An interesting and welcome development

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Pat "5mph"

A kilogrammicaly challenged woman
Moderator
Location
Glasgow
Good for cargo bikes, not so good for Pat 5mph on the cycle path ... got enough must get in front by the roadies :laugh:
Anyway, the UK is about to take back control of their cycle paths, so not applicable :whistle:
 

gbb

Legendary Member
Location
Peterborough
I'd like to understand the way manufacturers power outputs comply with legislation.
So my Crossfire is stated as 250w nominal output, that meets the rules, but it's maximum output is 400w....so how does that work ? It's no doubt legal, Ii suppose unless you read deep into the regulations you wouldn't understand anyway.
So will 1000w mean 1000w maximum or will we see maximum watts achieved go far beyond 1000.
The only benefit I can see is effectively you'd get twist and go...and tbh, with the current 400w max, I neither need 1000w or twist and go. At current maximum assist it couldn't be easier, not that I use it anyway.
I'm not sure it's necessary although perhaps in some countries the max speed limit may be higher so it'd be more useful in those markets.
Also, battery life may be very limited currently but as always, technology moves on so perhaps there's more capacity being developed that would cope with the higher demand of bigger motors.
 

Oldfentiger

Veteran
Location
Pendle, Lancs
All electric motors have the capacity to produce more torque for short periods than their rated value.
I can’t remember the figure for DC but AC motors can produce 2.5 x rated value at start-up, provided the electrical supply is capable.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
All electric motors have the capacity to produce more torque for short periods than their rated value.
I can’t remember the figure for DC but AC motors can produce 2.5 x rated value at start-up, provided the electrical supply is capable.

This is a key point, which also makes wattage figures close to meaningless.

Most nominally rated 250w road legal motors peak at around 750w, depending on controller settings and battery strength.

Thus a bike with what the maker calls a 1,000w motor might not feel that powerful compared to a 250w a with strong battery and aggressive controller settings.

Only a back-to-back test ride would tell you which bike has the most poke and by how much.
 
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