Advice Centre
Bikes - Buyer's Guides
What is an electric bike?
An electrically assisted pedal cycle (EAPC) is essentially a normal bike that uses an electric motor to provide the rider with assistance either at the rider's demand or automatically via an electronic sensor system such as Urban Mover's Variable Pedal Assist Controller (VPAC).
Why buy an electric bike?
Pedal Assistance
The obvious benefit of riding an electric bike over a conventional bike is the assistance that the electric motor can give you. The basic principle is that when you pedal, the electric motor kicks in and does some of the work. Pedalling an electric bike is easier! In particular, riding uphill and carrying loads such as shopping takes much less effort.
Pulling away from junctions is also much safer as pedal assistance allows you to get up to speed much more quickly.
People with disabilities, the elderly and those returning to exercise will find the assistance offered by an electric bike highly beneficial.
Electric bikes also offer an ideal commuting solution. They are clean, green transport that will get you to work quicker than a normal bike and without being so sweaty and flustered. Depending on the length of your commute you may be able to get there and back on one charge. If not, buy a charger to leave at work and charge the battery when you get there.
You may worry that riding an electric bike is cheating and that you won't see the benefits to your health that you would riding a normal bike. Clearly, riding a normal pedal bike over the same distance as an electric bike would take more effort and would therefore keep you fitter. However, you would be more likely to cover more distance on an electric bike because of the reduced effort involved. You would also be more likely to use the electric bike more often for the same reason. The result is that the fitness benefits are largely similar.
Cost effectiveness
Although an electric bike may initially seem like an expensive purchase, it is actually a very cost effective way to travel. You don't have to pay for petrol or diesel, you don't pay road tax, there is no MOT and you don't pay any congestion charges. You will also spend less of your time sat in traffic jams.
The only cost is the cost of the electricity used to charge the battery and the cost of maintenance which would be the same as any normal bike.
Green credentials
Electric bikes are an environmentally friendly form of transport. They are emissions free and extremely quiet. Electric bikes are also sustainable in that they don't use fossil fuels. If you generate your own electricity via solar power etc, an electric bike is wholly sustainable.
The amount of energy used by an electric bike is very small compared to a petrol motorcycle or car. In terms of fuel consumption, an electric bike achieves around 1500 miles per gallon.
Using electrically powered transport reduces our dependency on petrol/diesel, reduces air pollution and therefore reduces greenhouse effects.
You may be concerned about the impact on the environment of waste batteries. All Urban Mover batteries are recyclable. Further, Halfords is a responsible retailer and in accordance with the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipments ("WEEE") Regulations we fully support sound recycling. We encourage our customers to take back WEEE items to their local WEEE collection site (civic amenity site or local tip) with other recycling materials.
Above all, electric bikes are fun to ride.
Range
The range that you could expect to achieve is dependent on cycling conditions, weather conditions, rider weight, battery charge and battery condition.
The maximum range that Urban Mover have achieved in Urban City conditions with a 70kg rider is 32km using a UM36X.
You could expect to achieve a greater range on the premium Urban Mover electric bike models due to the higher performance of their 37v 9ah batteries.
Factors that decrease battery range include:
- Higher or lower ambient temperature.
- Gross rider weight above 70kg.
- Headwinds.
- Gradients.
- Rough terrain.
- Stop/start commuting.
- Weather conditions.
- Starting off in top gear.
Electric Bike specification explained
Battery types
All Urban Mover bikes on Halfords website come with very high quality Panasonic Lithium Ion batteries. To enable you to fully understand the benefits of this, the differences in battery type are explained below:
Sealed Lead Acid ("SLA"):
- The most commonly used battery for electric vehicles.
- Low cost.
- Typically high weight.
- Maximum 200-250 full charge cycles.
- Do not adapt well to fast charging and typical charge times are therefore up to 10 hours.
- Must always be stored in a charged state.
- Charge dissipation of 20-30% per month if unused.
- Prefers not to be fully discharged as this causes extra strain and reduces charge capacity. This causes problems when used in an electric cycle function as riders cannot always avoid full discharging and are not always able to fully charge the battery before storing (overnight for example).
- Because of its high lead and acid content, the SLA is not environmentally friendly.
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh):
- Higher cost than equivalent SLA.
- Around double the life of an SLA.
- Lower weight.
- Higher charge density per kilogram meaning smaller size.
- 85% charge retention when left unused for up to 3 months.
Lithium Ion (Li-Ion):
- Now standard in all Urban Mover electric bikes.
- Ultra-light. Half the weight of NiMh
- Can hold its energy for up to 10 years once charged.
- More current on demand when required.
- Integrated battery management system protecting for over & under voltage.
- 600-700 charge cycles (dependent on depth of discharge).
- 4-6 hour charge time.
- High energy density delivers higher capacity with lower weight.
Motor Configuration
Electric bikes typically offer two types of motor configuration. These are front mounted hub motor or integrated rear wheel mounted hub motor.
The cheapest and most cost effective solution is the front mounted hub motor. This means that the front wheel is the driven wheel. However, the front wheel of a bicycle has the least traction, hence why most bicycles drive the rear wheel. Thus the front wheel can slip and lose traction.
The rear wheel mounted hub motor is more of an engineering challenge and is therefore more difficult to achieve and more costly. However, the greater traction and balance that it offers mean it is the only choice for the best electric bicycles.
All Urban Mover electric bikes use rear mounted hub motors.
Brushless motors
There are two types of electric motor commonly used on electric bikes - the brushed motor and the brushless motor.
Brushed motors - A brushed motor contains a carbon brush that is constantly in contact and friction with other parts of the motor causing a gradual build up of fine carbon particles. These slowly reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of the motor which places a greater strain on the battery therefore reducing its range. As a result, brushed motors are less efficient than brushless motors. Brushed motors also require constant maintenance.
Brushless motors - These suffer no deterioration of performance over time, instead offering constant maximum efficiency. This translates to greater range and higher efficiency. Brushless motors are also much smaller and lighter than their brushed equivalent. Finally, they are maintenance free which means less cost to you.
Legal Requirements
In Great Britain, electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPC's) are governed by the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983.
These state that:
- The electric motor must not be able to propel the machine when it is travelling at more than 15mph. This means that if you exceed 15mph, the electric motor will not provide any assistance. You will still be able to pedal as on a normal bicycle though. When you come back down below 15mph, the electric motor will be able to provide assistance again.
- Maximum weight of the bicycle must not exceed 40kg. All Urban Mover electric bikes fall far below this weight. On average they weigh around 20kg.
- Maximum continuous rated power output of the motor shall not exceed 200W.
- An electric bike that complies with the EAPC Regulations will not be classified as a motor vehicle and therefore will not be required to pay road tax or need to be insured as a motor vehicle.
- To ride an electric bike on a public highway, you must be at least 14 years of age.
All Urban Mover electric bikes comply with the EAPC Regulations fully.
View our range of Electric Bikes and Accessories.
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