Usefulness of CB Radios on E-Bikes?

Ken68 — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 15:32:46 -0500

I am thinking of buying a Cobra Handheld CB Radio for my E-Bike. It is a 40 channel Handheld CB Radio that can run off of 9 "AA" rechargeable batteries or off of the included 12 volt Power Plug Adapter. I just would not want to spend around $100.00 CDN for it then have nobody to talk to. I live in the Toronto area. I do have a built in 12 volt Accessory Outlet as well as a built in 12 volt 3 AMP SLA battery for the 12 volt accessories.

New windshields

volts76 — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 08:06:18 -0500

I will buy the winter type windshield. Will check on cost today.

GPR-S

ChuckJ — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:58:28 -0500

All:
Well, I'm new to this forum and just took delivery of my new DOT approved GPR-S. It's the AC version with 20, 50AH cells. I think it's the first registered in Texas and will have the TAG "AC-001". I notice that little exposure of the Electric Motorsport GPR-S in this forum so I thought I would introduce it. The bike is about "250CC" size weighing in at 280 pounds. The frame is made by Tiger in Thailand (which also makes some Kawasaki frames). It comes with a backlited LCD dispay which shows speed, odometer, trip odometer and time. Mine also came with a Curtis Spyglass which also shows speed as well as BDI% (remaining battery), AMPS, Volts, controller temperature, and RPM. Mine has 20, 50AH HiPower LiFePO4 batteries, a Curtis 1236 controller and an AC-15 motor which I'm told can deliver about 36HP in this configuration. The bike has regen which provides very nice braking and gives a little energy back when stopping. Some other characteristics and performance points are listed below:

1. The craftsmanship, fit and finish of the bike is excellent. The only possible issue I have identified so far is the black cover on the access port on top of the tank which covers the cord storage area hinge that holds the electrical cord is weak. People will be breaking these off without much effort. The paint quality is excellent. The mechanical and electrical setup looks to be done with quality parts and workmanship. I wouldn't quite call it aircraft quality integration, but it's as good as my '08 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

2. The kickstand is great. It has a little handle that sticks out that makes it easy to kick it up. And it goes up and down a lot easier than the ones I rode in motorcycle school (which was a new bike with 600 miles). It is strong enough to rock the bike up on the kickstand and rotate the bike 180 degrees to get out of your parking spot. I had the lights on while riding and I could easily see the numbers on the main gauge which has MPH, Trip, Odo and clock.

3. The acceleration is relatively soft off the line but then comes on strong. The softness has it's advantages in that it makes for a very smooth and controlled take-off. There is good power after 20MPH and clearly acceleration per degree of throttle increase is much more at 35 MPH than it is at 5MPH. I've got to do some additional testing to see if this degree of softness schedule is ramped with speed or time. I suspect speed. Top speed is said to be 80MPH, but I've only done 55 to date. There is still plenty of power left at that point. RPM at 55 is only 4300 of the 7500 authorized. The Spyglass indicates a max of 300AMPs at full throttle. A steady 30 MPH indicates a draw of about 30-32 AMPs. The regen is very strong. Under normal conditions in a housing area you don't use the brakes at all until you get below 3-5 MPH to get to the final rest. You can reduce power and not turn on the regen (or not hard), but when you turn the throttle all the way off it acts like a brake with about the same decel you would brake with under normal conditions. The regen and brake lights are activated by either applying brakes or throttle off. The Spyglass indicates -14 AMPs when the regen goes on above 30MPH. It was very windy today with wind steady at 15 gusting to 20. I could feel a little buffeting but it wasn't bad and tracked pretty straight.

4. When fully charged, the Spyglass indicates about 81 Volts. I did a very rough estimate of miles/charge but the numbers are so small they are probably not very accurate but so far I'm getting about 50 Miles Per Charge (MPC) based on the BDI percentage drop compared to miles traveled. I'm nervous about damaging the batteries so I probably won't take it down too low. I'm told it's best not to take the batteries down below 2.5Volts which for me translates to 50 Volts remaining.

5. The seat is very comfortable and has a second seat and pegs for a passenger. There is no integrated storage for your helmet, but it does have an external lock with the same key as the main switch.

6. The noise generated by the motor / drive train is a little louder than I anticipated. It's probably about the 75-78db level. It's a little louder when just taking off (5-15 MPH)and then quieter when cruising (40MPH).

A couple of pictures are posted below.

All:
Well, I just took delivery of my new GPR-S. It's the AC version with 20, 50AH cells. I think it's the first registered in Texas and will have the TAG "AC-001".

1. The noise generated by the motor / drive train is a little louder than I anticipated. I think that the motor is hard mounted to the frame and the motor noise resonates through the frame, making it louder. It's probably about the 75-78db level. It's a little louder when just taking off (5-15 MPH)and then quieter when cruising (40MPH).

2. The regen is very strong. Under normal conditions in the housing area you don't use the brakes at all until you get below 3 MPH to get to the final rest. You can reduce power and not turn on the regen (or not hard), but when you turn the throttle all the way off it acts like a brake with about the same decel you would brake with under normal conditions. The regen and brake lights are activated by either applying brakes or throttle off. The Spyglass indicates -14 AMPs when the regen goes on above 30MPH.

3. It was very windy today with wind steady at 15 gusting to 20. I could feel a little buffeting but it wasn't bad and tracked pretty straight.

4. I did a very rough estimate of miles/tank but the numbers are so small they are probably not very accurate but so far I'm getting about 40 MPT based on the BDI percentage drop compared to miles traveled. I'm nervous about damaging the batteries so I probably won't take it down too low. I think Martin told me I could take it down to 2.5v / bat so that would mean I could take it down to 50V.

5. The seat is very comfortable, but I tended to slide forward into the tank if I wasn't a bit careful. That may be because the pegs are pretty far back. Also, if you're not paying attention your knees can strike the top of the fairings. That will just take a little getting used to.

6. I had the lights on while riding and I could easily see the numbers on the main gauge which has MPH, Trip, Odo and clock.

7. The craftsmanship, fit and finish of the bike is excellent. The only issue I have identified so far is the hinge that holds the electrical cord cap is weak (the black access port on top of the tank). People will be breaking these off. The paint quality is excellent. The electrical setup looks to be done with quality parts and workmanship. I wouldn't quite call it aircraft quality integration, but it's as good as my '08 Toyota Camry Hybrid.

9. The rear springs are yellow. I think they should be black and I'm going to work on that

10. The kickstand is great. It has a little handle that sticks out that makes it easy to kick it up. And it goes up and down a lot easier than the ones I rode in motorcycle school (which was a new bike with 600 miles). Martin also showed me a neat trick yesterday. If the bike is sitting in a parking spot and you want to turn it 180 degrees to get out of the spot. You stand on the kick stand side, hold the bike by the handlebar and the seat handhold, pull it up to balance it on the kickstand and walk it around counterclockwise to the new heading. He said he made sure they bought strong enough kickstands to do that.

11. The acceleration is relatively soft off the line but then comes on strong. The softness has it's advantages in that it makes for a very smooth and controlled take-off. There is good power after 20MPH and clearly acceleration per degree of throttle increase is much more at 35 MPH than it is at 5MPH. I've got to do some additional testing to see if this degree of softness schedule is ramped with speed or time. I suspect speed.

