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Charger Electric Bike - In-depth Review/Description
Kevin,
Here in Grand Rapids, Michigan we have some very extreme killer hills in town (Michigan Street is one), and I have no problem getting up the hills. If I am going around 18 mph when I hit the hill, as long as I downshift as needed to keep the peddling pretty constant, I don't slow down to any less than 10mph. The trick is to keep the pedals moving to keep the output of the motor going. There actually is a torque sensor in there and it looks at pedal speed and pressure to adjust the motor output.
The noise you are hearing is the drive belt combined with the motor. Since the motor is completely sealed, to get rid of the motor heat, they have a ventilation scheme. If the motor or the drive electronics get too hot, the #2 led will flash and the controller will power the motor part of the time. I have never had this happen except when riding right after a charge, and it went away with about 1 to 2 minutes.
Depending on the power level (I really pretty much leave mine at 4 around town), I get 20 to 30 miles per charge. I have never tried to see how far I could push it. They do make an accesorized packaged where they add extra batteries to a rear tire rack to extend the range. I might buy it minus the batteries.
The two 12VDC batteries included are in the controller/battery box [pictured above]. They are beefy lead acid batteries and are not expensive to replace. They are a standard size and when mine go bad, I won't be replacing them with lead acid batteries...I think. I am going to be looking at newer battery technology, probably Lithium Ion. Reason being these things can take a better beating than lead acid. The bad thing is that except for one new company that has a patent on some pretty interesting technology, if you overcharge the Lithium batteries (for example, plug in the bike and then forget about it overnight...I've done this many times) you can have a fire as a result. But for overall power and performance, nothing short of a Hydrogen fuel cell comes close to Lithium Ion (at least nothing that is already commercially available).
As far as the electronics are concerned, one of the very first things I did when I got the bike was to pull that controller completely apart. I am an electrical engineer and I wanted to see what the design looked like. I have seen plenty of very badly designed things over the years, even on automobiles, so after 20 years I can pretty much tell a bad design when I see it.
The controller design is absolutely, without a doubt, one of the best things I have run across in 20 years of doing this line of work. One of the things I always do when I do designs is, at the very least, guardband by a factor of 100% every component I put on a design. For example, if I have a circuit that needs a minimum of a 1/2 Watt resistor, I will use a 1 Watt. If a capacitor needs a minimum rating of 10 Volts, I'll use a 25V.
They did the same thing. In addition the circuit board layout was done by someone who obviously knew what they were doing. The charging circuitry is fully protected against shorts, thermal runaway,etc. That metal plate you see below the keypad is the heatsink for the charging circuit AND the drive circuit. With that much metal, the parts don't get hot. During a charge where the batteries are completely drained, the metal will get slightly warm to the touch, but not so hot you would ever have to remove your hand.
Having to deal with Underwriter's Laboratory, I was concerned. Since the bike doesn't seem to carry a UL rating, I was a little concerned about this bike "plugging in" to the wall. Everything is completely protected to beyond the standards set by UL. The 120 Volt wiring and traces on the circuit board meet or exceed spacing guildelines set by UL. The 120 Volt HOT line is fused, so in the case of a major disaster where the whole unit shorts out, the 120 Volt HOT line fuse opens and there is no possibility of fire or shock. The batteries are both fused also, so any major issue with the batteries and they also open their fuses.
The controller circuit board is also conformal coated (meaning it is completely protected from moisture and humidity). The components that make up the circuits are all name brand and well known in the industry. For example the relay on the circuit board is from one of the 3 largest manufacturers in the world, not some unknown Chinese brand. Very important.
The microcontroller is Microchip brand, the largest 8-bit control manufacturer in the world. The chip may or may not be code-protected, but there are ways around it and I could very easily get the code listing that is in the microcontroller. Also all the parts are automotive rated (-40 degrees C to +85C) meaning I can ride it in the worst winter weather. (And yes I did, all winter long, with not a single issue from the controller; however, at 20 MPH, bikes will do just like cars on snow and ice, and I did come close to wiping out several times.) Also the hardware is all name brand, i.e. Shimano hubs.
I honesty don't ever see the controller being an issue. It is designed well, conformal coated, electrically protected (most you might ever have to do is change an automtovie style blade type fuse), and most importantly mounted well against the issue of vibration and shock. The batteries are also nestle and padded so they won't ever bounce around. Also the batteries are sealed so you would never have an issue of hydrogen outgassing during charge which could deposit a coating over time on the circuit board (like the gunk you see on battery terminals on a car) or worse, release the gas and a spark occur and get an explosion!
