Import euro bike to the US?

eurobiker · Aug 31, 2014

Hi,

I see that the ebike offering in the US has yet to catch up with that of the EU, so I'm thinking about importing one on my next trip.

Usually when you buy a electrically powered consumer product, such as a laptop, all you need to use in a foreign country with a different outlet, is a power plug *adapter*. That's because the A/C adapter that comes with the product, takes care of transforming the electricity input into the desired output.

I wonder if that's true for most electric bikes.

mlt34 · Sep 1, 2014

[edit: unwanted advice]

eurobiker · Sep 1, 2014

mlt34 said:
There are two options here. The first is more complicated and fairly unnecessary for your needs but I'll go over it anyways.

I do a lot of traveling back forth from the US (110V) and Israel (220V) with ebike parts. What you need is not an adapter but a converter. Adapters just change the shape of the plug, converters change the electricity. Next, you need a converter that is well over-spec'd for your charger. I've blown out 200W converters using 200W chargers. You want at least a safety factor of 2. So if you've got a 150W charger that comes with your euro bike, get a 300W or more converter.

However, like I said I do a lot of travel back and forth, which means I'm using the same components in both countries. For you, if you're just going to stay in the US, so the second option is as follows: When you get to the US you just buy a $40 charger that works with 110V on ebay. It will probably cost less than a good converter anyways.

I recommend the second option.

The second paragraph confirms my feared, but note that this is not the case for electronic products, an adapter suffices. Are you sure buying a US charger will be compatible with the battery bought in the EU?

mlt34 · Sep 1, 2014

[edit: unwanted advice]

eurobiker · Sep 1, 2014

mlt34 said:
Actually it is the case for electronic products, if they aren't multi-voltage. An adapter only works if the device says "input AC 110-240V". If it says "input AC 240V", then you need an adapter.

Here, this should explain it:

You're kinda beating a dead horse. There are some A/C adapters that only call for a power plug adapter, others that call for a converter. Laptops are in the first category. All of that what said from the beginning. The question is, will a US charger with a battery bought in the EU?

mlt34 · Sep 1, 2014

[edit: unwanted advice]

eurobiker · Sep 2, 2014

mlt34 said:
yes, but you're not buying a laptop charger, are you?

Learn what an analogy is, and perhaps that'll spare you/us useless advice.

mlt34 · Sep 2, 2014

Haha, whatever -- don't learn anything. Welcome to the world of Ebikes, where a split second mistake can mean destroying hundreds or thousands of dollars of equipment...

Import euro bike to the US?

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