ChuckJ

Battery charging temperature

myvectrix2008 — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 17:11:06 -0500

Has anyone ever had this problem with their Vectrix?

I haven't used it in a few days and went to charge it a short while ago in case I need it tomorrow (weather dependent) and the battery temperature that is displayed when charging says 60oC as soon as I connected it to the mains when in fact it was about 1oC. I only know this as I used my car to get some fuel and checked the on board temperature indicator. Major problem or minor bug due to the cold weather?

I snapped a pic with my camera phone to check I wasn't seeing things!

XB-700Li rear hub motor

benmart — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:42:06 -0500

Well, first a bad controller and now me-thinks the rear hub motor is kaput. I was driving in a parking lot and heard this grinding/growling noise coming from the back wheel and then no power.

The light, horn, turn signals work fine and the red power light is on. The powermeter shows High charge and all connections, etc. are okay.

I called a flat-bed tow and when I got it home I checked out the rear wheel. It makes the same noise but no rear wheel movement what-so-ever when the handle throttle is applied.

I have a help-ticket in and will see what Extreme says about this one. It's been three months and I can't say too much for the quality of the bike at this point.

Happy scooting -

Have additional motorcycle tow insurance if you have AAA in California. AAA Plus doesn't cover motorcycles/scooter/e-bikes.

My X-treme X-600 Review (YouTube)(Finally!)

billremnant — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:20:37 -0500

I hope this video helps people out. (Took me long enough to finally get around to finishing it!)

link for those who prefer to watch it on YouTube's site

Roomba issue

reikiman — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:20:11 -0500

Hi, I'm having a little trouble with the battery pack in my roomba. As a self respecting EV advocate I like the idea of a self propelled EV that cleans the floor for me

It's been a few months since I last used the Roomba. I don't remember whether the charger has been plugged in the whole time or not. When I went to use it this morning the charger was unplugged and the power indicator did not respond. So I plugged the charger in, the red charging light started blinking, and after awhile it turned green.

It gets maybe 2 minutes run time once the light is green. I've gone through this twice now, charge it to where the light is green and set it going and get 2 minutes of run time.

In the past it would do maybe 20 minutes of run time.

If this were an e-bicyclist or e-scooterist reporting a similar problem I'd be thinking "uh oh, it's likely by leaving the battery off the charger that the battery self-drained and is now damaged and will never hold a charge again". e.g. lead acid batteries if left discharged for awhile don't hold a charge. On the other hand if it's a lithium or NiMH pack then leaving it partly discharged doesn't cause damage.

My question is -- maybe someone knows what kind of battery is in the Roomba battery pack?

Maybe someone knows something about the charging behavior of the Roomba? Like, if the light turns green that should mean its fully charged but maybe it's lying and I'm really supposed to leave it for a long time.

Shunt mod worth while?

68snewpy — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:50:33 -0400

I just got a new scooter that seems to be the same as the xtreme xb-500. my scooter Is the xb-500 motor 500w peak and only 350w continous? Sadly that what mine is. 48v brushless with 4 12ah batteries. I'd like more power for hill climbing. I weigh 200 lbs and have to pedal up moderate hills. I'm considering pulling the controller out to do the infamous "shunt mod" but want to get some feedback from those who have done it. How much better is the power after the mod?
Waaaaaay better?
A lot better?
A little better?

Better Lighting on EVD & XM3500

MikeB — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 09:26:15 -0500

I've mentioned in my EVD threads that I'm working on improving the lighting on my scooter, but the XM3500 is built on the same body, so this discussion should apply pretty equally to both vehicles. Lighting is a very important tool for safety in traffic, and it also helps a bit when riding at night. My priority is 'be seen' more than anything else, but seeing the road better helps too.

So, let's start with a quick inventory, and then see what can be improved.

For headlights, we've got a pair of 35W/35W halogen bulbs. These are a HS1 standard, which is a low-wattage variant of the H4. The same bulb is used for both high/low beams, it's got two filaments in slightly different locations. High beams are not brighter, they are just aimed higher on the road.

Some info on the bulb is here: Bosch India. You can order replacement bulbs online from Candlepower Inc. The standard car/motorcycle bulb for headlights starts at 55W, so we're definitely hurting here. But, on the good side, we've got two headlights, and both are always on, so it could be worse.

For brake/tail lights, we have 3 bulbs, and they are a very standard 5W/25W 1157 bayonet mount bulb. These are 5W for tail lights, but they jump to 25W when you hit the brakes. This is a common bulb for car usage, and we've got 3 of them in a good arrangement, so we're in pretty good shape here.

So how do we make this better?

The biggest collision risk a motorcyclist faces (and presumably a scooter as well) is from a car turning left across your path. The second biggest risk is from someone pulling out of a driveway or side road into your path. One of the best tools to prevent both of these is called a 'Headlight Modulator'. This is a device that alters the output of your headlamps between 100% and 20% at a rate of 240 cycles per minute. It's technically modulating, not flashing, but it's very good at attracting the eye. Other drivers will notice you more rapidly. Federal Law makes such devices legal in all 50 states, as long as they follow specifications. I've ordered modulators from Comagination before, Kisan is also popular. But, they don't make a modulator with a plug for HS1 bulbs.

So, how can we make this work? Here's my current plan: I found a 45W/45W H4 bulb at Candlepower Inc. It should fit into my current housing, and the plug will fit nicely into a headlight modulator. It'll also be something like 30% brighter, which will help at night. The bad news is that they'll draw an extra 10W each, so I need to make sure the bike can handle a 20W increase in power draw. I don't think I'll melt the plastic housing for the lights, but I don't want to blow a fuse while riding, especially if it's dark out.

So, let's look at the tail lights again. They work fine, but there is a massive 75W power draw when you hit the brakes. The DC-DC converter must be able to handle 70W for the headlights and 75W for the brake lights at the same time, so we have 145W total to work with. Let's replace the tail lights with LEDs, and free up some wattage for use up front. LED brakelights also have the advantage that they illuminate faster, which might give the driver behind you a few more milliseconds of reaction time to hit their brakes.

There are lots of choices, but most LED brake/tail replacement bulbs are actually dimmer than the incandescent they replace. We don't want to do that. You also need to get a bulb that illuminates the reflector housing as well as shining the light out the back. I found the 'Eagle Eye Tower' from Autolumination, and it seems to be a good choice. (Top of the page, get the 1157 in Red). Randall at R.Martin says the've got some replacement tail bulbs for our scooters, but I haven't checked those out yet.

While we are working on brake lights, there is one other thing to add. Cars all have a center brake light, it only comes on when braking, so it's never mistaken for a tail light. Since our bikes always have the tail lights on, a car behind us might not recognize the increase in brightness from our brake lights. My solution is Hyperlites. They flash when you hit the brakes, are very bright, and don't draw much power. You can get them as simple brake lights, as brake/tail lights, or even brake/tail/turn lights. They come in modules of 8 or 16 LEDs. I now have a set of two 8 LEDs flashing brake lights, set to go constant after 5 seconds. I mounted them on the bottom of the cargo rack, so they are at the top-center of the tail light cluster.

Between the LED brake/tail lights and the Hyperlights, I figure we draw no more than 20W when braking, rather than 75. That gives us at least 50W of extra power to play with, so lets go back to the front of the bike.

What else can we do up here? Driving Lights.

