E bikes,

[snail]

Hi all, we are considering buying 2 bikes, we like the Dutch gazelle city type bikes, already have a manual one.

Have two main concerns, firstly, charging them we rarely use ehu, and only have two 75 amp batteries and 100 watt solar panel, could they be charged during driving from site to site on moving days? so would this be even possible? 

Secondly, weight our 2010 autocruise tempo like many pvcs has a bike rack fitted to the offside rear door only using a clamp type arrangement to secure it, would this be strong enough even without batteries on the bikes?

Would it be necessary to have a tow bar mounted rack, we don't have even a tow bar at the moment, you can see this is going to add up to a few quid! Which is why we are only considering it

At the moment we visit shops beaches park up for the day then go to sites or use our bus passes from sites, however, we spend more time in Scotland and Wales meaning bus passes no use, this should be something the government acts on with reciprocal agreements

Thanks Brian   

[ChasB]

My wife and I each have an e-bike and we now always look to have an EHU to charge the batteries. We also now use an air-fryer which as cut down on gas usage.

The way we use the van has changed because of the need for an EHU, and the battery charge can last for a few days but again it depends on your usage.

We did buy a 12 volt e-bike battery charger looking at using that to charge batteries whilst on the move. But then thought against it; these batteries are Lithium Ion and what would happen if the battery on charge suddenly burst into flames?

[paul2]

Hi  

I do not think ebikes on the back doors is good, ideally you need at least a tow bar mounted rack or better still a Busbiker rack like i have.

Paul

[colin]

Snail, only you can determine if you can charge the batteries without EHU.

What I can tell you is that having the same battery bank and slightly smaller solar panel, in summer we can get enough charge in our bikes to keep them going, we usually only use the power for uphill and strong headwinds, and charge each battery on alternate days for 1 hour only in the morning, this leaves the solar to top up the hab battery in afternoon, our Bosch bike batteries would take 5? hours to fully charge, so you can see it's a case of little and often.

I decided the door mounted rack we used on our old bikes wasn't a good idea for the heavier bikes, and replaced it with my own design which is similar to 'van swing'.

[snail]

Thank you for your replies, as we don't have the bikes, the tow bar or a suitable rack, I don't think it's worth the expense

I may however get a tow bar fitted as we still have our motorbike trailer and Suzuki burgman 400 from our hymer days

Thanks again for your thoughts

[Tracker]

Just a thought?

Is it cost effective or practical to buy bikes with a long range or maybe spare batteries for the bikes to give yourself more range and more flexibility with charging?

Perhaps using a CL / CS with EHU every few days might be another option?

Or visit Holland where it's flat enough not to need battery power!!

[Zydeco Joe]

We have 2 bikes (full size) and use a eco flow delta 2 with 220 solar panel. Damaged the panel when it fell over cracking part of the back but it still charges but not as fast as it did. It worked well for us over 3 months winter trip to Spain and with a few other problems like cannot use the cigarette lighter socket on this long non campsites trip into Europe it's ok. Good idea to alternate batteries on charge we feel. One thing we Never charge overnight.