panasonic units

[jac]

i have just been reading that biketec are bringing out a 15ah battery for there bikes next march also a 300watt motor is coming as well. You will probably need a new morgage for battery but you should be able to do rather long commutes on the new bikes or you can stick one in your old bike as long as it was made after 2008 you can get bike upgraded
jim

 

[flecc]

Thanks for the information Jim, good to see that BikeTech are still innovating on the Panasonic unit. It was they who first created the High Speed "S" version and the Walk Alongside throttle, both adopted by Panasonic later, so hopefully we'll see Panasonic adopting the higher power motor arrangement too. The larger battery is likely to be Panasonic anyway.
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[Dynamic Position]

Thanks for the information Jim, good to see that BikeTech are still innovating on the Panasonic unit. It was they who first created the High Speed "S" version and the Walk Alongside throttle, both adopted by Panasonic later, so hopefully we'll see Panasonic adopting the higher power motor arrangement too. The larger battery is likely to be Panasonic anyway.
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The higher capacity battery would be useful providing its weight and size remain easy to carry around when the bike is not in use. The current form factor is good and I think I'd rather just increase range by buying a second battery if the battery chemistry remains the same.
The 250 Watt motor is sufficient to keep the bike 'legal' and not that different from other bicycles. Given that existing units are able to cope with any road hill encountered I cannot see where Panasonic will get a mass market especially if Germany/Switzerland is producing 500W high speed assisted bikes and have the national laws allowing their use.

 

[flecc]

I cannot see where Panasonic will get a mass market especially if Germany/Switzerland is producing 500W high speed assisted bikes and have the national laws allowing their use.

Odd though it might seem, the Panasonic motored bikes have been very highly regarded in the USA and the 250 watt Lafree was one of the only two makes enjoying specialist e-bike distribution there for many years. They would appreciate the added power Panasonic version. Then there's the growing 350 watt limit Canadian and 300 watt limit New Zealand markets. A variant of the Lafree known as the Giant 612 was also sold in quantities in Taiwan where the 300 watts is acceptable, so Panasonic would have outlets for substantial numbers.

Even in Germany the majority of the bikes in the "S" high speed class are 250 watt rated (BikeTech, Kalkhoff) so the extra power would be welcome in those now that it's been permitted since May 2009.
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