The guys that run the company now are great, and are very easy to deal with. They have plenty of service parts, and I think they even have extra controllers if something should go wrong. Even if for some reason, the controller was not available, bypassing the controller completely and wiring from the batteries directly to the motor with a switch is something is not beyond the skills of most do-it-youself type people.
The bike was designed to meet the guidelines necessary to keep it a bike. Under federal law, there is a power rating on an electrically assisted bike that the unit must stay under. Also in all 50 states, on an assisted type of bike, the speed of the bike is limited to 20 MPH as far as the bike being assisted by a motor. However, this is very easy to get around. As a factory stock bike it is legal in all 50 states and National parks (there are horror stories out there about people getting ticketed in National Parks for bikes that have motors that are too large, you can do a google search and come up with some pretty quick).
This bike is not a lightweight Titanium whiz bang Lance Armstrong Model. It wasn't designed to be. I bought the unit with the Rock Shox because I knew I would be riding it on the street, and we have plenty of potholes here in town and I have hit some pretty nasty ones at 20 MPH plus and the bike took it with no problems.
I did a couple of months worth of research on and off, and compared the Charger to the E-bike from Lee Ioacoca. The E-bike is heavier, goes no faster, does not go as far on a single charge, and basically doesn't look like a bike. One of my big concerns was if this thing didn't look like a bike, the local cops would hassle me. I haven't been stopped once, other than to ask me how I liked it. I looked at bikes costing as much as $3500 but I just can't bring myself to pay that much. Heck! most of the cars I ever bought were for less than that.
There are bikes cheaper than this. Go to Ebay. They are all Chinese junk. I bought two. Both times, at the end of the auction, there were issues. The first guy wanted me to pay and was willing to deliver the bike 8-10 weeks after receipt of payment (i.e. the damn bike was still in China), and the second guy said there was a major recall on the batteries (i.e. our government popped the manufacturer at the seaport for something) and he couldn't deliver the bike.
These guys are all here in the US and they don't do this out of greed. They actually enjoy what they do and have an honest concern for the environment. That's why I don't mind taking the time answering e-mails for people. They know I will answer them honestly and if I ever had a problem with the quality of the bike or the level of customer service, I'd let people know.
I don't. I wish they could get the money together to do a Charger version 2. Maybe a more efficient motor, maybe more power, maybe some new electronic features, maybe longer range. I've told them if they ever need design help, I'm available. I enjoy working on projects that make a difference. I hate my 9-5 job of mass producsing electronics for cars that are going to end up in junk yards in 10 years.
I have never been able to find an honest rating, like a Consumer's Report of all the various manufacturers of Electric Bikes. I know that the Chargers are priced right in the middle of the road. The bikes originally were priced right at about $1600 I believe. Now they are half priced. Their bikes aren't kits or modifications of a bike, the whole bike was designed. That's another reason I like it.
Let me know what you end up doing. Even if you buy another brand, let me know how it works out for you. I have a feeling (gas here yesterday hit an all time high of $2.57/gallon) it won't be long and more and more of us will be on bikes!
Mark Ross
Here's an exchange between a potential buyer and Mark Ross, an experienced user:
>From: Robert Kevin P****** <********@yahoo.com>
>To: Mark Ross <*******@hotmail.com>
>Subject: RE: Charger Bike recommendation
>Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 14:50:46 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Mark,
>
>Thanks so much for getting back to me. I rode one to try out last Friday and it had trouble making a hill and was very noisy (whirring noise). Do you think the trouble making it up the hill was because it may have been undercharged? I put it at level 4 (top light) but couldn't get up the hill, even while peddling. I'm a fairly strong biker but with the 65 pounds of the bike and my 175 pounds it wouldn't go up the incline.
>
>So I moved on to looking at competitors and ended up leasing (through a try and buy kind of program) a TidalForce for $100. The try price isn't bad, and it could go to purchase, but that bike is incredibly expensive ($2500). I love the TidalForce, but have big problems with the price. Not to mention the wife's objections.
>
>So I'm willing to re-look at the Charger since you're so pleased. Do you think I just happened to get a bad situation? Please address (1) the power; and (2) the noise (the TidalForce is silent). It may be that the noise is just something you have to get used to ($700 is a lot cheaper than $2500) but the power was the deal killer. If you've ridden yours so far I can't believe that power is really what it seemed that day.
>
>Also, what is your range on a charge? How long does the battery really last (in terms of months/years/miles)? Is it expensive to replace?
>
>Are you concerned about the on-board computer being unserviceable over time since the original company is out of business?
