Re:Rivian's Also E-bike is like nothing you've ever seen
by big_toast on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @06:24PM
(#45675934)
Does that assume no pedaling though? In my experience the pain of starts and stops dominates the joy of steady state pedaling. Presumably the 3Wh/km is free/"exercise" or some portion. Whereas the .24Wh (re-gainable w/ some loss) is all sweat and pain imo.
If I'm understanding the math, maybe that scales the regenerative range extension % by your tolerance for pedaling?
Re:Rivian's Also E-bike is like nothing you've ever seen
by adgjlsfhk1 on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @07:54PM
(#45676632)
The difference is that humans (unlike motors) have pretty low max power limits.
Re:Rivian's Also E-bike is like nothing you've ever seen
by big_toast on Wednesday October 22, 2025 @08:43PM
(#45676939)
I assume this comment in relation to the starting from a stop being unpleasant?
If it's w.r.t. effect of low max power on low cumulative generation, I agree it does seem like a little silly to arbitrage your power generation this way. But maybe the tradeoff is worth it in some circumstances in their view?
Or maybe it's just a low cost addition as other commenters say.
100kg rider at 15 kph = .24W-h kinetic energy. At this speed there is probably roughly 11N of air and rolling resistance, so the steady state power is about 3W-h per km. If you go 1km between stops, or more, the amount you can expect to gain by regeneration is extremely small. It could perhaps extend your range by 5%, generously.