long commute bike suggestions.

[MichiganMachinist]

hello, I'm relatively new to E-bikes and looking for something to commute with occasionally, the only thing in that the suburbs of Detroit are so spread out that it seems like very few people (including myself) have a short commute, if its less than 30-40 miles round trip, consider yourself lucky. so my question is, if you had to pick one bike to travel 40 miles on (a couple times a week or so in fair weather) what would you choose personally?

cargo isn't an issue, for my job all I carry to work is my lunch, wallet, phone, safety glasses, and the clothes on my body.

keep in mind that it will be on suburban roads / sidewalks. in places where I'm on the road, traffic will be flying by at about 45 mph on average, so ill have it pegged to 20 pretty much anywhere there isn't a sidewalk.

I would at least like to be able to make it 20 miles of fast 20mph - ish riding without having to change the battery even after the batteries have worn in a bit. I'm not sure what a realistic number to put on it would be, but maybe a set of removable batteries that can at least go 20 miles each for up to 2 years of use even with degradation factored in? the plan being to use 1 to get where im going and 1 to get home.

budget varies. I've seen some 1k bikes that seemed like they were kind of overpriced for what you were getting, then i have seen some 3 grand bikes that I might spring for, even if I would be crying over my wallet for it. its all about what im getting for the money I guess.

so far, the rad wagon is what I have been looking at the most. I've even seen some massive 1 and 2 kwh batteries that can be made to work with the rad series of bikes with some modification.

I'm no electrical engineer, but I've spent enough time in factories for work and tinkering with Arduinos and raspberry pi as a hobby that I'm at least halfway competent with electricity and could swap out parts / make light modifications. building a battery pack would be pretty far out of my league, but I wouldn't have an issue swapping out a couple connectors.

thank you to all that help point me in the right direction here, please excuse this long rambling post and any novice mistakes I may have made.

[Retrorockit]

Something like this will do what you want. 26x3 tires will smooth out the sidewalk slap. Lights and turn signals are a big plus for safety.

https://bagibike.com/bagi-bike-b26-fat-tire-comfort-cruiser-e-bike/

I have no experience with these. But a reputable local shop who used to build custom Ebikes now sells only these. Geared hub motors are not silent.

For about the same money you could get a seriously fast bike like this. On your own for fenders,and lights though. I highly recommend the Thudbuster LT seatpost option. 35 mph when needed
https://lunacycle.com/luna-sixfifty-...olf-hard-tail/ The BBSHD is silent and basically unbreakable. Park CC2 tool to measure chain stretch and lube often. This will keep up with traffic from a stop light.
Most of us in this forum ride something like that, or a fatbike version. If you ride 20mph mostly, the range will be there.

https://lunacycle.com/luna-low-and-fatty-wolf/

With a BBSHD you won't be looking for an upgrade in 6 months.

[Harold]

I would be looking at a full suspension 27+/650b bike (3.0 tires). I like a plush ride whether it's on the street or trail. I also prefer to build my own bike vs a store bought ebike because I have the option of changing things.
Depending on where you ride and the local laws you might look at the Sun-Ron, but not sure if you could ride that in a bike lane.