johrhoj

Let's get practical about solar power and external batteries. Like most of us, I would love to be able to ride all day and go everywhere, while not depending long breaks or even on the powergrid for charging my wheel. So what is attainable at the moment. First of all, my solution is and has always been to buy EUC with large batteries. The larger the battery, the greater the distance. And yes, more batteries means more expensive and heavier EUC. But also longer charge-times. There are several solutions to get the chargetime down. The most radical solutions involve changing the internal charging system. But manufacturers are allowing for better charging-times by having a second charge-port and allowing for higher Amperage. Secondly, the EUC is quite power-hungry. It is not like a laptop or phone or flashlight. A EUC needs several hundreds of Watt during operation, going up to over 1kW for most high end wheels at speed. SOLAR ENERGY You want to dabble with solarpower? I see three options for use of solar-power: - while driving (reason being longer driving time and distance) - while pausing (reason being longer driving distance and not depending on powergrid) - at home (reason being climate-aware) 1 While driving Solar panels are still improving, but it will be hard to get even an avarage of 15W from portable panels while driving. You will not be driving in the full sun constantly, you will not be able to keep the panel perfectly angled to the sun most of the time, and the surface area you can use for panels is limited. You could extend your range (heavily depending on wheel and driving-speed) from a few percent to maybe 15 percent. Besides the marginality of the gain, be aware of the following: - you wheel must allow you to drive and charge at the same time (I honestly do not know if this is default for all wheels). - you will carry a considerable weight. Not only do you need the panel, but also the transformation of the panel's power is needed. This might totally negate you gain. - it is expensive 2 While pausing Now there are more advantages. You could place your panel(s) correctly in the sun, you are less limited in panel surface area. I know of a product where you could get 100W+ from a portable solution. You would have to carry around 10Kg of extra weight though. If you have a 1kW battery, you would need to pause 10 hours for a full charge. Realistically you could extend your range for the day by 20-50%, again heavily depending on your wheel and your driving. Also depending on the weather and pausing time of course. 3 At home. I assume that your home is connected to the powergrid. Just use it, and look for solar-energy solutions for your home. EXTERNAL BATTERIES There are several good external batteries on the market. You can charge them at home and bring them with you. I estimate that currently you can get 100Wh per Kg of extra weight or thereabouts. This means that if you are willing to carry 10 kg of extra weight, you can almost double your driving distance when your wheel has a 1000Wh battery. The extra weight will be a burden, therefor doubling the Wh will not exactly double your range. Big advantages of external batteries are: - they will charge while your wheel is charging, thus not extending charging-time. - depending on your wheel, you can choose to charge from the external battery while driving or while pausing. - you can carry as many external battery as you like. MY CONCLUSION Solar power options are not worth it. Unless you are completely cut of from the powergrid, there is no practical gain for solar options over external batteries. If you search the internet for products, you will find them. More products are becoming available all the time.

I am waiting for my Veteran Sherman. I ordered about 6 weeks ago. I thought I was smart to order then, because I could see the price beginning to go up. Is it true that the Veteran Abrams will be available before the production of the Sherman resumes? If so I would like to change my order. I ordered via AliExpress. Anyone out there any suggestion how to go about changing an order (if possible at all?)

My wheel usage during the week is about the same: 10km every day. I charge for the following reasons: - need full battery for tomorrow's longer distance - need a full battery for today's retour-trip. I even recharge then when battery is less then 50 % used. E.g. roundtrip is 70km - used up between 60 to 80 percent of battery capacity After somewhere between 5000km and 10000km (i don't keep track of distance at all) i have no noticable battery capacity loss. I stopped worrying about optimal charging strategy. I think that all euc riders that ride regurly and or frequently do not need worry. Batteries are just that good these days, and every 2-3 years, i will buy my next euc. My fifth wheel is on the horizon (waiting for the veteran sherman). Conclusion: you are doing fine when you charge when you need it. Just do not let battery go below 20% for safety reasons, and if you let it go below that, recharge at the first convenient moment. Cheers