One of the problems that motorbikes have is a narrow profile. This makes us harder to see, but good lights help fix that. But the real problem is that a driver can't judge how far we are and how fast we are moving. Normally, a driver can detect the change in size of an approaching object, and this change gives a strong clue to distance and speed. A narrow motorcycle, especially the types with only a single headlight, don't provide as strong a signal. We've got two headlights, which is good, but someone might mistake us for a car that is 10x further away, since our lights are dim and close together.

On my gas scooter, I've installed a set of Motolights on the front forks. This provides a great triangular light pattern, as well as extra light on the road. That triangular pattern is pretty much unique to motorbikes, and it gives an excellent cue for distance and speed. Motolights are extremely nice, but they are somewhat expensive, and normally draw 35W each, 70W total. Other options?

The Hyperlight guys now have something called Hyper-whites. A pair of 16-LED modules with bright white output, only 3W each. These aren't going to add much to road illumination, but they are going to make you more visible, and they are going to help form that triangle to define the shape of the bike. I'm probably going this route, but haven't placed an order yet.

I did find another option, and that's an HID (xenon) light. HID provides very efficient illumination per watt of power. But the HID replacement bulb kits are only legal for off-road use in the US, partly because the light comes from a different section of the bulb so the light distribution changes significantly. But what about HID driving lights mounted on the forks? Most HIDs are going to draw 35W, which is above our budget, but then I found these: Trail Tech HID MR11. They consume 13W each, but have the brightness of a 35W halogen bulb. They are going to be around $120 each, and I'll need to figure out how to mount them, and what wires to tap into for power, but they are tempting.

Ok guys, this has gotten pretty long, but I figure you'd benefit from my research. Thoughts? Alternatives? Discussion?

Vectrix Evangelism - Encounters with the Public

DaveD — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:47:03 -0400

Maybe this subject has been brought up before. My apologies if there's already a thread on it.

I met with Morrison yesterday, and he mentioned to me that people have been approaching him when he out on his Vectrix. They're wanting to know more about it, or just discovered it existed when he appeared on one.

Partly as an experiment, and also because I've been working a lot lately and needed to get out somewhere besides work or home, I ventured out today, deliberately putting me and my Vectrix into public locations. I tried to look unhurried, smiling, and approachable. Sure enough, I had three people come up to me and ask questions about my Vectrix.

First encounter was when I pulled into a restaurant parking lot. As I parked and took off my helmet, this fellow on a bicycle rode up. I'd passed by him when pulling into the lot, and the lack of ICE noise alerted him that this was not your typical scooter. It turns out that he knew about the Vectrix a bit already, and taught motorcycle safety training courses locally! He'd never seen a Vectrix up close before and we had a nice chat about it for several minutes before my stomach growled loud enough that I had to excuse myself.

Second encounter was when I'd parked near a local shopping area that has a fair amount of foot traffic. The sun was shining and the temp wasn't too hot, so lots of people were out strolling. I'd parked a bit away from the center of the action, but even then I was approached by a couple of fellows that had seen my personalized license plate (ELCTRC) and understood what it meant. They and I had a free-ranging discussion about EVs, national energy policy, internation energy consumption, etc. that went on for a half-hour or so.

My third encounter of the day was on my way home. I noticed a big Harley cruiser-style motorcycle (sorry, I don't know Harley models enough to name it) coming up behind me, and when I'd stopped for a traffic light, he pulled up right beside me and asked me if it was really an electric scooter (knew that personalized license plate would help break the ice!). I said yes indeed, and sensing that he wanted to chat about it a bit, I had him pull into a parking lot after we got through the traffic light. He'd not heard about Vectrix before seeing mine, but liked the looks of it when he spotted me up ahead of him, noticed that it was pretty maneuverable (I like plenty of lean when cornering), and was peppy on the acceleration. I told him the range (around 40 miles), but explained it worked great for my needs, and he got that it was a nice and useful machine, even given its limitations. Quite a nice person to have a 15 minute chat with. He and his wife are leaving next week to ride out to Sturgis, and I wished him a safe journey as we went our separate ways.

So, that's short summary of my one-day experiment in Vectrix evangelism. Anybody else care to share their stories about Encounters with the Public?

Regards,
Dave

Rear Wheel Puncture and Prevention - Wheel Removal/Refit

Hands0n — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:10:44 -0500

I have had my '08 Vectrix since July 2008 and so far it has been trouble-free. It is used daily for the commute in to London and back, a daily round-trip of 50 miles on both town and dual carriageway roads. At this time I have done 3,700 miles and there is lots of life left in the tyres, I suspect that they'll easily survive 5,000 miles before reaching their wear limits. But that does not take account of punctures, one of which I sustained on the rear wheel the other week. This was going to be the first bit of work that I have attempted on the Vectrix since I picked it up. I am [very] handy with the tools and so was not at all bothered other than the expense of repair that it was going to cost me.

I have a brief set of photos of the wheel re-fit which can be viewed for reference ..

The first problem was one of how to jack the scooter to get the rear wheel off the floor. It is not such a difficult problem if you have some simple tools, the best place is to use the underbelly of the scooter where the batter packs reside. This strong enough to support the weight.

I used a hydraulic trolley jack (see pix) to raise the Vectrix, but that was too unstable to hold the machine and so I slipped a stand that I had for a KTM trail bike. This was too tall to perform the entire lift, hence the need for the trolley jack. You might get away with a set of Axle Stands and a steel bar instead.

Removing the wheel is reasonably well described in the Vectrix's manual - just take your time and keep everything tidy. I used an air powered torque gun to remove all of the bolts and nuts, retaining them in a castaway baking tray. This prevents accidental loss of bits by kicking them across the garage floor. The powered torque gun makes light work of removing and re-fitting the bolts and nuts.

I took the wheel along to Watling Tyres, a firm that I swear by for their care in what they do. While they were able to perform a mushroom plug repair of the puncture they were unable to re-balance the wheel because of the lack of a hub! They thought that this was going to be a general problem for hub-motored wheels until manufacturers came out with the right tools for tyre fitters. What they did instead was to carefully re-fit the tyre in its original alignment with the wheel itself.

The repair failed within 100 miles. I am not entirely sure why, it could be the small profile of the tyre itself but what seemed odd was that the plugged hole seemed to have been re-punctured. What would be the odds against that? And so I ordered and Watling Tyres fitted a new rear tyre for me.

Between these two events I decided to get myself a suitable jack for the Vectrix, one that would suit other bikes also, but that would act as a stand also. After a bit of searching I found the Biketek Mini Lift Jack which fit the bill perfectly. I bought one on eBay for £70. You can get much more sophisticated and larger stands such as this one from M&P --> The Motorcycle Lift Jack , but I wanted something that I could take around with me if needed. Although similarly priced the M&P unit is more suited for permanent workshop use.

Puncture Prevention?
With all of this hassle in wheel removal, balancing, re-fitting I started to search around for any alternatives, remembering that some time ago I had tried a tyre sealant that prevented punctures. At that time the product caused a constant imbalance in the wheels, worse on the front, and so I never went back to the stuff.

A bit of Googling and a lot of reading brought me to the conclusion that the technology has moved on somewhat and that the best of breed was Ride-On Tyre Sealant - and I bought the Ride-On Tyre Sealant for Motorcycles - Kit" for two wheels for £9.95, which is what the mushroom plug repair cost.

