10k+ miles ebike tour - Africa, Capetown to AddisAbbeba

[worldbicyclist]

Hello guys,

I have considered doing a longer tour by ebike for several years now. I often do long bike tours, for example Europe to Southarica; Europe to Japan; Argentina to Canada, with non-touring bikes. I have used six different bikes so far, a rigid MTB-frankenstein bike, a hardtail MTB, a full-suspension MTB, a city-bike, a cyclocross hybrid and a carbon roadbike. For possible future tours I might try a folding bike, ebike or folding-ebike.

A redditor linked me to the video-logs of grindz145 and I found the 4400m journey to be very interesting and a good proof-of-concept that long ebike tours can be done. I'm reasonably fit and often bike light or ultralight, resulting in average distances of 100-150miles per day, I can only imagine that having an engine would increase the range even more.

I'm a bit sceptical when it comes to recharging, especially in third-world countries.

Unfortunately I have no background in electronics and have to read into the material first. I noticed a lot of conversion kits and DIY projects on this forum. I was more thinking along the lines of a bike like this: http://www.stromerbike.com/en/de/e-bikes/stromer-st2 Are these good values for an ebike?

If I do decide to go for an ebike, my route would most likely be Capetown to Addies Abbeba, through western Africa. It's about 8000miles, but I'm sure I can find a nice worthwhile detours. I'm very interested in your opinions, since I'm a veteran traveller, but have never used an ebike before.

A few questions, please excuse if they are insanely stupid:
1. Would a hub-dynamo up front hooked to your battery increase your range? Not trying to build a perpetuum mobile, but maybe it adds a few % to the milage?
2. How feasable is charging a battery with large-surface solar panels? I'm personally not the biggest fan of them, but I remember seeing pictures of touring-ebikers with solar panels on their trailers.
3. How much does weight/luggage affect the range? I usually carry 10-15kg of luggage, which is very little for a long bike tour. Does that help?
4. Best case scenario, ignoring the budget for now, what is the highest range on an ebike, going about 20mph per hour?

Thank you for your time and greetings from Taiwan,
Patrick from http://www.worldbicyclist.com

PS: Adding the necessary info now:
Desired max speed on level ground. mph or kph => ~20mph min.
Desired max range at what cruising speed. mph or kph => At least 200miles per day doing 20mph, hopefully per charge(?)
Preferred bike wheel size, or wheel size of bike you want to convert. Most common kits are for 26" wheels. => 28"
Brake type of motor wheel. Disc or not. => Disc or V-brake, I don't care.
Rider weight. => 188cm / 6"2'
Terrain. Exp: mostly flat, some short hills under 20% grade, I want to climb mountains, etc., etc. => Everything from flat paved roads to uphills/downhills on gravel, high humidity, heavy rains, high temperatures.
Budget. => No concern.

PPS: Approximate route http://i.imgur.com/dKrKG0R.jpg

 

[Cephalotus]

You know that it is next to impossible to bring more than 100Wh of lithum batteries into a passenger airplane? Try it and if they get you you will pay a HUGE amount of money for that. This is just one step below trying to smuggle a bomb into an airplane.

If you want to travel through africa you need a "fail proof" ebike system. If you have a bike like the Stromer ST2 (with an electronic system almost in prototype stadium that fails very frequently) you can (and most likely will) end with a defective motor that makes your bike completely unmovable.

I suggest one of the 36V Chinese gear hub motors in a rigid steel front fork. A 36V 14A controller should be good enough. Replacements internal gears or bearings for the motor don't weight much, so you can bring some with you. Someone will be able to change them on your trip (replace the cheap shit Chinese screws on the motor at home vs some good ones)
If something brakes inside the motor most likely it will freewheel and you can move your bike just like a regular bike. If it really is unrepairable just get a new standard front wheel and move on.

Your energy consumption is very difficult to predict. Don't go too fast or energy consumption will skyrocket. 5Wh/km is a good target with significant assistance. If you want to go 200km a day you need a 1000Wh battery. I do suggest something as simple as possible, for example a 10s12p battery with Sony US18650V3 cells. This is cheap, will weight 6-7kg and it will not have any electronics, so almost nothing can brake if well made. Put the battery in a white housing, because otherwise the sun and heat will degrade your battery quickly.

Get the highest quality charger that you can find, maybe some Meanwell charger that can run even at 60°C. They need to survive the African electricity grid!

Using a throttle for 8 hours a day can get old very soon. I suggest at least one "cruising mode".