I am now almost three years EUCing. The text you quoted is about two years old. In the early days I did contact the RDW (dutch traffic law organization) and they replied to me that the EUC was not a vehicle, and therefor not a motorized vehicle. The RDW cannot give an official ruling in the matter, but when I am stopped by the police (happened a few times) I tell them "The RDW said ... etc." The basic definition of "what is a motorized vehicle" (definition section in the law on traffic): anything for transporting a person, relying 100% on a motor, and not moved along rails. This makes the EUC a motorized vehicle, but the vehicle is not in any of the defined vehicle categories. So where does this leave us? --- When a EUC is to be allowed on the road, there must be a special permission for the EUC. This is a per brand permission. The rules to get permission are such, that no EUC will ever get this permission. For instance, the vehicle must have a reliable steering installation. --- If the permission is obtained (somehow) the EUC must be ensured as a motor vehicle (WAM), but to my knowledge, no insurance company will give you such an assurance until the permission to drive your EUC on the road is given. All the same, I think it is quite childisch of the police to conficate and destroy your EUC, especially because: --- you are a well behaved and safely participating in traffic --- you pose no danger to anyone --- you are environmentally a good alternative for scooters and the like. The best course of action to remedy the situation is to get gotway, king song, ips, ninebot, and the rest, to seek the forementioned permission for their EUCs. If we could persuade the manufacturers to do so, and if it would succeed, then the EUC-sales in the Netherlands could go sky-high (for those brands), which is the incentive the manufacturers need. I still hope this to become realtiy ... somehow.

I love your text: 1) It goes into detail of rules and makes it clear the EUC is not (well) legislated. 2) You trying to help legislation/ rulings along. I would say that the EUC should be classified as small personal transport. A whole new category that enables you to go where pedestrians go AND where bikes go. I also think that different speedlimits (for different situations) should be imposed. Like 8km/h on sidewalks, 25km/h inside the city and 40km/h in the open. But it would be wrong to limit the max-speed of the EUC itself. If you go quicker, you get a speedingticket, just like cars. In the Netherlands, all these rules are quite different, and much more detailed. To the letter of the law, it is clear that the EUC is officially not allowed on public roads. At the same time, it is clear what course of action is needed for an EUC to become legal on the road. The manufacturer has to put in a request for its vehicle to be allowed as a special category of bike. The manufacturer(s) must prove (per EUC model) that steering, braking, lights, etc. is all in order. It is quite a list of requirements, but is also a list from which it becomes clear that this law is ill suited for EUC's (mainly because of steering requirements). The problem is that existing laws, that are perfectly fine for almost all vehicles and traffic, must be adapted to include EUC's, and that is complex lawmaking for just a few EUC enthousiast. I do not see it happen (in the short term). I hope you will succeed to get the rules in place that will allow the EUC's in your part of the world. Best of luck with it

Credits for this video goes to @Bram Just posting it, because I was there too. It was a nice ride and a great opportunity to meet some fellow EUC enthousiasts

@AndyBoxx, @Bram, @Daroma, @Franky20, @Gabriel, @gotmotion2016, @johrhoj, @knetebol, @Lex, @Michael de Gans, @Milo Dorigo, @MvM, @razorfungi, @reyawn, @Tomek THE ARNHEM TOUR IS A GO Coming Sunday a group of EUCyclists will do the tour as described above. It is a route of 25 km through accidented terrain, most of which is car free. The meetup is at the backside of Arnhem station (called "Sonsbeekzijde") an we will start at 11:00 o'clock in the morning. During the tour there are two resting points (better charging points, because we do not need the rest). But, since the charging of an EUC is not that quick, you cannot count on a full recharge. So, even if it is a last minute dicision for you, if you are there, you can do the tour. If you know of EUC owners that would like to go, but do not read this forum, please inform them. Surely there are more than a few tens of EUC's around in the Netherlands.

The weather forecast for coming sunday just got better. The forecast for Arnhem is now a dry day, but still pretty low temperatures (10 degrees C) and almost no sunshine. If enough ppl like to go, I will go too (because EUCycling is always fun ). Meetup will be the backside of Arnhem station ("Sonsbeekzijde") probably at 11 o'clock, maybe a bit earlier (certainly not later). End of planned tour is at Rheden station, but ppl with enough range in their EUC can make it back to Arnhem station (another 12 km). This is the last call for participants. Tomorrow at end of day I will announce if it is a date and with (at least) how many.