The supplier of Ride-On claims that the product also causes an amount of automatic wheel balancing and does not cause any imbalance. Now for those not in the UK you have to understand that such claims must be true or the company making these claims can find themselves heavily fined by the Trading Standards regulators here. So it was with some confidence that I bought the product and today I installed 6oz of one bottle into the rear wheel.

I can say that there was no imbalance caused to the rear wheel, no evidence of vibration or anything else adverse. In fact, the slight vibration that was there since the new tyre was fitted has now gone - the Ride-On appears to have done its stuff. I can therefore recommend it to others.

I hope you find this of some use whether or not you have had a puncture on that rear wheel yet.

avoiding 20mph "wall"

cyclepete — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 10:03:42 -0500

I've always disliked the way the Bionx handles the 20 mph speed limit. As many have noted, it feels like you hit a wall. Apparently, the assist drops from full assist to no assist right at 20 mph.

For the past few days I've been riding around with the limit turned off for the first time and really enjoyed the feel. On the plus side, my average speed is way up as I spend much more time around 20 mph. Without a tailwind but on a smooth, straight road, I can maintain about 22 mph. With even a slight tail wind, I approach 24 mph, which is as fast as I can spin with my current highest gear of 48/11.

The negative side is a significant reduction in my mileage even if I don't try to go over 20 mph. I'm estimating that my mileage per charge is down 1/3rd.

What would be nice is an "econo mode" that eliminates the "wall" effect but without hurting mileage. This could be easily implemented as a ramp-down in assist between, say, 15 mph and 20 mph. Probably non-linear so that the percent reduction increases as you approach 20 mph. Something like:
15 mph - 100% ( of regular assist at selected level)
16 mph - 85%
17 mph - 65%
18 mph - 40%
19 mph - 10%
20 mph - 0 %

Obviously, such an assist ramp-down would probably reduce one's average speed, but it would also probably increase range while still giving strong assist at lower speeds and would avoid the wall effect.

Anybody know how to hack the Bionx's control code?

Combine SLA and Lifepo4 ??

pgt400 — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 07:53:45 -0500

Been thinking of adding 4 each PSI cells (1P4S)in parallel with each of my 6, 35 ah AGMS (total 24 PSI's). Thought is they would help with the heavy current needs under accelleration and add 10 more ah. During cruise the AGMS would charge the PSI's to keep balance. I would charge them both with my 3, 24v on board SLA chargers, so the PSI's would be slightly undercharged and balanced to the AGM's. Also the BMS would be set at 2.5 volts per cell (10 volts total per 12 volt AGM which is were my Kelly is set now). Any one experiment with this?

XM3500 Added Battery and Fuel Gauge Mod

eped — Sun, 5 Oct 2008 15:37:09 -0400

Well, added my 21st cell today and below are some pics. I did not mess with the existing battery box. Also further down is some measurements and mod I did for the fuel gauge (even if you don't plan to do this mod, the info does show how the current XM3500 is setup - I think it was set for the original 19cell as I would prefer not to hit the RED recharge point with the cells this low).

Looking more at the battery and considering swelling, I decided two things; not to mess with the existing battery compartment since is has them held tightly and then to mount the additional cell so it is "compressed". I also moved the circuit breaker so I can access it through the existing hole under the seat yet making the wires and connections much better.

In the second picture you can see the Paktrakr I added and my BMS (the BMS unplugs when I ride but the Paktrakr is permanently mounted). I will post another topic on how much better the bike performs once the weather improves (it is cold and rainy).

R-30 Anyone?

Whisper — Sat, 5 Jul 2008 00:27:09 -0400

I am looking at an R-20 in a few days, conceptually I am stoked, but after reading through the headaches experienced by memebers of this forum - I am a little concerned. As luck would have it, the local EVT America dealer in Council Bluffs, Iowa says an R-30 model will be out soon and it has corrected ALL the problems associated with the R-20. Should I wait? What do you all know about the R-30?

brushless controller wiring

cooperhead — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 02:57:24 -0500

Hi, new here,
I just got some generic Chinese bike brushless systems. They all seem dead. The controllers are not putting out any voltage to any circuits. I have sketchy info for the brake, reverse, pot, key and speed sensor switches. The sample that was sent did not require hooking up any of these but I did try connecting them. Has anyone seen a controller that requires a combination of key and brake power connections or something to power up? Or should I assume there are defective?
Thanks
copperhead

Best price LiFePO4 Battery pack and cells for Ieehoo Company

jerior — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 07:37:33 -0500

Shanghai Ieehoo International CO.LTD. is located in the beautiful Hi-Tech Zone of Nanhui in Shanghai With the world-class production equipment, a total investment of 100 million and a floor area of 120 Mu, they try to build Ieehoo the largest lithium iron phosphate power battery production base in China. And with the entry of some famous experts they have built a strong team which is aimed at the research and development of lithium iron phosphate power battery and have made the production industrialized firstly. The research use lithium iron phosphate as the new generation of anode material in lithium-ion battery was started from the late 1990s. The lithium iron phosphate battery will lead automobile industry to a new green age and replace the lead acid storage battery and nickel-metal hydride battery. "Green home, hi-quality life." that is our aim and ideal; "unity, cooperation, practicality, innovation" is our spirit; "human-oriented, customer and market centered " is our principle; environment-friendly, safe and reliable lithium iron phosphate power battery is our product.

...more information please contact with Us ,we very happy to service you ,thanks !
Mail : Sale@ieehoo.com
http://www.ieehoo.com/

looking the pictures :

San Francisco Hill Climber

kyrouf — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 04:00:47 -0500

Undead's experiences on the new firmware

undead — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:45:20 -0500

Here is my little list of observations from old / new firmware

Total mileage 1020ish

Mileage with old firmware - 920

Mileage with new firmware - 100

Charger Delay
I dont use it as my Vectrix is on a timer switch which starts at midnight and shuts off at 7am. However if I am doing a charge straight after riding (sometimes I run it down in the morning and need to charge for afternoon) - I do use the right brake 30minute default if its been ridden hard to give it a cooldown. Outside temp is not high enough to be a problem anyway at the moment.

Range difference
Before the firmware update, I had run it down to 0, with 1 bar on the bike, and then chickened out. There was no battery light at this point, and there was no real loss in power. Now after the firmware update, when it gets down to around 4-5 bars, and with about 5 miles or so left, it still does 60ish but wont accelerate hard to get there - I guess this is in to stop unexpected range drop from people going from sedate ride to hard ride. The range gage is more accurate now, when it has 3 miles or so to go, the red battery light comes on and the bike slowly gets worse on top speed and accelaration until its in limp mode (around 25-30mph tops)

Overall performance
For the first two full charges after the update, the performance was rubbish, it was almost like if it was a petrol engine, one of the cylinders were not firing kind of feel. I was warned about this, I am guessing it was the system firguring out what my actual battery life and things were.

Charge time
Longer. I ran it down to 2 bars this morning, put it on charge at 12 and it was still charging at 5pm (just going to EC as I walked in). It used to take around 4 hours but I have known it to take 5-6 hours before anyway. Have not witnessed the initial and every 8 hoours of riding longer equilisation charge as that was done overnight - not sure what the display would show or what the bike actually does in this state

These are the things I have noticed - any more?

need help evglobal folding 36v

fluxcapacitor — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 01:11:11 -0500

Hi all,
Im a newbie. lol. anyway i need some assistance getting my bike going. I just recieved an evglobal folding 36v bike from a friend and cant get it to work. I replaced the throttle switch because it was visually broken. The power on it reads full when the battery is charged and empty when i leave it on, which seams normal. My problem is that when i actually go to hit the throttle nothing happens. I am new to this and need some serious help. PLEASE

12 to 24 volts or more

e-volt — Wed, 3 Dec 2008 01:04:16 -0500

Good Day to all:D

newly registered member. very intrested in making an electric motorcycle...

