The Boston Police department has been seen using electric bikes during the 2014 Boston marathon, which was held just a couple of days ago. The TV news video (ABC station affiliate WCVB) had very little information about the specifics of the bike, and only mentioned that the two biggest benefits were the added speed and endurance that it provided officers in crowds, and also that the integrated loudspeaker/siren was very useful for officers when addressing crowds.
This particular model (currently called the “Vbike”) was assembled by the Vision Motor Corp division (VMC) of Vision Industries. VMC ‘s main business is developing “fuel cell” vehicles that are powered by hydrogen for future zero-emission transportation needs. These six electric bikes are an opportunity to get some free publicity in order for their name to become more well-known in the alternative vehicles field.
A rear geared hub motor is the safe choice for an all-around E-bike that you are not yet certain about how they will be used.
The first six sample Vbikes were donated to the city by a Boston native, Bradley Birkenfeld…and will be evaluated by the Boston Police Department for further possible modifications. Mr Birkenfeld was present at the previous years marathon, and after the infamous bombing there…he wanted to do something to help the police in his home-town to be as effective as possible.
This is a screen-shot of a WCVB news video from You Tube.
The pic above shows the right side of the Vbike. There is a single chainring up front, and it appears there are only a few sprockets at the rear wheel. But…Boston is fairly flat, so having only a few gears to choose from shouldn’t be an issue.
The scarce published information states the battery is a 15-Ah Lithium-Ion pack providing 48V…so that is the good news, because both of those parameters are excellent choices. However, the geared hub motor in the rear is not very large, and is only rated to be a 500W motor, perhaps similar to the common Bafang-BPM. This would probably not be an issue in a flat city like Boston, except that it is listed as being capable of 30-MPH.
The most popular entry-level kits that are recommended to new E-bikers at the endless-sphere forum use 1,200W to achieve 28-MPH…and that is from the voice of experience.
Short sprints in pursuit of a suspect at 30-mph will be fine in a flat city like Boston, New York, or Amsterdam. However, any police departments with significant hills should be aware when reading this story that this model may overheat on a long uphill.
This is a close-up of the siren/loudspeaker that the Boston PD feels will prove to be very useful.
The pic above shows the combination siren/loudspeaker, plus the red/blue blinky-lights along with the small LED headlights. The system wisely uses a pedelec sensor, so the officer does not need to manage a hand-throttle, and…these six officers were also issued a new “hands free” head-set system for communicating.
Written by Ron/Spinningmagnets,2014
Batteries from GEB.
http://www.gebattery.com.cn
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