OK so... for those of you that don't know (probably 99% of Americans) there's this thing catching on in China and Europe where people are replacing their existing bikes with electric bikes or retro-fitting their existing with electric motors. Electric bicycles, like e-cars and e-motorcycles are not new. But thanks to new advances in Li-Ion battery technology, the battery size and weight required in the last 3 years or so to make a bike go a reasonable speed for a reasonable distance (~25mph for ~25miles) is much smaller and lighter. Enough so to put a reasonable size one on a bike and get a surprising amount of speed and acceleration out of.

Now lets get one thing straight. This isn't a commuter option for those living in Weston looking to commute to downtown Miami. But if you live within 8 miles or so of where you work this can be actually faster to get to work than driving depending on traffic. And in heavily urbanized areas it can be the fastest way to get around hands down. Anyway, I want to know if anyone else out there has tried or is currently using this as their commute option? They're supposedly touted as a way to get to work without being hot and sweaty. I know some people living in my neighborhood that use e-bikes or e-scooters to get to and through downtown because I see them going to work in the morning or coming home in the evening occasionally. I actually live about 8 miles from work and am thinking of giving it a try. What are some of the safer East-West roads in Miami?

Maybe someday Miami will be this urban and e-bike friendly of a city. Man look how much faster this guy goes than all the rest of the bikes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS1UkcUalUI

I'll stick to my big, fat, american, gas hogging, air polluting, road crowding truck :lol:

I'm seeing these things around downtown pretty often. Electricity is not really green yet, though, really. Unless it was solar, water, or windmill, or something like that, generated.

I can't believe how dumb people act about electricity. It goes back to the newborn brain style of thinking. "If I can't see it, it's not there." Coal is still the main producer of electricity. Calling electric "green" is just a way of passing the buck.

I'm all for advancements in solar power. To make it not so ridiculously expensive and inefficient. There's so much power in the sun. Here and in other places with a lot of sunlight solar should work significantly better. I'm surprised not to see more of it here. Heck, on a high noon day around this time of year a calculator solar panel oughtta be able to power a house :lol:

To go way out on a limb, a drawback of mass solar power would be an increase in real global warming, as we would directly be absorbing more energy, but the more efficient the technology was the more that would become electricity and not heat. I know the technology is getting better. Have you seen that new solar keyboard at Best Buy that can run on all indoor light, even if it's dim? And it can't be all because of a battery that saves up the occassional bright exposures because it's also super thin.

I'm not very familiar with the quantum physics of the sun's absolute energy (this is where I fail your expectations; I know as your window cleaner I'm obligated to know these things) but I assume it would be substantial if the full or at least a good amount of the spectrum could be utilized.

I know that the sun could not be outputting enough energy for say, a car, to be solar powered, as that would mean the sun is radiating that much energy per equivalent unit the world over, and this could not be because if it were that great the surface would all be moving (lava)

One must remember that relativity is everything and energy is neither created nor destroyed and that it equals mc2

Nice video.....but not sure if that would work here in Miami, FL....maybe in South Beach...plus is way too hot in the summer and it rains a lot too....I don't know....maybe.

Amazing to see so many people riding bikes in Stockholm! If Miami had serious seperated bike trails it might work but I can already see a bunch of accidents with cars. I used to ride my bike from North Miami to Sunny Isles and you wouldn't believe how many times I had very close calls with cars.

Stockholm is not a good example. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are way ahead.

I'd love to start commuting by just regular bike, but I'm constantly given reminders of why I don't on the local news. I don't think e-bikes will help much with the hit and run mentality here.

Yeah I had been thinking about all that alot. And while safety has been on my mind, I also bike alot in Miami and have found that, as long as I come mostly to a stop and make sure aholes aren't coming (or have passed), it's alot easier to not have to worry about them. The main thing is to resist the temptation to keep going at stoplights so as to not lose your momentum. That's when you put yourself in a position to play chicken with the ahole that's just gotta beat that light. Also I guess, I tend to live and ride in neighborhoods closer to the urban core and something about that I think just forces ppl to drive slower and be more cautious.

What's amazing to me is how much money e-bikes can save you on gas but give you reasonable transportation in a short distance. Its about enough to pay off the cost of one in a year or 2 (depending on how much you get ripped off by a bike store). If you build one yourself (not hard) it's about half the cost or less for the same quality parts.

As for the summertime heat, it's a bit of an issue, but remember commuting is going to happen in the morning/evening. Not the hottest times of the day. Also the bike propelling you provides surprising air cooling via breeze. May not be optimal for some, but it's enough for me, although I always did prefer it hot. The rain usually isn't an issue (where I live it tends to rain in the afternoons). But when it does rain hard, those days I could always choose to take my car instead.

I'd love to start commuting by just regular bike, but I'm constantly given reminders of why I don't on the local news. I don't think e-bikes will help much with the hit and run mentality here.

Actually I find the higher sustained speeds of e-bikes help with increased safety vs regular bikes on roads. Obviously this isn't going to matter on roads with cars going 60... but those aren't really roads you wanna be on anyway with ANY bike or even moped. I would just choose a different road.

Again, I live near downtown and have those choices. Maybe your circumstances don't make that an option. I certainly can't see an e-bike helping someone who lives in or commutes from Weston.