I would like to ask if anyone has a schematic diagram of a controller that will be use to power a alternator turn to motor? a controller that does not need to be program, cause really dont have an idea on programming.

and if i try to run that motor with a 24 volts supply even if it is on 12 volts rating what will be the result?

thanks in advance!

God Bless!

New controller doesn't fit into R-20

thebitmaster — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:26:11 -0500

I've owned an EVTAmerica R-20 for over a year. I've had a substantial number of problems with it, the most recent being the controller dieing after the oft-mentioned random-cutout problem seen by many EVTAmerica owners. For a complete list of my problems, see the "improvement" list of the R-30 vs. the R-20. I've pretty much had them all.

I *finally* got the new controller, which is supposed to be the "upgraded" version used in the R-30 series. It looks *almost* identical to the original, *except* that the wires sticking out the front have a lot of black plastic, either a strain-relief or possibly a plug-and-socket arrangement, that results in them sticking out about 2 inches beyond the end of the controller. The previous controller had the wires snaking directly out of the box. In the R-20, the batteries sit right in front of the controller, and after taking all the time to bolt the controller into place and re-attach all the wires, it's completely obvious that there is no longer room for the two batteries in the tray in front of the controller. Has anyone else seen this problem? At this point it looks like I'm going to have to modify either the controller itself or the battery box to get everything to fit, which is ridiculous for what should have been a drop-in replacement. I informed EVTAmerica of the problem three days ago, and have gotten no reply.

http://flickr.com/photos/25788039@N00/3045531128/

Scott

XM 3500 (continued)

chas_stevenson — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:31:16 -0400

Please reply to the XM3500 thread here as it was getting too long.

Thank you,
Grandpa Chas S.

Extensive XB-600 modifications: no body panels, seat frame, wire consoldition, LED lighting

captainslug — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:33:52 -0500

I've had an XB-600 for almost a year now and have been modifying it since I got it. However I never really went searching for relevant forums until now, so I'm new to everything here.

Photo from November 07

Modification #1
The first problem I had with it was that the fuse for the 12Volt system kept blowing out really easily whenever the scooter drove in even a light drizzle.
And the fuse in question was shoved up into the middle of the front wheel well and had to be changed blind with one hand. I moved the fused up into the center console area to make it easier to replace.

I later traced the short to the exposed connectors in the rear wheel well. So I bundled them together and sealed them into a modified rubbermaid container.

Modification #2
Not wanting to be mistaken for a normal scooter again and being unhappy with the location of the fuse I end up removing all of the cosmetic body panels. I relocated the charger receptacle and motor controller to the seat bucket, replaced the stock headlights with a single headlight on a custom bracket, trimmed the rear mud guard, and cut down the back of the front column. Couldn't get rid of it completely because it also acts as a mud guard.

I also relocated the horn, fuse, and all of the excess wiring from the front column into the dash clamshell, which was surprisingly empty. While doing this I found a single gray wire that connects to the speedometer. When connected it limits your top speed to 20mph in order to comply with the Federal law. When disconnected your top speed can reach up to 26mph on a slight downgrade.

It could be wired to a switch, but I just leave it disconnected.

Photo from March 08

In September after several months of commuting back-and-forth the underside of the seat bucket broke open and the seat was no longer firmly attached to the frame. I went about replacing the seat bucket by making a bolt-on frame extension out of scrap aluminum found at work. Then secured and enclosed the controller, cabling, and charger receptacle using 1/8" polycarbonate sheets.

Photo from September 08

This past week I've been tearing apart the dash with the intent to replace all the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, but I'm thinking that I'll probable just ditch the original speedometer and voltmeter since I will be upgrading to a 60V system as well as installing a bike computer and a red segment LED voltmeter.

In preparation for that I started cleaning up some of the wiring and labeling all of the connectors.

Just yesterday I finished replacing the brake light with a custom LED array.
I cut a sheet of polyethylene sheet to fit the reflector area for the old bulb, then drill holes in a spacing pattern. I then soldered one resistor onto each positive LED leg and each negative leg to a common ground for each mode set.

The result is just as bright as the original bulb, albeit slightly more directional in focus.

The array of 32 red 3mm ultrabright LEDs consumes 9.6 / 3 watts instead of the original 21 / 5 watts.
As can also be seen in the above photos, I used an angle grinder to shave off the steel tabs on the frame that were used to secure the body panels.

I would like to replace the turn signals with LEDs as well, but I will have to replace the stock relay first.

Vectrix acceleration testing

Mik — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:20:22 -0500

Has anyone else done objective acceleration tests with their Vectrix?

In some other threads some riders keep mentioning how great the acceleration is and how it outruns cars at traffic lights etc.

Either their Vectrix accelerates better than both the ones I have tested, or the car drivers in their area are more sedate than here.

In my experience, the acceleration off the line is clearly insufficient to outrun any modern middle-class car at the lights in the first 20-30 meters, where it counts.

Once above 45km/h the acceleration is sufficient for accelerating out of trouble, and very good between 60km/h and 85km/h. Great fun on uphill, winding mountain roads!

But it sucks off the line in my experience, especially uphill.

So how about a few others do some semi-objective testing?

Almost everyone with a Vetrix would have access to a MP3-recorder, I guess.

Tape it inside your helmet or close to your throat, turn it on, count "Ready, Set, Go", open the throttle fully and then call out 10, 20, 30 etc to 80km/h or higher when you reach those speeds.

The listen to it at home with a stop-watch and let us know what results you get.

The results could tell us how much payload and/or individual scooter characteristics influence the acceleration.

In my experience the claimed 6.8s from 0-80km/h is unrealistic.

Between 9.5s and 12s is much closer to the truth in my experience! (with 112kg payload).

My new Electric E-Bike (Scooter)

Ken68 — Tue, 5 Aug 2008 16:55:14 -0400

I hope I am posting in the correct area! I have recently purchased this E-Bike;

http://mobilityunlimited.ca/condor_black_specs.htm

It can go the maximum lawful speed of 32KM/H for up to 60KM per charge. It uses 48V battery pack (4X 12V 20A SLAs) in a plastic case to make it easier to remove the battery pack for charging inside if you cannot charge outside. The battery assembly locks into the scooter via to keylocks. It has a geared rear wheel hub motor that has a high/low gear switch on the right handle grip right below the motor kill switch. I use the low gear to crawl up steep hills without draining the battery pack too much. I am able to climb hills that even the Local Transit buses have a hard time climbing. This scooter can cut through wind fairly easy without too much slow down as well. I have added a GPS Receiver to it to help with navigation as well. I like this electric scooter, it has completely replaced my bicycle for my primary transportation. Any thought, suggestions and comments are welcome.