If you need 1000Wh of battery each day and you will recharge with solar power you need to produce 1000Wh day, better 1500Wh per day. Thats a 500W nominal array that gets direct sun for at least 3-4 hours each day. (under African heat you will get less than the rated power) A 500W solar array needs 2,5m² with the best cells available today or 5m² and more with some fold-able (and very expensive) panels.

Imho solar is not a good option on a upright bicycle, even if you plan to rest every midday for 3-4 hours... It would be better suited for a trailer. Here a 200W panel could do the trick in Africa with the sun often straight in the sky and very little shadows during the day.

You could try to get away with less power consumption like 2Wh/km, but at some point the benefit of the motor gets very small......

Btw: A Stromer ST2 will need 3-4 batteries for riding 200km with luggage at typical speeds. One battery costs around 2000US$(?)...

 

[markz]

Just go gasser, way easier for long rides in the middle of no where, plus its less complicated.
Solar panels are too expensive these days. I was looking at a few, 20W and 1.34A under ideal conditions at $70 on sale. Who knows how much it weighs. Looks heavy.

Or
http://www.electricgeneratorsdirect...le-Generator/p3426.html?preferred_placement=1

Only 27.5 lbs. but 800Watts, good for charging up your batteries, not a direct connect to motor which defeats the purpose.

 

[amberwolf]

1. Would a hub-dynamo up front hooked to your battery increase your range? Not trying to build a perpetuum mobile, but maybe it adds a few % to the milage?

No, it will decrease your range. See the many threads about such ideas for details on why.

2. How feasable is charging a battery with large-surface solar panels?

Depends on weather and how long you are willing to stay in one place waiting for them to do their work. Can take days or more if weather is poor or area is small, and pack/usage is large, for just one day's worth of riding. Or carry a large-surface-area trailer with panels extended all day as you ride...which in winds will be a problem.

See the many threads on such things for details on why.

3. How much does weight/luggage affect the range? I usually carry 10-15kg of luggage, which is very little for a long bike tour. Does that help?

Depends on terrain/wind/stops&starts. More hills, less range. More stops/starts, less range. Because you ahve to accelerate the mass.

The bike weight will be significantly more than a typical bike if you want a large motor and a large pack, otherwise it can be little more than a regular bike if you're providing almost all the power and just need a boost now and then.

4. Best case scenario, ignoring the budget for now, what is the highest range on an ebike, going about 20mph per hour?

Need more details to find that out. Weight, terrain, weather, stops/starts, acceleration, etc.

There's quite a few threads discussing efficiency of existing and theoretical bikes and setups.

My own heavy commuter/cargo bike CrazyBike2 gets about 25-30wh/mile, so my typical pack of ~1kwh (58V 20Ah fully charged, but aging so not at full capacity anymore) gets me around 30 miles, depending on conditions and traffic.

If you have a light bike and good streets no stops and no hills and no headwinds, and are providing most of the power yourself, then a similar pack but small motor might get you several times that range.

But...you're probably talking about bad roads (if any), lots of hills, lots of headwinds, etc., and nowhere to charge, so you might be lucky to get the same range I do!


I like the idea of an electric tour but for your purposes, a gas assist is probably a safer bet. Or, a small generator to do the recharging, unless you have "infinite" time available for waiting for it to recharge your pack. Teh generator you can probably get gasoline here and there for. Sun is free but panels are not small or light if you wnat a fast charging rate, and sun is not dependable unless yo'ure in a desert or simlar climate.


So, again with the referral: there are a number of threads talking about trips like this, that you really should find and read.

 

[MadRhino]

I really believe that this trip can be done faster with a plain pedal bike, than with an ebike.

Then, let's say that the goal is to do it with an ebike. I would go for a minimal assistance, to let the bike most able to be used as a plain pedal bike when needed to. So, lightest weight power group to add to the bike, and the lest resistance to pedal unpowered. That would be a friction drive, that can speed a bike to 20 Mph even when built very small, having absolutely no rolling resistance when disengaged, and minimal additional weight to carry.

 

[Jonathan in Hiram]

To a big extent an ebike can do one of two things, provide you significant assistance up steep hills for a moderate distance or provide you pedaling assistance at cruising speed on the flat. A system of a weight you are likely to find acceptable isn't going to do either very well or for all day, let alone all day every day for weeks/months.

Solar charging is a possibility but it's not a plug and play thing at this stage for an ebike, strictly roll your own. Starting from a place of knowing little of electronics the learning curve is daunting to get up to speed on the ins and outs of electric drive, batteries and solar charging.

