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1. Embed this notice
   Birdhouse in Your [Redacted] (coolandnormal@aus.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Mar-2026 03:45:13 JST Birdhouse in Your [Redacted]

   What I don't understand is why we don't have bike powered ebikes.

   You can have a bike powered washing machine. You can have a crank powered torch. Why can't I get on my bike when I'm bored at home and charge it up, then use that stored energy to power the same machine where I generated and stored it?

   • Embed this notice
     Alex von Kitchen (dangerous_beans@aus.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Mar-2026 03:45:11 JST Alex von Kitchen

     in reply to

     @coolandnormal nah, you totally could
     Basically it's efficiency of manufacture
     Ebikes don't have regenerative braking, because the motor is separated from the wheels by a freewheel system. The freewheel is usually in the rear wheel hub, because this allows them to use a standard bicycle hub. This means the motor cannot be driven as a generator. This also means they don't have to bother with designing the motor to handle being used this way
     So to charge the bike you would need a separate generator system that attaches to the bike, like an indoor trainer
     So they're not built to do that, because they use standard parts

     Apparently such generators do exist, although I don't know if your ebike can support charging from a couple of hundred watts

   • Embed this notice
     Birdhouse in Your [Redacted] (coolandnormal@aus.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Mar-2026 03:45:12 JST Birdhouse in Your [Redacted]

     in reply to

     • Alex von Kitchen

     @Dangerous_beans I didn't know there was an answer

   • Embed this notice
     Birdhouse in Your [Redacted] (coolandnormal@aus.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Mar-2026 03:45:12 JST Birdhouse in Your [Redacted]

     in reply to

     • Alex von Kitchen

     @Dangerous_beans is it impossible to achieve somehow?

     Steve's Place repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Alex von Kitchen (dangerous_beans@aus.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Mar-2026 03:45:13 JST Alex von Kitchen

     in reply to

     @coolandnormal is that a rhetorical question, or do you want an answer?