Ken Finch

Google Map for Vectrix Plug-In Locations

Patrix — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:09:36 -0500

From my research, it's clear that EV recharging (including signage, location information, etc.) is much more developed in other countries than it is now in the USA. I've found the EV Charger News page (http://www.evchargernews.com/), but it only shows locations with large or small paddles and/or Avcon charging receptacles. Furthermore, it appears that EV charging stations in Europe include several recharging options, such as paddles, bars, and 3-prong plugs), whereas EV charging stations where I live only provide facilities for cars with paddle-type plugs - not for vehicles with 3-prong plugs.

To fill this gap in my area, I have just started a "public" Google map of plug-in locations that I am finding around the Greater Sacramento (Calif., USA) Area. You can see the beginnings of that map at this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/...

Questions:

1. Is anyone aware of any existing link that shows "available to the public" locations of 3-prong plugs in the US? Or any other website that might provide the info that any Vectrix owner might want regarding public recharging locations?
2. If you, too, are occasionally having trouble finding a nearby plug-in location, do you think a Google map like this one might be helpful in your area?
3. Is there a better way to let all Vectrix (and other 3-prong plug EV) owners to know where they can easily plug in and "top up" their charge?

I've owned my Vectrix for about 10 days now and I love it! I've put on 250 miles and I'm beginning to venture out to greater distances away from home. The farther I go, the more important it is to know where I can recharge when I need to.

Lastly, it seems that one of the most common concerns of people who are considering buying a Vectrix (or any similar plug-in EV) is the issue of range. If we had better info on all the publicly available recharging points, it seems that we could overcome that "buying objection" and get more people out there riding with us on PEVs.

What do you think?

Newest Vectrix firmware updates

volts76 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:47:47 -0400

SW Changes
The main focus of the MC SW release xxxx is on better battery management and better fuel gauge accuracy. The SW was designed to acclimate to the various states of health of the batteries already in the field and to better protect from damage all new packs. The new SW incorporates better pre-charge cooling along with continuous battery capacity measurements to prevent over charging and to accurately scale the fuel gauge. The occurrence of the hot battery warning should decrease significantly.

The most obvious change a user will see is the addition of a programmable delay, during which time the fans run off the batteries while cooling the batteries. The advantage to this is that it eliminates the extra charge that was dumped into the batteries when the fans ran off the AC power, allowing for much better cooling. Cooler batteries accept a charge much more efficiently and allow for more complete charges. The “delay” function utilizes the instrument cluster LCD and the four IC button as a user interface. The use of the delay is vital to maintaining a healthy battery pack. In addition, the delay can be used to start the charge when electricity rates are lower.

The SW also measures the actual battery capacity during a full discharge cycle immediately following a full charge cycle. This capacity is then shared with the charger so that the charging profile can be matched to the battery pack. In addition the charger uses this value to accurately scale the fuel gauge. Although the SW performs this measurement on an ongoing basis it is critical to follow the initialization procedure to insure that the SW learns the pack capacity in the first few charge cycles.

The low battery measurement and management is much more controlled and does not require the battery to be dangerously discharged to synchronize to the gauge as before. The SW looks for a low power output when the pack is under a certain voltage. That is, when the pack voltage is less than a predetermined value, the current output must meet certain minimum requirements. If it does not then the battery is deemed discharged to a certain value. At this point the battery icon will illuminate, warning the user that the remaining range is limited. In addition the minimum allowed pack voltage has been raised significantly, preventing over discharging.

Once the SW is installed and initialized, the user will notice several differences. During discharge the fuel gauge will no longer drop out at the end of the discharge. The user should consistently have between 1 and 2 bars showing when the battery icon appears. The last bars will have useful charge remaining. During charging, provided the delay is used regularly, the temperature of the battery should be acceptable to allow a full charge and to prevent over heating of the pack during the end of a charge.

The pre-charge delay is programmed by pressing and holding the SELECT button on the IC until the left LCD displays the delay info. The HOUR and MIN button are used to set the delay in 15 minute increments. The delay value is limited to 9hrs and rolls over to zero at this point. Finish setting the delay by again pressing and holding the SELECT button until the delay info is replaced by the normal display. At this point the delay is set, stored in memory and enabled. The key switch must be turned off before plugging in the charger otherwise no delay will be implemented. Once a delay has been programmed, it can be enabled by simply holding the right brake lever while powering down. A delay with the pre-programmed duration will be implemented. A fixed 30 minute delay can also be enabled by holding the left brake lever during power down. The fans will run during this delay until either the temperature is within 3 degrees of ambient or the temperature reaches 24 degrees C. The delay will continue even if the fans turn off. Once the delay expires the charge will start.

The SW will keep track of riding time. Every 8 hrs, an equalization command will be sent to the charger.

For information purposes, when the kill switch is in the off position and the left lever is pulled, the battery voltage is displayed in the estimated range field and the highest battery temperature is displayed in the trip field (similar to when charging).

The motor controller fan will no longer come on immediately when the scooter is enabled, unless the controller is above a threshold temperature. As soon as the scooter begins to move or draws a minimum amount of current, the fan will come on at a default low speed as it did with previous SW. When the scoot comes to a stop the fan will turn off, again, unless the controller is above a threshold temperature. This basically masks any fan noise when the fan is not needed.

Vectrix low battery blues

theBaron — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:43:00 -0400

Hi all,
As a new Vectrix owner (6 weeks), I am still coming to grips with the range capability of this scooter.
My normal commute is a round trip of 42km, with about half of this being undulating 70km/h speed limit sections and the rest being reasonably level 60km/h limits (city traffic) with plenty of traffic lights.
Despite having religiously followed the handbook recommendation of five deep cycle discharges, I only just manage my commute on the single charge, despite trying very hard to limit my "lead-foot" tendancies
The confusing part of this whole exercise is that when the batteries are finally giving up the ghost, I get the red battery warning light illuminating, the top speed is limited to 60km/h (quickly reducing to 40km/h) but I can still have 6 bars showing on the battery level indicator??????
Is this normal?
Any advice/recommendations that you more experienced owners may provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thinking about buying a Tres Terra

davew — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:40:43 -0500

There is a new electric bike shop, Small Planet Ebikes, in my little town of Longmont, Colorado. My wife is on the hairy edge of being converted so we decided to ride up and see what he stocked. The shop currently has some small Chinese scooters that I have never heard of before. They were 20 mph bikes and as such not very interesting. Most of the rest of the stock was Tres Terra bikes. Both Ellen and I rode a Europa and were favorably impressed. Before I get to my likes and dislikes let me ask the question:

Does anyone here own one? What have your experiences been?

Pros:
- I like the lithium ion pack and how it is integrated into the bike.

- The bike seems well made judging by the heft and the fit and finish.

- The twist throttle with cruise control is easy to operate and a simpler system than Bionx. (Although I still like my Bionx better mostly because it's what I'm used to.)

- The bike has nice torque and the 20mph top limit is easily reached.

- The electrics seem well protected against the weather.

- I know where the groceries are going to go.

- I like the 2 year warranty.

Cons:
- Tres Terra was just bought by Ultra Motors. How seriously is Ultra going to treat the Tres Terra warranty?

- Ultra Motors has their own hub motor. Are the Tres Terra designs going to be end-of-lifed soon? Will I be able to replace the battery pack in a few years?

- I know Heinzmann motors are a venerable design, but I still don't like the whine.

- I really dislike the little front-wheel generator that's used to run the halogen lights. I'd rather have battery-powered, LED lights.

