It adds 3-4 miles for every battery charge (so, 3-4 miles extra for every 60-65 miles) and that adds up over time and I had to replace my brake pads only every 6000 miles or so.
That's exactly consistent with what Bill Cummings said in the video. 1.5 miles on a battery that got about 30 miles. 5%. I've spoken with Bill on occasion over the past 4 years, and he strikes me as an extremely intelligent guy (but doesn't wear it on his sleeve and is VERY humble), and he is very experienced with ebikes, ebike design, working with motor manufacturers, and battery manufacturers, and awesome at trouble-shooting. Bill's general message was it wasn't practical, given that many people probably dont stop nearly enough in a typical ride, or necessarily get enough downhill momentum often enough, that adds up to a sufficient amount of kinetic energy that can be converted back to electrical, and that to do it right on an ebike involves a bit more than a simple 'switch.' The motor has to be designed for it.
Back to Ravi's message briefly here, for example, how much of the cost of the Stromer ST2, which today costs around $6500 at REI, has to do with Regen capability ? (rhetorical - dont answer - I dont wanna know and dont care) The extra 1.5 miles, probably could be much more easily gained and with fewer dollars, by simply getting even .5 amphour larger battery. Also, It costs less than 8 cents to recharge a 14 ah battery at 48 volts, so how much is the value of that 1.5 miles in every 30 ?
And I don't know how many people have the budget for a $6500 ebike, but in large part it appears Bill is addressing a general audience, where a large percentage of would be ebike buyers are more likely to be looking at a $1500 to maybe $3500 ebike, and they sometimes come up and ask dealers, or maybe they call Evelo , and they are curious about what they have heard about Re-gen, and whether it can be had on an ebike, and whether its really valuable or important. Is adding 1.5 miles to a battery that can provide 30 miles of range important ? And then these same customers ask, 'can I get that', or they might ask, "is it worth it to have on an ebike." (These are actual questions I have gotten - so again its nice to see a video like this)
So Generally speaking, to gain 1.5 miles on a $1500 to $3500 ebike, I would have to agree with Bill, that no its probably not really 'practical.' (for either the OEM's producing that type of ebike, or for the average customer, who probably doesnt want to spend or have the means to spend $6500 to get it. For someone who is buying a Stromer, and has the budget of $6500, which is very likely a very small part of the buying population, and who is likely buying the Stromer for a lot of other more important reasons, its probably a 'nice to have' little feature on it. Is it 'practical' on an ebike like that at that price ? Maybe. Especially given how pricey Stromer's batteries are, both in total cost, and on a watt-hour basis. How much could they take the price of the bike down if they didn't have Regen ? (I dont know - again rhetorical)
If you really want to get super technical, and theoretical, certainly 'regen' can add something. And judging from all the posts here, that is subject to debate on their definition of 'practical.' However, it does seem to me though, that a decent number of the posters debating the topic in this thread, are a lot more technical in general (Ravi's working on his Masters in engineering and batteries?) , and several of you on this thread getting a bit 'heated' certainly are way more technical than most of the AVERAGE customers I see everyday. It's those average 'joe or jane' customers that are the very likely audience Evelo sees everyday as well, and talks to on a daily basis, and as well as what most ebike dealers or bike shops will talk to everyday.
Anyway, I simply posted the video, because again, a) I get asked the question a lot more frequently than I would have ever expected b) there really hasn't been anything decent posted from any other ebike OEM even broaching the topic, and c) I'm a degreed mechanical engineer with quite a bit of practical motor experience, industrial equipment experience, and more than 34 years of being out there working with many energy technologies where the questions are a lot more challenging than this, but since my roles have been customer facing for most of those 34 years, I always truly appreciate when someone as smart as Bill, takes the time to explain something in laymans terms that can be very technical and hard for people to understand that dont have the same engineering or requisite technical background. Something like this video that takes the confusion out of it for a customer who may have run across the concept, or understands it from their experience with hybrid vehicles, and thinks it might be a cool thing to have, is probably being done as a result of them getting enough questions on it. Which is what Evelo's video series is all about. Providing some education that may not be out there for general consumption. I happen to like people and vendors who take the time to do these educational videos or articles. I believe those vendors do sincerely care about their customers.
