Rivian's TM-B electric bike

$4500 is ten or more of my homebrew 750 watt electric mountain bike originally built in 2004. I just repowered with LiFePO4 after 10 years in storage and the new batteries really pull. It has a front hub motor with a throttle control limited to 20 mph. My commute is 10 miles, 6 on a dedicated bike path. Life is good.

What kind of capacity from your LFP battery? Is it diy built? I did one in the spring 16S with 25Ah cells and it's been amazing since. Only problem is it's a bit too big to fit anywhere I'd like it to. I have to mount it on a rear rack

My local bicycle dealer has models in the window up to 15k$. There’s a market for such priced products.

I am using 3x 12v 185wh batteries in series. Realistically I can count on around 500wh. They are only 3 lbs each and fit neatly within the frame of the mtb. I don't like having them up on the rear rack, they tend to make the tail of the bike wag a bit compared to low and centered.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/1o0qthk/dynagirl_ri...

I just 3d printed protective covers for them last week when marketing turned their back on the new Bambu printer.

Oh, clearly. But for that money I'd buy a really nice BMW i3 REX. Obviously not an option for everyone.

Nice

I have a big commute and in the (Canadian) winter my old 750Wh was sometimes not up to the task. So I went wildly over the top and built a huge cap battery. I never need to worry now

Those are high performance mountain bikes with carbon fiber frames, top of the line components, carbon wheels. This is an aluminum city commuter and 4.5k is at the high end of that class of ebike.

the problem with $5-$15k bikes is you can't actually use them in the USA as they'll be stolen. You can commute if you have the place to keep it secure. You can not stop for some shopping on the way home though as you'll lose your bike.

The components are all probably very junky, if everything can be had for $450

If you're riding a $10,000 bike to work, your work probably provides a place to safely store it. Or you make terrible financial decisions

Sure if you can't DIY. It's a 20 year old Fuji chromoly-frame mountain bike with Shimano components. My biggest expense was new batteries, followed by heavy duty e-bike brake pads. What did you pay to build yours?

I don't plan to bike commute in the winter, it is too dark AM and PM. Have you tested your LiFePO4 batteries in low temperatures?

> your work probably provides a place to safely store it.

They get stolen anyway, know some guys it happened to.

Right, the thieves will shoulder surf or pick a lock to get into the "secure" office building storage area. Happens all the time and the police won't bother to investigate.

My tern gsd (cargo e-bike) was in this range and it was totally worth it. Not sure I'd feel the same about a basic commuter bike though.

Terns are great bikes

Why would anyone use Dropbox when you can self host a linux VM with a file share using a VPN to tunnel?

Just like $0-$5K bikes: it's not like a homeless junkie is going to leave your bike alone if it's just $3K or even $300.