Ebike friendly campsites?

[Powysbiker]

I am thinking of doing some touring on my Sonder el Camino this year. Is there a map, or list, of campsites or cafes etc where I could top up my battery either overnight or during a lunch stop so that I can plan routes. I don’t intend to use a lot of assistance but, on the other hand, would like to be able to charge the bike without having to pay for a ’premium’ pitch with EHU as they tend to be a lot more expensive. I found the sustrans list but it seems that they only cater for Bosch removable batteries rather then bikes which need 240V. I know of one at Vindolanda where they have a solar powered bike ’hut’.

[Thehairs1970]

Not sure about the list but if readers knew the area you were thinking about, they maybe able to help.

[Powysbiker]

I have a few ideas but was hoping to plan around facilities if they're limited or even if they exist. One is a circular tour of Nottingham->Peterborough->King's Lynn-> Lincoln-> Nottingham. Another is NCN route 6 from Nottingham to its northern end. Another is Nottingham via NCN to Havefordwest. Also Way of the Roses and Glasgow->Inverness->Fort William->Oban->Glasgow. Not all this year but these are some of my bucket list.

[Vantage]

Wherever you are, don't go charging it overnight. I'm willing to bet that most ebike fires start when the owner isn't keeping an eye on the bike/battery.
Mine was never out of my sight.

It might be best to phone individual campsites and ask about charging, explaining that it's a production built ebike and not some knocked up DIY job...less risk of it exploding and burning down the campsite.

[Powysbiker]

Yes, I know about the issues with lithium batteries. The Sonder uses a Panasonic battery system and has quite a good BMS. It also only needs 3 hours from 0 to 100% as it's only about 200Wh so can be charged under supervision very easily. I know that some campsites will allow charging from the power in the facilities block, I just wondered if anyone knew of a list of friendly sites which had been compiled.. it's something which IMO would be quite useful to an increasing number of people nowadays.

[rareposter]

I just wondered if anyone knew of a list of friendly sites which had been compiled.. it's something which IMO would be quite useful to an increasing number of people nowadays.

It's certainly something that campsites, B&Bs, holiday lets etc should be considering. Also ask what sort of power they're providing; on many campsites the external hookup is not as powerful as a regular home socket.

Is your battery removable or is it semi-permanently fixed within the bike? Removable ones, it could be as simple as just handing it in at reception and asking them to charge it.
Non-removable, you're starting to get into the realms of where a bike can be safely left (ideally indoors or at least under cover) for 2-3hrs minimum.

You mention Way of the Roses... I did that ride (on an unpowered bike) last year and passed quite a few e-bikers, it seems to be pretty popular for a 5 or 6 day e-bike tour. Saddle Skedaddle run some trips:
https://www.skedaddle.com/uk/cycling/ho ... view.rails

Might be worth getting in touch with them and asking what overnight stops they select and any logistical issues they've faced with overnight charging.

[Powysbiker]

I agree that it is a business opportunity for the businesses which you mention along with cafes and pubs etc. My battery in integrated but charges within 3 hours form completely flat so I wouldn't have a problem with 'supervising' it whilst charging, particularly if I was able to eat and/or drink at the establishment, even in the rain, at the same time. I go to Kielder campsite regularly for astronomy weeks so will raise this with the manager there in a couple of weeks as they're in a very good position to attract cyclists if they offered charging.

I have sent a polite email to Skedaddle asking if they know of facilities on the Way of the Roses.

[Thehairs1970]

There’s a Facebook group called cycle camping uk which does a map of cheaper campsites. They are trying to update it with regards to charging. Might be worth a look.

[Powysbiker]

Thanks. I’ll have a look at the Facebook group. It may be a distant memory of a reference to that somewhere which made me ask about the existence of a list, I knew I’d seen something somewhere.

[Slowroad]

This is the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/cyclecampinguk
And this is the campsite map www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=50.7941 ... 9dMYAW-aqE

[bikes4two]

.......... I'm willing to bet that most ebike fires start when the owner isn't keeping an eye on the bike/battery.

I have three ebikes and believe me I DO NOT stand around watching them charge for 3-5 hours. What I do do is to ensure the battery packs I have are made using reputable cells, are well constructed, are charged using the correct voltage and amperage charger and are otherwise in a good material state.

There's a good chance that if I were watching the battery charging and a problem was spotted, the cells would already be in a thermal runaway state and little could be done to stop a burn-out.

Battery fires do make good headline news and this makes people wary of course, but do you watch other lithium battery devices in your house charging e.g. laptops, smartphones, portable tools, domestic appliances (or even your electric car)? Every one of these devices' batteries has enough power density to cause a nasty fire if something goes wrong, but by and large they don't, or not enough to cause hysteria amongst the general public (although thePanasonic Toughbook back in 2018 had some battery issues).

But we each must do what we think is safe, I get that, but what the internet says often requires further research before jumping to any conclusions don't you think?

[Powysbiker]

I agree. I think the point is that it wants some sort of supervision whilst charging indoors so that on the remote chance that it did suffer thermal runaway there might be a chance of preventing it taking the building with it, in much the same way as most people don't charge their phone under their pillow whilst sleeping. I agree that most of the fires attributed to "ebikes" are probably due to cheap batteries, damaged batteries or both.

[rareposter]

I agree. I think the point is that it wants some sort of supervision whilst charging indoors so that on the remote chance that it did suffer thermal runaway there might be a chance of preventing it taking the building with it, in much the same way as most people don't charge their phone under their pillow whilst sleeping. I agree that most of the fires attributed to "ebikes" are probably due to cheap batteries, damaged batteries or both.

See this thread for a discussion about e-bike fires:
viewtopic.php?t=163761

As I pointed out in the thread, the issue is almost entirely with illegal / self-built e-bikes, often using cheap batteries and mismatched chargers.

Legitimate, legal EAPC (like yours) have as much chance of going up in flames as a legitimate laptop, mobile phone, cordless domestic appliance etc - ie, almost zero.

The problem, which has been alluded to above and is mentioned in the thread I linked to, is that campsites, hotels, B&Bs etc hear the word "e-bike" and start coming up with all kinds of "health and safety" stuff about why they can't have them. It's tiresome.

Agreed about charging as well, I don't watch my e-bikes while they're on charge, I have about 1001 better things to do with my time plus - if it ever did go wrong - I'd have no chance of stopping it anyway. Does make me laugh when people assume they'll pick it up and lob it out of a window or run out the door with it.
No you won't, it'll be at 1000°C, spitting flames and flammable clouds of hot gases everywhere.

[POIDH]

....

[keyboardmonkey]

I agree that it is a business opportunity for the businesses which you mention along with cafes and pubs etc…

I have sent a polite email to Skedaddle asking if they know of facilities on the Way of the Roses.

Have you had a reply, please?