Touring Europe on an ebike

[australiantourer]

Has anyone toured in Europe on an ebike? My partner has just discovered ebikes, and I think it could allow us to be touring-compatible (ie: with me on conventional bike, which I would take with me on the plane). We would like to ride some Eurovelo routes for 2-3 months. Rental costs are about $30 per day, so that soon becomes prohibitive. We could take her ebike over on the plane without a battery (probably!), and buy a new one there. However, the battery supplied costs $6-700 (HerrAkku 36 v 11 AH). Maybe there are cheap batteries that would be ok for 3 months/3000 kms -- any opinions? It does not seem possible to send the current battery over as a parcel due to dangerous goods status. Maybe we could find a secondhand ebike over there, though I don't know if you can test a lithium ion battery. Any ideas or experiences? My apologies if there is a thread for this -- I can't find one.

[PA]

See if there is a user forum for the brand of bike she has then ask if someone has a battery you could rent/borrow for the time you are there. Worst case buy the required battery new then sell it to another user.

Enjoy your travels.

[Aushiker]

I would suggest asking at http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/

[uart]

My brother wants to do a similar thing, but touring in the US (again he on his normal bike and his wife on an ebike). He has looked into it and decided that the most economical way is to take her existing bike without the battery pack, and buy a pack over there.

I think he is fortunate in that the particular pack required is fairly generic and the cost to buy it in the US is not too high. He reckons that he'll be ahead (on renting) even if he gives the battery away when it's time to come home.