charger caddy:

We received these free from Pedego, but have not installed them. Will give them a try!