Hello! I am thinking about building an eBike storage and charging kit for vehicle loadspace and I wondered if this is a marketable idea. I want to drive to the edge of the town I work in, park and beat the rush hour traffic on a bike. This is a pretty common concept but I have my eye on a folding eBike and it would probably live in my car, hence building a box and inverter kit so that it is always topped up. I might use a bike rental scheme if such a thing exists where I work.

Does anyone else have this need? Could this be a good idea or are there alternatives?

Thanks,

Jimmy

Rather than using the car’s electrical system have you thought about putting a small solar panel over rear mudguard like a luggage rack on the bike? Has the advantage that you can leave the bike all day at work charging while you aren’t using it if there are no charging points around, you might need to put a switch between the motor and the panel so you don’t blow up the panel when you start cycling though. I have a Dutch colleague who does that with his e-Bike. Unfortunately there are fewer Maplins stores around as they did a nice small battery trickle charger but if you use the forum search function you will find links to both the AA’s solar charger and the Maplin’s one (Maplin one was £11) 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I have 2 small boats with solar panels to charge the outboard battery and leave them permanently connected when in use.

The panels I bought on Ebay had a diode fitted to protect them.

Forget which one I bought, but they are available in all sorts of sizes and form factors. 2023 P440e SE Dynamic on order -cancelled

2022 HSE Dynamic P400e

2017 Discovery 3.0 HSE Silicon Silver Nimbus interior and a few extra toys SOLD

2013 HSE Black, Orkney Grey, Ebony Seats and Ivory Interior SOLD

2006 HSE

Plus a few other cars inbetween!

Nice idea, I am minded to remove the battery (the expensive bit) and charge it under my desk once at work. It seems that might be enough that I don't need to plug in anywhere else as the advertised range on these things can be between 50-120 miles!

A dedicated stowage area in my boot for a folding bike could facilitate my likely usage pattern; sporadic. While I have every intention of riding in like this every day, it is likely that I will do this only every so often as I regularly use my car for work and need it close by. On the days I know I won't need the car, a flat battery would be very annoying indeed. A car charger would be useful in this situation.

What sort of battery is it? I have a Gtech battery lawn mower and they have a special cylindrical battery that fits into a (very expensive) G tech charger, the same battery and charger is used for their battery assisted bikes. The charger is small and the battery light to carry and plugs into a 13amp socket. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

https://www.brompton.com/Brompton-Electric

I haven't bought it yet, I might get a different (cheaper) eBike but they all have batteries that, as you suggest, are pretty portable and most have a socket point so no dedicated dock is needed.

Looks a nice bike but I wonder what the final price will be if they are asking for a £200 deposit - the GTech bikes don’t fold up and are pretty pricey - the plain Jane bikes are around £900 and the e-Mountain bike is £1900  2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I use a regular Brompton in this situation, theyre brilliant bikes

Didn't know they did an electric version now, will take a look at that.

eBikes are the mutt's nuts

I bought one to tow my dog (in a trailer) to work as it was killing my legs. After that, wow so easy. I still use it with no trailer too but I have to be disciplined as otherwise my overall fitness would drop. The only bad thing is they are restricted to 15mph, so in traffic you sometimes need to put a LOT of extra effort to keep safe - weighs in at 22kg, 2.5x my road bike.

Mine is Bosch engined and comes with a smart battery, so imagine it has a smart charger too. Gets me to work/back with range to spare on "Turbo" mode, which is 15 miles all in.

C5 anyone?

Pufftmw wrote:

eBikes are the mutt's nuts

I bought one to tow my dog (in a trailer) to work as it was killing my legs. After that, wow so easy. I still use it with no trailer too but I have to be disciplined as otherwise my overall fitness would drop. The only bad thing is they are restricted to 15mph, so in traffic you sometimes need to put a LOT of extra effort to keep safe - weighs in at 22kg, 2.5x my road bike.

Mine is Bosch engine and comes with a smart battery, so imagine it has a smart charger too. Gets me to work/back with range to spare on "Turbo" mode, which is 15 miles all in.

Pufftmw wrote:

eBikes are the mutt's nuts

I bought one to tow my dog (in a trailer) to work as it was killing my legs. After that, wow so easy. I still use it with no trailer too but I have to be disciplined as otherwise my overall fitness would drop. The only bad thing is they are restricted to 15mph, so in traffic you sometimes need to put a LOT of extra effort to keep safe - weighs in at 22kg, 2.5x my road bike.

Mine is Bosch engined and comes with a smart battery, so imagine it has a smart charger too. Gets me to work/back with range to spare on "Turbo" mode, which is 15 miles all in.