So, I just bought an electric vehicle.
Earlier this week, I became the proud owner of one of the first electric vehicles available to the South African public - a brand-spanking new black and silver eZee Torq. Unfortunately, we’ve been having this bizarre Cape Town winter-style weather in Joburg in Summer, so this continuous cold wetness has hampered my attempts to go for some long rides.
Still, I’ve managed to clock up about 15km, and I must say the experience is quite amazing. The Torq’s 250W motor makes a huge difference when pedalling uphill. It’s completely possible to be riding in 7th or 8th gear at 25km/h up a gentle to moderate gradient without straining at all. It’s a real laugh to just breeze past some other cyclist who’s labouring up a hill - and the Torq’s the worst hill climber of the eZee range because of its big wheels. All that I have to do now is remove the 25km/hr speed limiter on the bike, so that I can hit the 35km/h true top speed of the Torq.
Now if only SA cities made attempts to become a little more bicycle friendly, like in the US where they’re implementing a new programme called Safe Routes to School. The 20-State project is to receive $612 million dollars to make it easier for learners to walk or ride to school, by adding new sidewalks, changing signage and other measures.
A final note in the interest of transparency - the eZee bike importer is relocating from Potchefstroom to Cape Town, and I’ve been given non-exclusive rights to distribute the bikes in Gauteng. If anyone in the GP area is interested in 2-wheeled electric transportation, please contact me. Also, please rest assured that GreenCars will continue to provide impartial coverage and equal attention to any potential new eZee bike competitors in South Africa.
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Comments
That’s pretty cool. How do you charge it? Just plug it in to the wall?
I see on their website it has a range of about 50 km’s. Is the bike itself pretty decent quality?
Michael: the bike’s really good quality - to the point that even just glancing at it you can see it’s a nice bike. It’s been designed from the ground up as an ebike.
For charging you can remove the battery and charge it off the mains in your house, or you can charge the battery while it’s still on the bike.
Carl, Carl Carl, what are we going to do with you??!
I thought you intended hiring those things out when Gautrain kicks in!!
I’ll stick to my Yaris…thank you ;0)
I am very interested in the bike - live in durban.
let me know how I could buy one? Also, details of the solar panels you intend using to charge the battery?
many thanks
laura
Hi Carl
I read the M&G story, and would like to contact Piet Jooste, as I am in Cape Town and interested in a REMEX electric scooter.
Please can you call me on 082 929 9141 or email as above.
Thanks.
Richard
Awesome
Congrats, enjoy it! I’d love to take it for a ride sometime.
When I was in Berlin, I was amazed at how well organized their roads and sidewalks are. There are dedicated lanes for cyclists, sometimes they are part of the sidewalk and sometimes on the road itself. On some of the more complicated intersections there are even dedicated traffic lights for the bicycle lanes that are separate from the lights for the rest of the traffic and pedestrians. All in all, hardly surprising that so many people use bicycles and that there are so few cars on the roads even in rush hour. Kinda hard to imagine the same here though - the taxis will figure out how to use the bicycle lanes before you can say ‘eish’
Oh, and another cool bicycle idea I saw was in Brussels - they have public bicycles which you can grab from a few spots around the city. They lock in place and you have to put a 1 or 2 Euro coin in a slot to release it. Then you can ride it to another bicycle parking spot, “return” the bike and get your deposit back. Very cool and I saw lots of people using them. Apparently most of them got stolen the first time they tried to implement it, but with time it started working.