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Tons of randos and a few friends are constantly asking me about my ebike, so I made an FAQ:

1. Q: How fast does it go?
A: Up to 32kph (the law requires bikes you can pedal to max out at that speed).
2. Q: How far can you go with it?
A: I'm not sure exactly because the battery has never run out for me, but I've gone on trips of about 40km, using the throttle most of the time, and the battery said it was about half drained at the end. So probably about 50-100km depending on how much you pedal. This seems to be pretty standard for ebikes. Of course, range isn't as important as with an electric car or motorcycle; if you run out of electricity in an electric car, you're totally screwed. If your ebike battery dies, you can just bike home normally.
3. Q: Can it get up hills?
A: Yes, and you don't have to pedal up them. Depending on the steepness of the hill, if you're using pure electricity and not pedaling, the speed might decrease; when I go up the steepest hill I've been on in Fredericton, it slows down to about 15kph when I put the throttle to the max. But I've never found a hill I can't get up without pedaling.
4. Q: How much does it cost to power?
A: I estimate about 1kWh to charge the battery, which costs about 10 cents in NB. So about 10 cents per 100km or so, or in other words, an amount so small that it doesn't really matter. And it charges overnight, as opposed to electric cars which can take days to charge to full.
5. Q: Do the fat tires let you go in winter?
A: Yes, and that's the reason I bought it. A concern I had about ebikes before getting one was long term maintainability; i.e. bike shops might not be able to fix electrical problems. But by removing the battery I still have a fat bike, and it was about the same cost as a fat bike. You do still have to be careful to ride on paved roads and be careful around ice, but I've found fat tires more stable than spiked mountain bike tires. I couldn't get through Odell park without slipping, where the ice is bumpy, but I can go over most thin ice on paved roads and the walking trail no problem. But I had to be careful when turning at a stop sign if there's ice there, to first get off the bike and get on the new road on foot, rather than using the throttle or pedal assist to get started from the stop sign while turning near ice.
6. Q: Do you use your ebike to go everywhere?
A: No. I try to use my regular bike or walk, to get exercise. Getting exercise is one of the main reasons for biking, and ebikes kind of defeat that purpose. But I use my ebike if I'm already getting lots of other exercise. And I've heard people use excuses like they won't bike to work because they don't want to be sweaty or they can't bike up a hill, etc.; ebikes render that excuse obsolete.

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