Being interviewed for local TV...help!!!!

dallasfoto

dallasfoto

10 W
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
65
Location
Dallas
I am being interviewed shortly in Dallas about Ebikes and our mass transit, etc. Has anyone really seriously figured out what we get on these things MPG? I was trained in classical music, not math and physics. I have heard it's absurdly high like 1800 MPG. Would love to say that but it sounds very exaggerated. Being an educator, I don't want some Exxon executive debating me in front of my kids. Thanks for the help! I know, I know it's been discussed but time is pressing....please help!
 
Thanks DCM! You think it's safe to go with 1600 MPG???? Sounds about right to me from reading his post.
 
1600 MPG makes for a great sound bite. If you have the time you could figure out some numbers based on total costs. Car = payments, insurance, maintenance, plus fuel. E-bike = parts, maintenance and electricity. And you can't put a price on "the grin". :D
 
DCM said:
1600 MPG makes for a great sound bite. If you have the time you could figure out some numbers based on total costs. Car = payments, insurance, maintenance, plus fuel. E-bike = parts, maintenance and electricity. And you can't put a price on "the grin". :D
Click to expand...

Yeah...these mainstream media Baribizon Barbie and Ken dolls only want really hot soundbytes. I will make the point that the bike is relatively cheap but the fuel cost is the hard hitter on this. Also I will plug Green Mountain Energy here in Dallas, they only feed the grid with wind and solar. This could be a disaster interview, who knows. I will put a YouTube link here once it's all done and broadcast if they do that.
 
Again, I wouldn't confuse the viewers with facts, but with nuggets that hit home:

"I like the 1600mpg, but I love the freedom"
"I still drive a car sometimes: but it's really boring to be locked in a box... a bike gives you more options"
"I prefer working to support my family, not big oil companies"
"I laugh at the people lining up to be punished at the pump"
"This is not for everybody, this is for people who enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle"
"I love my job, and now I love the trip getting there"
"Texans used to be tough, now they run from one air-conditioned box to another"

TV-viewers see the world very simply (that is why they watch TV), they see only winners or losers: look like a winner in their game.
Or as they say in the jungle: "the first rule of survival... do not act like prey, or you will be."
 
I like to say, a nickel a day for fuel. Since I recharge at work it's actually a dime, but it's a nickel a trip. I just recalculated my costs, after some setbacks, at 10 cents a mile for everything on a bike with 20 mile range. the car is about 35 cents a mile. Much more for a real car of course, I talking about a Subaru with 140,000 on it. If you divide a nickel into four bucks, you can say 80 times more efficient than gas cars. 20x80 = 1600 mpg too.
 
I like TylerDurden's list, but you might also add that, "The cost of maintaining on a bike is far cheaper than a car even with the cost of battery replacement added on". Blessings, Snow Crow
 
TylerDurden said:
Again, I wouldn't confuse the viewers with facts, but with nuggets that hit home:

"I like the 1600mpg, but I love the freedom"
"I still drive a car sometimes: but it's really boring to be locked in a box... a bike gives you more options"
"I prefer working to support my family, not big oil companies"
"I laugh at the people lining up to be punished at the pump"
"This is not for everybody, this is for people who enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle"
"I love my job, and now I love the trip getting there"
"Texans used to be tough, now they run from one air-conditioned box to another"

TV-viewers see the world very simply (that is why they watch TV), they see only winners or losers: look like a winner in their game.
Or as they say in the jungle: "the first rule of survival... do not act like prey, or you will be."
Click to expand...

I am committing this list to memory TylerDurden!!! Thank you!
 
Drunkskunk said:
So who's doing the interview? Will it be shown localy?
Click to expand...

I don't know yet. Both Channels 5 and 8 are talking to me. Will post time and date when I know.
 
Well I did maths and physics.

In terms of energy:

1 gallon=3.8 litres and petrol (gas) has 30MJ per litre. So that's 114 MJ per gallon.

Now 114MJ is 31,670 Watt hours or roughly 880Ahr at 36volts. So if you look at it like that it might be enough for 88 charges of the battery of a standard Americian ebike.

Less a little for efficiency and give a 20-25 mile range per charge and that's about 1500-2000 miles on an ebike.

Of course you could justify almost any answer as it depends on your bike, how much you pedal, and how fast you go. Some get a lot more than 20 miles on a charge.

