Power and Gears of Electric Bikes

[UrbanPuma]

Hi all,

Please read the quote below. Can anyone explain to me how this system works? I know it may have been covered in the past but i am still of the opinion that the higher the gear the less motor power being used - does this tally with the statement below?

All contributions welcome

"Power and Gears of Motorized Bicycles

By offering a range of 6 gears, PowaCycle Electric Bikes reduce dependency on motor power to tackle slopes, and achieve a decent pace just by pedalling. As gears make pedalling easier and help riders achieve pace, users are encouraged to full exercise benefits from cycling. As riders get so much more from pedalling, less battery power is consumed, effectively raising the distance range in the assisted power mode. Our PowaCycle Electric Bikes are designed to help riders make the most of their own energy, providing plenty of extra power on demand."

 

[flecc]

There is no system involved here, they are just saying that they are electric assist, not electric vehicles.

Basically they are trying to persuade people to contribute more and use the gears fully, but there's absolutely no connection between the gears and what the motor and controller do.

Why are they emphasizing this? Because their motor is about the lowest powered on on the market and does need a full input from riders to give a reasonable performance. To give you some idea, it's motor peak output is about half that of the most powerful bikes from eZee and some others.
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[UrbanPuma]

So flecc, more input equals greater range and less power from the motor?

Just trying to understand the concept

 

[flecc]

Yes, in two ways, though not less power from the motor necessarily.

Firstly the motors efficiency rises with speed until near to the maximum speed, so if one pedals to keep the speed up, the motor naturally consumes a bit less for the full power.

Second, by pedalling there's a chance of the bike going beyond the legal limit where the motor is no longer driving, so not using power.

So as you can see, they haven't got anything special to achieve that, just what all restricted e-bikes have. Fast derestricted e-bikes like the earlier Torq rarely achieve the second gain since their motors drive to much higher speeds.
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[UrbanPuma]

Flecc, thanks for breaking down the process and explaining it again to me in laymans terms. I totally get it now so hopefully wont be posting same question again

Cheers!

UrbanPuma