Electric cycles are the finest development in our ever congesting world to provide an easy solution for daily commute woes. They not only save a lot of fuel and keep the environment clean but also help you develop good health with little pedal exercise during your commute.
What Is an Electric cycle or E-Bike?
Electric cycle, E cycle or E-bike are different terms used for electric bicycles which is actually not a new invention. An electric cycle is a bicycle fitted with a motor to give you speed with very less effort(pedal assist) or no effort (Throttle mode). The basic principle of the electric cycle is to fit the motor in the wheel(front or rear) and connect it with the battery through a current and voltage regulating device(Controller) which can be operated by an accelerator or putting sensing element in chain wheel(pedal assist).
So can I make my own Electric cycle?
Why not!. It is not rocket science. Yes, you can make an electric cycle by yourself by installing an electric cycle Kit or E-bike kit on your bicycle. But the reason we don't encourage people to buy the electric kit is that you will end up spending the same amount of money as you would spend on buying a new electric cycle
Cost of E-bike/electric kit in India = 26,000 INR - 29,000 INR
Cost Of bicycle = 5,000 INR - 15,000 INR
Total cost of making Electric cycle ~ 38,0000 INR
(same as cost of available Electric cycle options in India)
A bigger hurdle is the installation of kit on your cycle if you don't have much mechanical knowledge about the cycle. Nowadays most companies give Motor already installed in the rim but still placing everything at a perfect place could be really difficult sometimes and some wrong connections could also damage the entire electric cycle kit
Why is E-bike/ Electric cycle Kit not cheap?
E-bikes & their kits can be cheap if you replace the Lithium Ion battery with Lead acid battery. They both work the same way, but the performance has striking difference. In fact, one of the biggest reason that Electric Vehicles could not take off 5 years back is because of the old technology battery.
lithium Ion battery for an approx 40 km range - 3.2 kg (10-12,000 INR)
Lead Acid Battery for an approx 40 km range - at least 20 Kg (4-6,000 INR)
To reduce your cost further, you can replace the motor as well with the old Brushed motor. Nowadays, most e-bike kits have low maintenance brushless DC motor which makes less sound but for a cheap alternative, you can use the brushed motor as well which will make more sound.
Cost of Brushless DC motor for E-BIKE kit(very little sound ) - 5000-7000 INR
Cost of Brushed DC Motor for an E-bike kit(Lot of Noise) - 2000 INR
Also, remove the accessories which come in electric cycles like headlight, horn speedometer battery indicator and you can make an electric cycle for 7000-8000 INR.
So how to select an Electric cycle or e-bike From the available options?
When choosing an electric cycle or e-bike we advise you to focus on 4 things
Design :-
Electric Cycle is not just a Cycle with electric setup. It is a hybrid vehicle which can be powered in 2 ways - Manual & Electric, and hence should be designed keeping these things in mind. Check how much work has been done on design for which you are paying such a big amount of money. Battery location, controller location, riding position should be designed for electric cycle instead of just fixing them on normal cycle.
Fact verification :-
Verify the range of electric cycle by using simple calculation or you can read our blog to know everything about electric cycle battery and motor power rating. For example, a company might say that they use 8 ah 36 v battery, which will provide a range of 40-50 km on e-bike. In our experience this would be a false information as no battery of this configuration cannot last more than 20 km when ridden on pure electric mode.
Customer Review:
Check how customers have responded to the product. You should not be an experimental customer.
Little care after buying:
Even after taking all precautions, We advise our customer to take care of electric cycle like they take care of a vehicle. Even though it is a water resistant and an extremely low maintenance vehicle & you can easily wash them or ride it in rain but leaving it in rain for very long and letting the mud gets deposited on motor could damage the parts & ebike.
How does it feel to ride an electric cycle ?
A customer can better explain the experience of an E-bike so we shared our customer's experience about OMO electric cycle "I surely felt a unique and strangely enough an almost exciting emotion because I knew for sure I was riding a motorized vehicle but without the regular thundering voice of any carbon exhaust (you might feel something is empty in the initial 1 or 2 days until you realize its absolutely not necessary to burn fossil fuel for motion to happen) while I was still pedaling.
As any kid growing up in India, I used to ride cycle during my school and college days, but I gave up a few years ago considering the hard sell of motorcycle companies and of course the thrill of speed and comfort. But after an abysmal traffic torn five years in Bengaluru, I decided to bid adieu to the traffic for good.
It sounds little risky to ride an electric cycle in India but after a few months of riding, I have realized electric bikes are super safe with the controlled speed limit of 25 kmph.
At the end we all we want to say is
Try, You will surely love riding an electric cycle or E-Bike"