And then electricity is a lot cheaper than gas and there's less maintainence and insurance. And the fitness benefit for those who pedal. It's a good deal any way you cut it.
 
Just say "Some guys have their bikes suped up for fast off-road riding and still get over 1,000 miles for what a gallon of gas costs. Others go for efficiency and are getting over 2,000 miles per gallon. A good ebike will use about 15-20 WATT HOURS of electricity to go a mile. In Texas the average price for electricity is about 11 cents per KILOWATT hour, so a good bike will run about 5-6 miles on one penny's worth of electricity and you need a lot of pennies these days to buy a gallon of gas." Then to put the icing on the cake, because exact numbers are most believable add, "I did the numbers on mine the other day and assuming a gas price of only $3/gal, my bike is getting an average of 1,647 mpg. That's with zero emissions, not to mention that due to traffic I often get where I'm going faster than I can in a car. I'm having so much fun I feel like a kid again."

I know it almost repetitive in the message, but banging it home a few different ways will help more people really understand the point.

John
 
Here's a good source for driving costs - breaks down ownership, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc for cars: And since it was done by AAA I would hazard to guess that it's a reliable an relatively accurate study.

http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/20073261133460.YourDrivingCosts2007.pdf



.
 
Also, here's a little bit I wrote for the Goped forum regarding the costs of driving a car for a daily 10 mile commute compared to using the Goped ESR electric scooter. The first two columns (Econ Turbo) apply to the two different speed setting that you can use on the ESR and what you would spend in electricity charging your batteries. So these figures are based on the average mileage for that particular scooter.

The chart below uses as an assumption that you have a daily 10 mile commute (5 miles each way). Comparing this to an average mpg and current gas prices, you can see there is a huge savings just in fuel costs. The remainder of the chart throws in some other annual expenses normally associated with owing a car (these are rough estimates based on some national averages found on the internet - These will vary depending on where you live). These do not include actual monthly car payments if you do not already own your car out-right.

(note: the "10 miles" category is a single day's commute, and the 50 miles is for a week's commute)

I also broke down the time periods one might be able to use an ESR for a daily commute (either year round, or 8 months out of the year).

The 10 cent charge figure comes from the Goped literature - this could also be more depending on where you live. If you were able to charge your ESR at work, you could cut these costs in half since I doubt you're boss would charge you for plugging in your scoot while at work.

Another car-associated costs (depending on where you live) could include parking. Here in DC, it's not uncommon for apartments to charge up to $300 a month for a parking spot. And if you work downtown, you could pay between $7 to $15 daily for parking.

CostComparison.jpg


Hopefully this will help put things into perspective regarding the cost of the ESR. Using the ESR for a daily 10 mile commute would pay for itself in a year (or less) of usage.

A much more comprehensive annual driving costs study done by AAA using 2007 figures can be found in the link below. It's very eye-opening!

http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Fi...ost s2007.pdf
Click to expand...
 
If you really want to mess with them, invite them to test ride the bike... using the camera operator's battery-belt.

ABBB3013.JPG

http://www.antonbauer.com/battery_belts.htm
 
michaelplogue said:
Here's a good source for driving costs - breaks down ownership, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc for cars: And since it was done by AAA I would hazard to guess that it's a reliable an relatively accurate study.

http://www.aaaexchange.com/Assets/Files/20073261133460.YourDrivingCosts2007.pdf



.
Click to expand...

Well that sure was an eye opener. When I was riding the light rail and bus system here for a few years, I figured out the daily commute was about $2.13 per day for a total of 44 miles round trip. That was using the annual pass here which saves you a lot in time and trouble. No need to have 3 bucks in singles for the machines or bus machines. Anyway it also saved me over time. This AAA chart is truly enlightening. Thanks folks for all your help with my info
 
Dang Tyler! Is that what you really look like?
 
OneWayTraffic said:
...1 gallon=3.8 litres and petrol (gas) has 30MJ per litre. So that's 114 MJ per gallon.

Now 114MJ is 31,670 Watt hours or roughly 880Ahr at 36volts. So if you look at it like that it might be enough for 88 charges of the battery of a standard Americian ebike...
Click to expand...

There may be 114 MJ in that gallon of gas, but most of that energy goes out the tailpipe. Otto cycle engines are like 30% efficient. http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/OttoCycle.html

I think the car's MPG versus the ebikes' miles per watt-hour is a fair comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top