As promised, the three parts of the route:

By the looks of it, sunday will be very cold, and probably wet too. These are poor conditions. Therefor I propose to set a new date somewhere near the end of may to try again. What about sunday 21st or 28th? I am disappointed myself that coming sunday is off. I will actively promote a new ride near Arnhem, and see if we can get a large enough group. @Noillek , that Whatsapp group sounds very nice. Could I become a member of it? @AndyBoxx, @Bram, @Daroma, @Franky20, @Gabriel, @gotmotion2016, @johrhoj, @knetebol, @Lex, @Michael de Gans, @Milo Dorigo, @MvM, @razorfungi, @reyawn, @Tomek Please Let me know what sunday at the end of May seems best. I am looking forward to a nice group ride (only not in the conditions of coming sunday).

When I tweak the route just a bit, we could stop at: - The hunting lodge (Beekhuizenseweg 1, 6891 CZ Rozendaal, thehunting.nl). This is after about 8 km. - Paviljoen de Posbank (Beekhuizenseweg 1, 6991 JM Rheden, paviljoendeposbank.nl). This is after about 15 km at the highest point of the route. This establishment closes at 16:00. The second stop it is pretty close to the train station, but we could take a scenic route down to the station of another 10 km. I think most (if not all) EUCs can make those distances, with the two one-hour-stops. Before making this plan official, I would like to say the following: - The group should be at least 7 ppl, preferably bigger - I am willing to contact the establishments to verify/arrange EUC-charging possibility - I can post the proposed route (I have three maps, for the three parts of the route) - When it all goes ahead, I'd like to make a video of it and post it here in the video thread. - If we start early, we can do coffee at stop one, and lunch at stop 2. If we start somewhat later, we can do lunch (12:00-13:00) at stop one and coffee/tea (15:00-16:00) at stop two. - Just to be clear - I now have one-route-for-all in mind of a total of 25 km. This means starting in Arnhem, ending in Rheden. (Rheden is only 10km from Arnhem via shortest route.) Currently I count 3-4 participants. Let me know if you are interested. The go no-go will be around 3-5 days before the event date of 23rd of April (when it is clear what the wheather will be).

There are several nice options for a ride, that include the posbank. 1) start in Arnhem, finish in Rheden - trainstation Arnhem, sonsbeekpark, rozendaal, posbank, trainstation Rheden. (About 17 km. Your EUC range should be at least 25 km because of the height differences) 2) start and finish Arnhem. Same as 1) but back to train station Arnhem along the river IJssel. (About 30 km, EUC range needed is about 40 km.) 3) from trainstation Rheden a tour around and over the posbank. (about 12 km, but a EUC range needed of around 20 km) There are of course many more options. The routes mostly are by dedicated bike paths. I gave the distance, and the needed minimum EUC range. The minimum EUC range is as you would in real world flat conditions (which is always much less than the specification by the manufacturer). Routes one and two are easily combined of course. A whole group could do route one, while a part of the group extends the ride with option two. For me personally: - I would like to do the second option. - I only like to go in nice weather When there is some interest, I can explore some further and make routemaps. Just let know (via this topic) if you are interested. I include the list of names, so you all get a notification of this post @AndyBoxx, @Bram, @Daroma, @Franky20, @Gabriel, @gotmotion2016, @johrhoj, @knetebol, @Lex, @Michael de Gans, @Milo Dorigo, @MvM, @Noillek, @razorfungi, @reyawn, @Tomek

Sounds good. Personally I would like to see some of mother nature, not necessarily off road. I will be able to do 50 km, but that is probably too much for most. What distance are we looking for, and where will it be? I am living in Arnhem and could find/plot a route of any distance in this beautiful environment. Just let me know if this is a good idea.

I'd like to come to national meetup someday, but this date i cannot make it. A nice summersday would seem more agreeable. Have fun at the meetup for all participants. Please leave a review of your experiences too