Coming real soon to 875 Stockton Street is Jax E Bikes which will be selling those increasingly popular electric bikes. Joe(y) just sent us over a pic of the store front. We're not sure of the opening date, but as soon as we gather some more information we will pass it along to you.
Advantages of electric over gasoline power:
1. The fuel costs for electric power are approximately 25% the cost of gasoline power (US, mid-2008; see Electric car, "Running costs" for the calculation)
2. Nearly silent.
3. Environmental friendly (no exhausted gases at point of use)
4. Using grid power to charge batteries causes less pollution than gasoline scooters; the amount of emissions caused depends on the sources of the electricity used.
5. No trips needed to a gas station-- can be recharged at home.
6. Lower maintenance costs and fewer maintenance activities; for example, there is no need to change the oil.
7. Can be ridden indoors.
Disadvantages:
1. Up front costs are higher than for a comparable gasoline powered motorcycle or scooter.
2. Shorter range before refueling.
3. Longer "fill up" or recharge time.
4. Lower maximum speed at similar price points.
5. Electric power outlets are often not conveniently located near streets or driveways. It is often difficult or impossible to bring the battery into an apartment, for example, for recharging.
6. Battery capacity can be as low as 20% on a cold winter day with -20 °C (lead battery)
7. As it is already difficult to be "noticed" by cars/trucks on a motorcylce, the loss of characteristic engine noise might make riding these even more dangerous than their combustion engine powered counterparts.
2 comments:
From Jax EBikes:
Jacksonville Confidential you folks are amazing! We just purchased the sign about 20 minutes before you took our picture, you'll notice it's only leaning in the window.
Our official opening is September 23rd, and we will have a Grand Opening in October.
We are passionate about changing transportation and are very excited to be highlighted by your blog!
I have a few comments on the disadvantages / advantages list, but overall they are very fair.
*The annual cost of an electric bicycle has become significantly cheaper than gas powered scooters. We were waiting for this inflection to occur, before we entered the market. At $3.50 gas, riding an EBike for an hour each weekday can take you 5200 miles in a year for $20 in electricity. Accounting for insurance, driving a 50cc scooter that distance will cost $482 and generate 4x as much CO2. Driving a passenger car will cost $910.00, in gas alone, and generate 20x more green house gases. Thus, fuel costs for an electric bicycle are now 12% of a gasoline scooter and 2% of a gasoline car.
*Up front costs also favor an electric bicycle over a quality gasoline powered scooter. Each of our bicycles comes with a 2 year warranty (versus a 1 year warranty for quality scooters like Yamaha, Honda and Vespa). But most importantly, only electric bicycles can commute from Riverside to downtown via the Riverwalk.
*The unassisted range of electric bicycles has improved dramatically with the conversion to lithium batteries. All of our bicycles go 15 miles unassisted, and most of our models can go up to 30 miles unassisted.
*Lithium batteries significantly reduce the weight of our vehicles, substantially increasing the speed. Although you are correct that we do not go as fast as a gasoline scooter. Most of our bikes go 20 MPH unassisted.
*Battery capacity in cold weather is not really a factor here in Jacksonville. If it gets to -20C, no one will be worried about EBikes because hell will have frozen over too. ;) In addition, only our base models use Lead Acid Batteries all our other model use Lithium.
*As for being noticed, safety must always be a primary concern when you are commuting on the road with vehicles. Especially as drivers are too busy wolfing down a Chick-Fil-A Biscuit and chatting on the phone, to notice there are other vehicles on the road. To this end, all of our vehicles are sold with light kits and mirrors.
We started Jacksonville EBikes, because we feel small individual changes can have a dramatic impact on the world. Sometimes, we feel powerless against the dark shadows projected by the evening news: global warming, foreign oil, Iraq and the economy. If people will give us an hour each weekday for one year, we will reveal those shadows to be tiny hands in front of a flash light.
*An hour each weekday - Takes you 5200 miles on $20 in electricity.
*An hour each weekday - Reduces our Oil Consumption by 7% and our dependence on Foreign Oil by 10%.
*An hour each weekday - Reduces our Carbon Emissions by over 10%.
*An hour each weekday - Keeps $71 Billion Dollars Annually in the domestic economy. That's $204 per person, 1/3 of the 2008 tax incentives...annually!
Please come buy our store, Tuesday - Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM, drop us a line at info@jaxebikes.com or call us a 904.619.8496. Thank you for the opportunity to share our story with the city, and people we hold so dear! Now get out an change the world by smiling at strangers!
Dylan Phillips
Jax EBikes
ROCK ON EBikes! ow!!
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