- I remember reading a blog a couple of years ago where many problems with the first shipped units were noted. Does anyone know if these problems were addressed?

LED 12v lights for electric scooters use very little power - available now

rms401 — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 21:25:59 -0500

Hello all. We have some new 12v LED lights that will fit the rear lights (3) and some small LEDs for the instrument panel for our EVD product. They come in a set of 3 rear and 3 instrument LEDs.

They use barely any power from your batteries so they will help you run more efficently. They will fit many standard 12v sockets on scooters and motorcycles. They will fit the x-treme.

If you are interested in these, please email us at parts@rmartinbikes.com. They are in stock and ready to go. We haven't advertised these yet so we thought we would offer them to the forum folks first.

Randall

www.rmartinbikes.com
www.electricbikedistributor.com

EVD specials for winter - at our cost on some inventory

rms401 — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 21:23:03 -0500

We ended up overstocked with the VRLA models and will make exceptionally good deals if you order now (lower than the $3499 web price).

If you are willing to accept a 30-day warranty we will sell these at even a lower price (at our cost). This will be a great deal for those that maintain their own products.

Our VRLA models reach 50 mph and are a great bargain. This has been our biggest seller and will continue to be - but I really need to move some of these out of our warehouse. Email us at support@rmartinbikes.com or call 877-680-8400 for a price quote.

Estimating remaining energy/distance

cyclepete — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:13:40 -0500

I find the "energy remaining" bars on the console hard to use to estimate how much time/distance I have left. It's pretty quantized. Plus it seems unreliable. On some rides on windless days and flat ground (using assist level 2), it'll show a third gone 10 miles into a ride, and other days, under identical conditions, it'll show a half gone. But in both cases I usually end up with nearly the same distance by the time I'm down the the last 1/2 bar. Typically at 36 miles.

Some of this variation seems to be whether I've recently used up most of the energy in the battery. A full recharge, instead of the partial recharges I normally do, seems to get it back on track.

I have the "distance remaining" option turned on. But that just uses the last couple of seconds of use to estimate how much further I can go. That and the "time remaining" functions are useful to figure out the rate you are using power, but not how far you can really go.

What I'd really like is to be able to check, about 1/3rd into a long ride, how much energy I really have left so I can figure how much farther I can go, assuming the same conditions.

I've thought of looking at the voltage on the battery to do this. Assuming a linear relationship between voltage and remaining energy, and knowledge of the charged and discharged voltages, this would be easy. But I'm assuming that's what the bar display is already doing.

Any ideas?

A welcome change follwing firmware update

undead — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:59:43 -0500

Not sure whether this is a bug or something updated on purpose, but now my Vectrix does not do the beep beep beep when the indicator is left on.

I am grateful for this because it was always annoying and emaarresing when waiting at a roundabout or having to wait in a queue slowly moving while signalling my intentions for more than a minute - the drivers behine thought I was bipping the horn at them to get them to move out the way....

Electro-saki conversion

HOPOIL-AMPS — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 13:49:43 -0500

December 1, 2008 Now that it's really winter here in Syracuse,NY and I am forced to put the Triumph Bonneville to bed for the season; it's now time to revisit the electric conversion. Since the first post I now own a GE 7hp DC motor that I bought on ebay, and a Kelly controller. My idea now is to strip the 'top-end' from the Kawasaki KZ400 motor and mount the DC motor so that it will turn the crankshaft. I've seen one or two others make similar conversions and this will provide the benefits of the 5 gears in the gearbox. The GE motor weighs about 20 lbs. I'd guess, and this idea seems like a pretty secure way to mount it into the existing frame by also using the original motor's mounting bolts. Stop me right now if you know something I don't about using a stripped down cycle engine and transmission. I don't think there are lubrication problems.

Brake Swap

siai47 — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:55:19 -0400

Finally did it---I swapped the front brake to the left side of the Vectrix. Since I first drove it, I have worried that in a panic situation that occurs after you have started to slow with regen, there is too much to think about trying to get out of regen mode, grab the right brake for heavy front braking and get your other hand on the left rear brake. Full regen almost locks the rear tire and in a panic, application of rear brake at the same time could be real issue if you are not traveling straight ahead. It's a pretty easy swap. The brake hoses are of equal length going up to the handlebar. The only issue is that the Vectrix uses braided steel brake lines which should not be twisted. The lines have banjo fittings at each end and the handlebar ends have about a 40 degree bend in them to follow the handlebar up to the master cylinders. When you swap the lines, the bends are going the wrong way. The rear line is long enough that it can be turned 180 degrees to line it back up. The shorter front brake line needs to be be removed from the front caliper, loosened in it's clamp and turned 180 degrees. The end going to the caliper needs to be carefully bent about 15 degrees to re-attach it to the caliper. Check the routing of the lines by turning the handlebar fully from left to right and make sure nothing is binding or chaffing. When you remove the handlebar cover to get at the lines, you will find it is held on by four phillips head screws and two very small round head allens located just inside the mirror mount area. Be sure you loosen these, but don't remove them---when you get the cover off, you will find the screws retain a couple of clamps that look like an afterthought to fit the cover. I know some will yell at me for violating FMVSS, etc., however after stopping with the front brake and full regen (without ever removing your grip on the throttle) you can really see how fast this thing stops without ever touching the rear brake .

EVD VRLA Charging

sirsnafu — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 20:17:19 -0400

I am about to get me a EVD VRLA version and it comes with a single 5 amp charger for the 60v pack, is it possible to hook up 5 individual Soneil chargers that are permanently mounted under the fairing then wired out to a surge protector (think powersquid) which I can plug in anywhere. It would be providing 5 amps per battery instead of total but I want to make sure I can leave the charger wires permanently connected to the battery terminals. I figure it'll drop my charge time from 6 to about 2 hours and also serve as a pack balancer keeping all the batteries individually charged. I was going to attempt the same idea in a ninja 250 conversion but I decided to get this instead. What do you guys think of that idea?

water in controller

glt — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 03:06:10 -0500

Anybody having problems with water getting into the controller of their Bionx?
I bought mine in March of 2008 and had to replace it in Aug. Now in November the controller has water in it again. As the rainy season is just beginning in Vancouver I'm really interested in how to prevent water getting into my controller. So far no problem with warranty.
When the controller malfunctioned the first time it went into full charge mode and made my ride over the lionsgate bridge really difficult, not looking forward to that again!
Thnks for ny advice
GLT

main switch arcing problem

slbaker — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:05:13 -0500

Whenever I turn on the main power switch (between the battery and the controller)
there is a small short-duration electrical arc created. Since this is probably
reducing the life of the switch, I'd like to prevent or reduce this arcing.

I was thinking of adding a secondary switch (SW2) in parallel with the main switch.
Where SW2 would use a 1k resistor in series to limit the inrush current.
Once SW2 was closed for a second or so then the main switch could be closed without arcing.

Comments? How have other people solved this problem?

BTW, what types of switches are people using for their main power switches?