I've been thinking about this since the last question of this sort was asked a little while ago and I think the best use for an electric system in the type of scenario you describe is to let you loaf on the flats while still maintaining a decent speed and save yourself for the climbs longer ones of which you will do without significant electric assistance. You aren't going to put on a system that weighs a few kilograms and magically whisks you up mountains at 20 kph. You try to avoid using electric drive in operating regimes where it will be inefficient (low speed, high torque hill climbing specifically) and you'll get the most distance out of a given electric charge in the batteries.

 

[markz]

FYI, they got solar panels now that can be used under regular electric light.
The efficiency is less, I forget what the rep told me. Maybe 30% less, but hey its guarunteed light. Then again if you are in a populated area with light, chances are you can get a plug in too for your charger, so.

 

[John in CR]

Worldbicyclist,

It's probably nothing like what you had in mind, but you might get some ideas from Solarshift's trek all the way around the coast of Australia, 17,700km, riding in comfort on his recumbent trike built to handle the outback with his DIY solar panels providing shade and harnessing power for the trip. Here's his thread http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46587#p681121

 

[markz]

Yup that looks like a great setup, you could have a second pack charging by solar as your burning threw your 1st pack. Minimal wind resistance if panels are flat.
........But the weight.......

Start googling solar panels, I am sure there are companies selling solar film. Price would be craazy!

 

[worldbicyclist]

Cephalotus: Excellent reply, thank you. I have written several ebike manufacturers, if they know any workarounds for transporting the batteries for a longer trip.

Thanks again for the detailed info on solar panels. 5m² of foldable panels is a bit much to have on the bike while touring, but would be possible to use while taking a break. 2-3 1000wh batteries sounds best in my opinion, when I looked at the Stromer bike I actually thought about carrying one in the frame, as intended, and one each on the sides. I can load the empty one with solar panels, cycle with one full in the frame and have a third as back-up. That adds 12kg to the luggage though.

I'd disagree on "with an electronic system almost in prototype stadium that fails very frequently", no swiss company would release a finished product if it would be in that state. I'm not worried about the price of $2000 per battery, I wouldnt be buying them. If I indeed do such a tour, than in partnership with the company that produces them.

markz: I can also just buy a motorbike. But it defeats the purpose of riding an ebike. I'm aware that it's not the best solution, but than again I rode a carbon roadbike through the Sahara and a full-suspension MTB through the Siberian winter. I am not striving for the best/most efficient solution.

Amberwolf: Thanks for answering my questions, as general as they were. I know it's hard to give good answers, if the person asks the wrong questions.

Roads in Africa are surprisingly good, because they often do not have any heavy traffic on them and no frost that could destroy them. And yes, I'd have "infinite" time, I don't care if the tours takes 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. I can also ride my bike without the engine, no problem. It's just ~20kg heavier, which I'll survive. It's more about the idea, if a ebike tour can be done in harsher environments.

MadRhino: I agree. Mark Beaumont just cycled in 42 days from Cairo to Capetown, using a similar setup to what I used last year in Westafrica. He averaged over 200km a day, which I can do too. I wont, because I still like to sightsee and don't tour to break records, but it's certainly easier not to take an ebike to Africa.

Could you please be so kind and link me to some of the setup you mentioned, the lightest/friction drive kits?

Jonathan in Hiram: I do like to learn new things and be willing to put in the hours to get a basic understanding of electric components, etc. If things break, I must have the ability to fix them on the road anyway.

John in CR: That is pretty rad. When I went across Australia, I've seen a solar-powered car ralley, they drove 4000km+ through the outback. Looked like spaceships, quite similar to that bike you linked. But they cost a quarter million dollars, so not quite my budget.

Thanks everyone for the support so far.

 

[MadRhino]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20491

One of the friction drives that are available, and a good one IMO. Not very complicated to build one, and very simple to install one ready made on almost any bike.

Friction drives don't give a lot of power, but they are simple and compact. When you just can't charge the batteries anywhere, it is minimal weight to carry and the bike is fully functionnal as a pedal bike. That is what I would want on a trip like yours.

 

[Ian]

Patrick

One factor covered in detail on other threads is wind resistance so as to really cut down your cruising energy consumption. It is possible to configure a very aerodynamic kind of machine that you could then enhance with minimal electric assist. But I'm not sure if anyone here has actually done it.

For instance, the HP velotechnik has a proven record for touring. It can take a lot of weight, electrify to suit, and an xtrawheel trailer could hold additional batteries. I think they just came out with an electric Trike also.

There are also recumbents that you can add fairings and also use a body sock. And there are the more streamlined racing kinds where you are sitting leaning backwards and feet right in front of you - very fast kinds of bikes. The efficiencies are already so good, and with a strong rider.... in theory you could get by on a minimal electric assist system and maybe use a trailer of some kind.

Ian