Electic vs petrol/LG

[kingstonkid]

I am seeing a lot of people selling and buying electric-powered scooters.  I am just wondering with the cost of electricity and lack of locations to charge are they a better deal than a regular gas-powered bike

 

 

[jvs]

I would think you do not need a special charging station for these

scooters,you just plug them in at home.

They are great for short trips like shopping in the village and such

and most will be used by elderly people?

I do not see kids buying them,a lot are also three wheeled so good for keeping balance.

For short distances they are very nice i think.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, jvs said:

I would think you do not need a special charging station for these

scooters,you just plug them in at home.

They are great for short trips like shopping in the village and such

and most will be used by elderly people?

I do not see kids buying them,a lot are also three wheeled so good for keeping balance.

For short distances they are very nice i think.

Hey ... what up with that ????

And women also, as most riders I see when I'm out on mine are chickies, and a few men.

 

And yes, you would charge those at home, with many having removable batterie to do if live in condo or apt.

 

They come in all size and prices.  Much cheaper to maintain & operate than petrol MBs

[hotchilli]

Depends what you want to do with the motorcycle, they tend to look small and slightly unstable due to the small wheels.

My neighbour recently bought an electrically assisted bicycle [not motorcycle]

It looks like a full sized frame/wheels gentlemans bike, front basket, good seat, rear basket.

Removable battery easily charged at home, goes as fast as a motorcycle and has usual pedal/chain if you need to use it.

A lot less cost than an electric motorcycle.

 

[JBChiangRai]

Be careful to only buy one with Lithium type batteries.  Most sold here are Chinese with Lead Acid batteries that will only last one year and in some cases cost more than the entire bike to replace.

 

Chinese bikes in China only have Lithium batteries, Lead Acid bikes are purely for their export market.

[KhunBENQ]

11 hours ago, jvs said:

They are great for short trips like shopping in the village and such

Yes. So many here. Primary school students whizz up and down the village. 

Elderly using it as a handicapped vehicle.

 

These types of "toys" are not legal on the road and fortunately I have never seen them on the highway. Even here!

[Asquith Production]

Is their a maximim wattage for the motor here?. In UK it's 250 Watt

[quake]

45 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Be careful to only buy one with Lithium type batteries.  Most sold here are Chinese with Lead Acid batteries that will only last one year and in some cases cost more than the entire bike to replace.

 

Chinese bikes in China only have Lithium batteries, Lead Acid bikes are purely for their export market.

Yes, just done that for the MIL, charger never turned off,  cooked batteries. 4 new bats 3,000 baht. + 1000 new charger.

nice one.

 

 

 

 

[Coremouse]

34 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Be careful to only buy one with Lithium type batteries.  Most sold here are Chinese with Lead Acid batteries that will only last one year and in some cases cost more than the entire bike to replace.

 

Chinese bikes in China only have Lithium batteries, Lead Acid bikes are purely for their export market.

Hello Sir as a Chinese may I point out, 99.99% mopeds are your daily deep-cycle lead acid batteries. Chinese aren't rich, and li-ion are expensive for the rich folks( which they don't need mopeds anyway ). 

 

Since China outlawed most motorcycles, almost ALL bikes are lead-acid mopeds, and they nicknamed "elec-jackass". Those're truly workhorse for all us paupers, village farm teenagers, everyone. Those're truly reliable & cheap & good for daily grocery runner. 

 

But one thing Chinese roads traffic are slowish needs patience, and inside Chinese city & townships commutes are really short distance per usual. It's heck different compare to Thailand. So if needs a elec-moped should judge your actual requirements. Pros: cheap, easy to handle, reliable almost maintenance-free. Cons: darn heavy and awkward if out of battery. Fragile if accident. Darn short range, very short. Lead-acide bike-type mopeds should always stay within 15km, and only voyage 20km if neccessary, never more than that. Tricycle type( Chinese nicknamed "happy granpa" ) had much better range. Also there's lead-acid "elec-motorcycle" which much heavier, much longer range than puny awkward mopeds, but rumors they're too powerful and heavy tolls on excited younglings lives. 

[brianthainess]

I paid 8k for a small 2 wheel, great at first 1hr trips, now in less than a year lucky to get a 15min. ride. its sits in my shed now Chinese crap. I'd rather buy a 50cc scooter. 

[Coremouse]

I just searched recent models from Big Giant Brands of Chinese "elec-jackass", Lvyuan, Yadee, Aimaa etc....   Yeah confirmed again just as I said, they're 99% lead-acid, us Chinese folks aren't Riche... If anyone saying we use lithium ourselves and lead-acid for export??? Heck??? Are you going to pay us for the Li-ion expensive budget. 

 

Of course deep-cycles are inherent lesser life than shallow ones like cars' 12V battery, but man elec-mopeds are such a light load, doesn't taxxing on batteries at all. And from personal and my relatives everyones' experience those are darn very reliable. Almost complete maintenance-free. Since deep-cycles and NiCads are most reliable batteries as a common sense. And lithium? Like 18650s when discharged, just forget to immediate recharge, and next day you got a piece ova junk jumped CID valve... Irrepairable.

[Coremouse]

For anyone says "Chinese use lithium themselves, and lead-acid only for export". NOPE n Nope -- reality is the inverse: Chinese ( many of us are pauper ) use 99% lead-acid themselves, and lithium-ion too expensive only for export for the Riche ( well, maybe also for some Chinese rich kids who doesn't needs a moped anyway ). Period. 

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

A lot less cost than an electric motorcycle.

Not necessarily, especially if full size (700mm/26"), with quality components, display & most important, battery.

 

You can buy DECO 1000w registered motorcycle for less than most 500-750-1000w full size ebikes.  Although I have to say, I do enjoy riding my ebike, as much or more than my motorcycle.  Just can't go as far (full electric) or take the dog with me, with the ebike.

[Stevemercer]

I started riding electric assist bicycles some 20 years ago, using lithium batteries. Lead-acid would be far too heavy for anything you might have to pedal yourself.

 

I bought a KingSong (Chinese) electric wheel 6 or 7 years ago, powered by lithium batteries. When I first got it, it would go up to 50 km/hr with a range of about 75 km. Now, it'll still top out at about 50 km/hr, but the range is probably about 50 km. It cost about 25,000 Baht and most of that was for the quality lithium battery pack. Spend the money for good quality batteries, and look after them with a proper balancing charger, and you might get close to 10 years.

 

You can NEVER allow lithium batteries to run empty (most machines will have automatic cut-offs) and it is best to keep them fully charged when not in use (they will last much longer). Most lithium batteries die because of a cheap charger that overcharges them, doesn't balance the cells or is prone to overheating and irregular charge cycles. The second cause is people running them down below 25% and neglecting to recharge them for a week or so.

 

In my view a 40,000 - 60,000 Baht petrol scooter will outperform and outlast an equivalent priced electric scooter. It will also be street legal.

 

In my opinion, electric scooters are not quite there yet in terms of price, performance and life. While manufacturers try to make things simple, you cannot expect a battery to last long without attention to charging (e.g you can't just hop on it and forget about it - expecting someone else to charge it). Leave it lying around (without topping it up) for two or three weeks and you've permanently lost 5% of your battery capacity. 

 

Any electric vehicle <10,000 Baht will last less than a year. Up to 20,000 Baht and you might get a year or two out of it before the battery needs replacing. A decent lipo battery is going to start at 20,000 Baht (just for the battery).