>
>-Robert Kevin Perkins
>From: Mark Ross <******@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Robert,
>
>I've had the bike for a little less than a year now and it takes an absolute pounding everyday. Here are my recommendations. The innertubes aren't going to hold up. Replace them when you buy the bike with the puncture resistant or thorn resistant tire and fill the tires with this stuff called Slime. I haven't had a flat since I did that. [Editor's note: tire liners complete your flat-prevention plan.]
>
>Other than that, I've put well over 1,000 miles on the bike with very little problem. I have people all the time now (now that gas is up over $2.50 a gallon) ask where I got the bike.
>
>Basically if a trip takes 7-10 minutes by car, in the city, figure 10-15 minutes by the bike. With very little effort being lazy, I originally could get the bike going 10-12 mph with no problem. Now that I have been training by riding the bike around with the motor off, but keeping the battery pack on (adds weight), when I do use the assist I am averaging 15-25 mph. Keep in mind that the bike as you receive it will only do 20 MPH and then the motor cuts out but that can be easily changed and there is a link to a site that discusses that.
>
>Bike works very well in extremely cold and snowy weather. Saved my rear this last winter. Lost my license for drag racing and this bike gets me around town very comfortably.
>
>One last note. If you are going to do any serious riding for a long time or daily use, throw away the stock seat and buy a gel seat. The good ones are only $15-20 and your rear end will thank you. If you have any specific questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. The customer service I got from Rob is absolutely outstanding. I hope they bring this bike back out. They are working off the overstock from the bankruptcy (don't worry though, the major components are all brand name and easily replaceable i.e. battery, motor, gear hub etc.). This bike is 1/3 the cost of an e-bike from Lee Iacoca and performs just as good.
>
>Mark Ross
>
In response to the above exchange, Sam Wonderly of Electroportal LLC (sales and product development...) offers the following:
First, it's great Mark has enjoyed his bike so much, as have so many others (many of whom use their bikes all year around...with Chargers cruising many parts of the world). Though I agree the circuitry is well designed, I think it's important to use the supplied rain cover (or plastic bag) to keep moisture out of the power pack. If it does get wet, better safe than sorry! Let it dry out (well) before plugging it in or turning it on again. We recommend fenders which help keep road spray (containing chemicals and sometimes salt) away from the motor and torque sensor (which has a seal over the strain gauge that needs to stay intact).
To respond to Robert's experiences and concerns, we've been distributing and supporting the Charger bike for five years now and have many, many happy customers - with an increasing number logging over 10,000 miles on their bikes. Considering the limited functionality or dismal track records of many other e-bikes (including both low and very high priced ones), my own experiences, the few complaints we've had, and the many positive comments we get, I can only conclude that the Charger is a great bike. The bikes aren't perfect, but have certainly proven they'll hold up well if cared for. They also get middle aged San Franciscans like me (up against strong winds and steeper than average terrain) back on bikes!
Addressing the noise level mentioned, it's likely that the bike Robert rode had a loose motor-belt because the Charger's "whirrr" even in the highest assist level is far less audible than the whine of the geared Heinzmann hub motor used on Lee Iacocca's "E-Bike" (as well as the German "Estelle" and others...). If your cadence is uneven, the noise is more noticeable. So,remember to focus on efficient pedaling. Compared with electric drills, vacuum cleaners, and other electric appliances it's FAR, FAR less noisy; compared with gas engines there's no contest. I've yet to experience anyone on a sidewalk turn before I reach them curious as to what sort of a vehicle is approaching. The Charger's noise is certainly not an issue brought up by most customers and the very few that do understand the power assist trade-off value and soon get used to it. (The noise is highest in the highest assist mode.) Also, once you get past 15mph, the wind past your ears drowns out the motor's whirrr.
As for powering up hills, I must say that I'm about 210 lbs., 54 years old, live in San Francisco, and can get around the city on all but a few of the steepest streets (and those are ones that are REALLY steep). I'd avoid them even if I didn't have trouble. If I lived on one, I'd consider a gas motorcycle (converted to CNG or something). From another perspective, we rented a Charger to a visiting young guy with MS, who was able to keep up with his active wife all around town for 2 days - sometimes leaving her (on her unassisted bike) behind on some of the steeper hills. Here are a few of his comments:
Jon's letter: "I wanted to tell you again how thankful I was that you rented the bike to me. My wife and I were able to bicycle all over your beautiful city--which I never would have been able to do without the Charger bike. As I mentioned when I dropped it off, we rode up Telegraph Hill, across the Golden Gate Bridge, through Chinatown, and almost everywhere else that we had imagined visiting. It gave us the freedom to stop anywhere for lunch or dinner, to change plans in the middle of the day, and the ability to be outside where we were much more open to the sights and sounds of San Francisco. This transformed our vacation!". Many, many thanks! Jon Swenson Tellekson
I'll also note that Jon has since purchased a Charger bike.
