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That seems insane, can you bribe the property manager $200/mo to not throw away your bike? Regarding running out of battery, my ebike is 99% used for my commut

by s0rce 3y ago

That seems insane, can you bribe the property manager $200/mo to not throw away your bike? Regarding running out of battery, my ebike is 99% used for my commute and I just charge at home every 3 days I ride. Works perfectly. Shorter trips for food I use my regular bike.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago
They might not have a designated place to park it outside, and not enough room to park it inside. If the neighborhood is dangerous, just parking it outside is risking theft. It is harder to steal a car, since you can’t just pick it up and go. It’s the main reason I’m not considering an e-bike right now even though I have an EV. It helps that I can just walk to anything I need to get to on daily basis (eg kid’s school is 7 minutes away by walking).
- dheera 3y ago
  > and not enough room to park it inside Yeah my property manager keeps telling people to move their bikes inside. I moved my regular bike to my patio, but I refused to move my ebike indoors because I'm not confident about the battery quality and don't like the idea of having 1 kWh of questionable-quality lithium battery inside my apartment in a wooden building. I also used to charge it from the outlets in the parking lot, but the new property manager that came along last year locked those outlets up so now I have to do the more fire-hazard thing of charging it next to the wooden building with a long extension cord. I offered them to pay a reasonable fee for the electricity to use the parking lot outlets, letting them know it was in the interest of fire safety, but they chose the more dangerous option.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Is the battery removable? Chinese will lug their bike batteries at night to chargers up stairs in their apartments, but I guess the USA is different than china about this? No good ideas otherwise. I wouldn’t worry about the battery inside much unless it’s from a really dodgy supplier (but then again, all the Chinese e-bike batteries are, and people still charge inside, it helps that they use concrete rather than wood).
    - dheera 3y ago
      > Is the battery removable? Chinese will lug their bike batteries at night to chargers up stairs in their apartments, but I guess the USA is different than china about this? Yes it is removable, but that doesn't change anything. The problem is the battery, not the bike. I'd rather store/charge large lithium batteries away from residences and flammable structures. 1kWh going into thermal runaway is no joke. It should really not be allowed by fire code, to be honest, unless the building is concrete and the charging location allows for safe egress if a fire starts. That said, a larger fraction of Chinese buildings are concrete and more likely to be okay (provided people pay attention to evacuation route if the battery goes on fire in their apartment). My entire complex of 50+ apartments in California is a huge wooden structure. One bad fire could easily send all of it up in flames. There are safer, concrete buildings here, but they cost USD $4000+ for a 1-bedroom.
      - perlwle 3y ago
        totally agree with you. Regardless where you are, removable battery is a huge fire hazard. News about devastating fires caused by e-bikes batteries shows up from time to time. In China, It's common to see posters advocating for the storage of e-bikes outside building. So don't store it in your home.
    - DANmode 3y ago
      Many ebikes have removable.
  - sleepybrett 3y ago
    I've got a large ammo can that my battery lives in when it's off the bike. Chances are exceedingly low that it would combust when not being charged, but I did have a lipo 4 cell robot battery go up on my when it was on the charger, after that I only charge in the can right by the door (i have a street door).
    - DANmode 3y ago
      If it melted down, what's your plan for removing the can without burns and/or electrocution?
dheera 3y ago
> can you bribe the property manager $200/mo to not throw away your bike? I don't know, but I'm mostly just focusing energy on looking for a new apartment now. My current place changed management last year and it's been horrible in many other ways as well. Frankly it's also possible they want me out so they can rent out my place to a new tenant at a much higher price, so they try to be assholes in whatever ways they legally can.

by s0rce 3y ago

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

They might not have a designated place to park it outside, and not enough room to park it inside. If the neighborhood is dangerous, just parking it outside is risking theft. It is harder to steal a car, since you can’t just pick it up and go. It’s the main reason I’m not considering an e-bike right now even though I have an EV. It helps that I can just walk to anything I need to get to on daily basis (eg kid’s school is 7 minutes away by walking).

dheera 3y ago
> and not enough room to park it inside Yeah my property manager keeps telling people to move their bikes inside. I moved my regular bike to my patio, but I refused to move my ebike indoors because I'm not confident about the battery quality and don't like the idea of having 1 kWh of questionable-quality lithium battery inside my apartment in a wooden building. I also used to charge it from the outlets in the parking lot, but the new property manager that came along last year locked those outlets up so now I have to do the more fire-hazard thing of charging it next to the wooden building with a long extension cord. I offered them to pay a reasonable fee for the electricity to use the parking lot outlets, letting them know it was in the interest of fire safety, but they chose the more dangerous option.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Is the battery removable? Chinese will lug their bike batteries at night to chargers up stairs in their apartments, but I guess the USA is different than china about this? No good ideas otherwise. I wouldn’t worry about the battery inside much unless it’s from a really dodgy supplier (but then again, all the Chinese e-bike batteries are, and people still charge inside, it helps that they use concrete rather than wood).
  - dheera 3y ago
    > Is the battery removable? Chinese will lug their bike batteries at night to chargers up stairs in their apartments, but I guess the USA is different than china about this? Yes it is removable, but that doesn't change anything. The problem is the battery, not the bike. I'd rather store/charge large lithium batteries away from residences and flammable structures. 1kWh going into thermal runaway is no joke. It should really not be allowed by fire code, to be honest, unless the building is concrete and the charging location allows for safe egress if a fire starts. That said, a larger fraction of Chinese buildings are concrete and more likely to be okay (provided people pay attention to evacuation route if the battery goes on fire in their apartment). My entire complex of 50+ apartments in California is a huge wooden structure. One bad fire could easily send all of it up in flames. There are safer, concrete buildings here, but they cost USD $4000+ for a 1-bedroom.
    - perlwle 3y ago
      totally agree with you. Regardless where you are, removable battery is a huge fire hazard. News about devastating fires caused by e-bikes batteries shows up from time to time. In China, It's common to see posters advocating for the storage of e-bikes outside building. So don't store it in your home.
  - DANmode 3y ago
    Many ebikes have removable.
- sleepybrett 3y ago
  I've got a large ammo can that my battery lives in when it's off the bike. Chances are exceedingly low that it would combust when not being charged, but I did have a lipo 4 cell robot battery go up on my when it was on the charger, after that I only charge in the can right by the door (i have a street door).
  - DANmode 3y ago
    If it melted down, what's your plan for removing the can without burns and/or electrocution?

dheera 3y ago

> can you bribe the property manager $200/mo to not throw away your bike? I don't know, but I'm mostly just focusing energy on looking for a new apartment now. My current place changed management last year and it's been horrible in many other ways as well. Frankly it's also possible they want me out so they can rent out my place to a new tenant at a much higher price, so they try to be assholes in whatever ways they legally can.