Officer Mills said that the primary benefit of the motor assist is the power it lends when an officer is responding to a call some distance away. Ron Defatta, Managing Director for Total EV said that they have furnished e-bikes to over 300 law enforcement agencies. He runs a consulting business devoted to the industry and recently took a leadership role in forming the Electric Cycle Association. Today's electric bicycle is a design balance. And deciding what the balance should be for the consumer is the trickiest task for a designer.
Range goes up by increasing the size, weight, or cost of the batteries.
More power results from increasing motor wattage-at the expense of range. Reduced weight is achieved by decreasing battery size, or increasing battery cost at the expense of range, price and power. These trade-offs have resulted in a couple of common design niches. The lowest priced bikes are also limited in range and speed. The best performing bikes need larger, advanced type batteries, thus resulting in higher prices.