New to e-bike, will it help in an inclined road?

[movska]

I am thinking of owning an e-bike for commuting between my apartment and my lab because the terrain contains raising and descending parts of the road. So my first question is fairly straightforward, will an e-bike significantly help me in reducing my pedaling effort in going up an incline, let's say 500 m of 18% grade (about 10 degree)? What about the resistance of typical e-bike to water, when it is pouring down should I cover my e-bike with something water resistant? How many hours does a continuous operation take to deplete the battery completely for a given watthour value (sorry if I use a wrong unit, I'm new to this type of bike)?

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[JoePah]

Have fun with your shopping! I ride alot, but when I want to get somewhere and not be sweated out I take my Stromer eBike.. Even the Miami heat is not a problem. Most eBikes have something called Pedal Assist, or PEDELEC, where the motor will multiply your pedal effort, and you can choose the amount of motor assist.

A ready built eBike are well designed and the connections are good and the motors are not that sensitive to water so long as you don't submerge them. So don't worry about the rain. You should store in a warm room at night so that it dries out.

I don't know how far you need to bike every day, but will tell you that a steep hill eats battery charge, and you don't get much back on the down side with regenerative braking. A 500m doesn't seem that long so a normal sized battery (mininum of 400 Wh) should do if your one way trip isn't over 20 miles.. You should find it a lot easier to ride up a hill will full power assist, even though the bike will be 50-60 lbs.

Mid drive bikes are known to be better hill climbers, since they can use the taller ratios from your derailleur for mechanical advantage. A good direct drive hub motor will need more power to climb the same hill.. IMO there a lot better choices with a DD hub, and they are dead reliable at this point.

My suggestion is to ride some bikes and find some hills to climb!

 

[PJungnitsch]

I find my assist makes a huge difference going up hills, feels like superman through the pedal assist. The bike will go about 30 km with a big hill in the middle, 10.4 amp hour battery. That's a fat tired bike with 750w mid drive.

All depends on your particular motor/wheel setup/how much pedaling/how fast, etc.

 

[PowerMe]

It will make a huge difference. I can't do hills under my own power, but with an eBike I can.

 

[George S.]

will an e-bike significantly help me in reducing my pedaling effort in going up an incline, let's say 500 m of 18% grade (about 10 degree)?

I have a good hub motor, geared somewhat for hills. It will draw 1000 watts from the battery. I would not expect it to climb anything over about 12%. So I would look for a mid-drive

 

[movska]

Seems like there is this "drive" thing related to e-bike, would someone please tell me what kind of drives are available for an e-bike? What makes them different from each other? Please if possible also include comparison in prices, it will be really helpful to me in order the help me decide the fitting drive kind for my need.

 

[George S.]

I think Court has laid out the basics. Court runs the site. Good guy...

http://electricbikereview.com/category/guides/

 

[JoePah]

Here's a neat calculator of speed, power, grade and weight.

To climb an 18% grade at 16 kph, you would need around 900 watts of power.

At 12 kph you need 650 watts.. 700 watts peak is available from most DD hub motors, plus you will be pedaling, adding around 200 watts for that short distance of 500m.

So very doable with a good DD motor.. For a long uphill the motor might overheat and trip, but 500m is short and steep.

http://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html

 

[George S.]

Just my experience:

I rigged up a watt meter to my Prodeco X3 a few times, an ebike with a 700 peak watt DD motor. Problem was, the motor would bog down on steep hills. You had to keep it turning at a certain speed, or it was not getting any power to the wheel.

I assume the motor is producing a lot of heat when it shows 700 watts, but nothing much is happening in terms of power to climb hills. It may only be 40% efficient, turning 700 watts into 700 x .4, or 28o watts at the wheel.

I know for sure that my X3 would never have gotten up much more than a 13 or 14%, and that assumes I could get it going at a decent speed before hitting the hill. I assume a mid drive in some sort of Granny gear, spinning at good and efficient RPM's, will get the job done pretty easily, but pretty slowly for that grade.

 

[PJungnitsch]

Explains why the Bafang 750 feels so effortless climbing, it's something like 1200w peak output. The new 1000w version must be a monster.

 

[Lyn]

I used my Specialised Turbo for a commute that I just couldn't do without some assist -- it helps tremendously with the hills. (And as I'm in New Zealand, mine is limited to 250w; most American ebikes have more power than that.

 

[George S.]

I used my Specialised Turbo for a commute that I just couldn't do without some assist -- it helps tremendously with the hills. (And as I'm in New Zealand, mine is limited to 250w; most American ebikes have more power than that.

My motor kit has a '250 watt' setting, and I sometimes use it going up the normal hills around here. It does help a lot, but I have to pedal steadily. The 250 watts really helps going into the wind. And for normal riding, on the flat, it gives people the power of a very fit rider.

On the other hand, I never see US riders wanting to give up power...

 

[Margo Allen]

Explains why the Bafang 750 feels so effortless climbing, it's something like 1200w peak output. The new 1000w version must be a monster.

My 1000w rear with 48v 20ah was eating near 1500w and tripping up a steep hill and a 25mph head wing with strong gusts. A little pedaling kept it from tripping ( cutting out/ shut down) Having pulled plenty of cargo I thought this set up was unstoppable.
Now I know its limit in one circumstance.

 

[EddieJ]

Off road, but this still might give you an idea of just how much help that you will get when hill climbing on a pedelec.

This was wet, muddy and slippery, and just tackled using a Bosch Performance Line motor, with mix of eco and tour settings. A nice chilled and steady climb.

Sorry about the rain drops on the lens.