Powering up hills also depends on battery charge level, battery type and condition, and how you ride the Charger bike; all factor into how easy it is to get up hills. No telling what condition or type of battery was in the bike Robert rode. Stronger, newer, and fully charged batteries certainly deliver more power. So does downshifting! Learn how to ride the Charger by keeping two things in mind. First, your pedal power on the flats is amplified proportionately according to the power level selected; power and speed increase with more pedal pressure. Second, on the steep hills, peak power (36A or 864W, considering it's a 24V system) doesn't kick in unless you slow to a crawl. So, you may as well ease up on the pedals, slow down and down-shift if you want the highest boost. The designers included this "highest power on hills feature" for a reason. If you were to automatically pull the maximum power out of the system going up hills as you put more and more pressure on the pedals, the battery would drain much quicker. The batteries would wear out that much faster too. Batteries delivering high amps wear out quickly. The designers figured that if you can pedal at 10 mph up a hill, then you really don't need the peak power. On the other hand, if you're struggling at 3-5 mph, then opening the flood gates and draining the battery makes more sense.
A comparison of the Tidal Force with the Charger is like comparing apples with oranges. My understanding is Wave Crest Labs added a high torque hub motor to a Montague folding bike used by paratroopers, so they could rush with heavy equipment quickly for a short distance, then dump the bikes to point and shoot (or whatever...). These bikes don't feel like a regular bike as the Charger does because they've got a motorcycle style throttle. The heavy front and rear wheels are prone to require more frequent truing, and special care must be taken so the batteries in the front wheel are installed balanced so they don't knock the already heavy wheel out of true (creating a safety hazard). The 36V "Iacocca" E-Bike is a similar "electric-moped", also with a hub motor unable to take advantage of mechanical efficiencies from different gears which requires the motor to be bigger and heavier than a "mid-drive" type like our Charger bikes and E-4 kits. Cost to replace expensive NiMh batteries used in the Tidal Force, and the custom size SLA type in the 36V E-bike should also be considered (compared with the $60-$80 for a set of stock size 12V/12Ah SLA's in the Charger bike pack). It's common for Charger cyclists who completely discharge their batteries daily to get over a year (or 2, 3, or 4 years) use from their batteries depending on the discharge level and frequency of use. You can expect over 400 deep discharge cycles for the lead with phosphoric acid batteries.
As for concern over the "on-board computer being unserviceable over time..." Consider we've done a better job supporting customers than many larger companies making or distributing e-bikes, and that goes for customers we've inherited that bought before we got involved, or bought used. Investigate what's going on with Tidal Force and you may find this proprietary parts bike may be difficult to service or replace batteries if Wave Crest has abandoned the bike business as the rumor mill claims. Also, note that the Charger's proprietary parts such as the PC boards ARE serviceable. Usually, however, problems are related to batteries or someone trying to replace them not knowing how to. Furthermore, the 24V motor on the Charger bikes can be run with any 24V motor controller common for many scooters, or even an automobile starter switch connected directly to the batteries for an on-off full or no power. We may soon be offering a 24V 40A "on-demand" controller for a throttle version of the Charger bike, or as a possible controller replacement down the line. We've also got word from engineers we're working with that a new "bionic" controller is forthcoming.
Consider also that some customers have logged over 15K miles on Charger bikes, but cannot find a part for a computer, printer, large screen TV, digital camera, cell phone, or many other products that are over a year old. One way or the other, we at ElectroPortal aim to keep our customers on the road using power assist and developing systems that are backwardly compatible, i.e. saying "no" to early obsolescence. The pallets of spare parts we got with the bikes include extra motors made by Revcor in Texas which is still in business (although these motors should outlast the bikes since they're designed to run non-stop for years as truck fan motors).
As for whether $700 is the right price for a bike that costs about the same as a non-powered bike with similar quality, CrMoly frame, wheels, tires, internal gearing (and other quality Shimano components), I'd say it's a no-brainer. This bike is a great deal even if you were to strip the bike some day and turn it into a regular non-powered, 7-speed internal gear bike. We don't entertain the idea of dumping them at lower prices because that would limit our ability to support them and continue with our second generation successor bike and kit plans. In fact, various factors (including inflation) are pressuring us to raise the prices to a more reasonable level. Other, vastly inferior bikes made in Asia are being offered at factory prices that are the same as the current Charger bike wholesale prices. However, we want to keep the Charger prices low so more folks use their cars less.
