A Software Guy's Look at Electric Bicycles

Power-assisted bicycles have been a solved problem since 1946. The answer is a small petrol engine, most ideally realised in the Velosolex. A 50cc engine weighs no more than a 400w hub motor and speed controller, but provides several times more power. A kilo of petrol holds 65 times more useful energy than a kilo of lithium-ion batteries.

While European law exempts low-powered electric cycles from regulation as a motor vehicle, the motor may not operate above 25km/h, rendering them minimally useful for all but the most infirm of cyclists. Most US states regulate electrically assisted bicycles as mopeds, conferring no advantage to electrical power.

The electric bicycle is a solution looking for a problem.