Thanks,
Scott

new product

aima — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 02:08:04 -0500

我公司现在有一款车，是改进后的3Q。非常的实用，可用来夜间巡逻，拖少量货物，代步，也可当玩具车使用，因为外观也非常Q。We now creat a new motor tricycle. It comes from 3Q,it has een proved,more useful,more beautiful,and now it has high quality. It can be used in patrolling,pulling small goods,and of course,it can also be used as a toy or as an electrical bicycle. If you interested and want more,contact me:aima-zhang@hotmail.com

Need A Thumb Throttle

Kamo — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:28:31 -0500

I am looking for a replacement Thumb Throttle for my BD36 motor.
Anyone has, or knows where I can purchase one at reasonable price ? This is for a 48V motor (Brushed of course)

The Cost of Trips

retrodog — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:15:39 -0500

So now that I have my bike charging through a Kill-A-Watt power monitor, I get a running cumulative price of what it's costing me to charge it up. I just program in the cost/kwh and it just keeps adding it up like a pump at the gas station. I check it before I take off on a ride or right before charging and then see what it's at after charging.

Anyway, I was sitting around the house yesterday and decided that I needed to go get some stuff at the local sporting goods store (nike cap and some ammo). The day was beautiful so I took the Vectrix. I rode down to the store (Academy) and got my stuff, and then took the extended way home to do a little additional riding on a trip that would normally be just 10 miles total. So it got closer to 20 miles. It was a very nice ride. I checked the charge cost later and was happy to see that my ride was a total of 30 cents. And that's at about 16c/kwh. Now that's just pretty darn cool.

I find myself doing this more and more. What might have burned a gallon of gas (or more) is typically taking no more than 30-40 cents in electricity. I'm also planning my trips better so that I don't have to take a lot of them, but I have to be honest and admit that there have been several times that I just suddenly "needed something" as to justify going on a ride to the store.

Can you make a better scooter?

ArcticFox — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:58:17 -0500

In addition to better quality control and better batteries (if possible), I'd like to see:

Higher quality plastic parts

Better Tires

Thicker gauge wire throughout for future upgrades

Standardized plugs and connectors - maybe waterproof, MIL-SPEC

All lights to be replaced with coloured LEDs, including white LED headlights

Better padding on the seats (like the gel insoles for shoes)

More choices of colors on the plastic, and/or available in primer grey for painting later

Lead (Pb); solder, paints, etc. Use Lead-free solders
Cadmium (in paint)
Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) (in paints & plastics)
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers/Biphenyls (PBDE/PBB)

Asbestos-free brakes

Waterproof all electrical, grease all moving parts - keep in mind that there are places where saltwater is a problem as well as 115 degree temperatures (175 degree pavements).

EVD VRLA Impressions

sirsnafu — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:42:27 -0500

Well I got the EVD about a week and a half ago and I have to say I am quite impressed, the shipping crate was somewhat difficult to remove, and we were doing it under the cardboard box in the rain... But does it move, the main units are MPH unlike the XM series and it seems to have the same realistic top speed as the 3500li. I still need to test the speedometer against a car before a cop decides to test me, but I just try and keep up with traffic and it works fine. I think I will notice the difference in battery life come summer because its been about 40F here constant and its either somewhat covered outside at work or in my garage which gets kinda cold anyway. I have not mapped out the range so far, my 16 mile round trip at 40mph most of the way, up to 50-55 for a mile or two pulls me to about half charge when I am giving it decent throttle uphill, so say 30 miles is pretty reasonable at that speed in the rain and wind at about 40F. I believe the ratio is something like every 15 degrees drops the lead acid capacity by 25%? I may have it backwards or something like that but I think them saying 50 mile range is believable.

On a very slight downhill I pull 55 pretty easily (speed limit is 45) and on the way back I can manage 50 but it takes me a bit, sometimes cars get kinda annoyed but lets see them do it in one gear. I am also tucking a decent amount when riding it which helps greatly, in the rain when tucking the windshield does its job and I do not get rain on my helmet. Feels stable at the higher speeds although I am getting used to it still and am sure it will get even better. One thing I have noticed is occasional controller lag, could be how I am riding it but there seems to be a throttle delay sometimes.

I have noticed a few things as to build quality, overall very solid, front fairing seems a little janky but I can live with it. Brakes feel like I can stop pretty well although I need to loosen them a bit because of rubbing. Front wheel developed a squeak about 2 or 3 days in and some Tri-Flow fixed that right up. The side shield for the brake and the swing arm had one bolt in the back of the two holes welded improperly so the screw would not go in more than half an inch and I stripped it out a bit as is, I got a decently sized zip tie that fit right in there and it matches the black so its mostly invisible and does the job, I keep an extra on me just in case it breaks. There is a small gap in just one or two places I have noticed that the plastic does not fit properly together and I can't tell why but its only noticeable if you are riding it and look straight down (not advisable unless stopped). My seat pops up pretty quick and has actually nailed me in the face on two separate occasions, the first time opening was one of them. I still love the seat however, there is a hole at the base near the spring and right now I have a 35 foot outdoor extension cord coiled up in there that I can just leave attached to the charger and it takes up almost no otherwise usable space, there is batteries and stuff down there so it coils up and pulls out but never goes anywhere as far as I can tell. Charging at work with that extension cord is fairly painless, there is enough of a gap in the seat to allow for plenty of airflow and if you live and work downtown it might be hard to charge but you would probably only need to every couple to few days.

I have the VRLA (Lead acid) version that is cheaper than the lithium and I can not even imagine the performance difference between the two. To go lithium would be 1500 more and I figure in two years when these need replacing I will get me some capacitors fitted instead. Or just buy an electric car.... Anyway I highly recommend this scooter to pretty much anyone, registration has been somewhat difficult surprisingly but I am fairly sure it will work out just fine.

Ask if you have questions.

ATVs by Xtreme ?

Jim F — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:21:29 -0500

Hi all,

New to the site, and very glad to have found it.

I am considering buying an electric atv. I cannot afford one from Barefoot motors or similar high end ones. I have been thinking about the 750 Watt or 1000 Watt from Xtreme. This would be for around the yard and for my kids. Any input or feedback on these or Xtreme products in general would be great.

(I currently have the Kango electric go kart, which is awsome, a GE Elek Trak 15 (not working), a micro electric quad (350 Watts) and a MudE dirt bike, which I rode hard and now needs a new motor).

I am also thinking about the Razor 500 mx or 650 mx.

Thanks.

Jim F

battery life, and indicator meters? two questions:

battyboy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:07:34 -0500

I need to power a small circuit that needs 7-12v 250mah.
I guess my choices are using 6 AA's in series, or a 9v.

If I use 6AAs, I'll get about 7.2 to 8.4 volts. I think that the best AA's are about 2500mah. Does that mean I should get *10 hrs* if my circuit needs 250mah???

If I used a single 9v, which is 180mah, I'll just get under an hour?

Question two is about battery life indicators.
I need a small easy circuit that shows some idea of how much power I have, or just that the battery is still good. Maybe just an LED that comes on as the batteries are getting low?

Any pointers to a simple circuit for this?

Thanks!!

I advocate the Re-Classification of Ebikes

Alphi — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:53:36 -0400

Part of the reason for slow uptake of ebikes in AUSTRALIA and many other parts of the world is the fact that many of them are classified under motor vehicle legislation as Moped and therefore must be used and registered as a motor bike.

For example.. in my state.. Any bycicle powered by a motor which has an engine capacity greater than 50cc or 200W is classed as a Moped.

In some parts of canada I recall reading somewhere that 500W is the limit, which is a more reasonable figure.

A recent state governent inquiry here in aus (and I'm sure this has been discovered elsewhere) found that standard Ebikes are no more dangerous than any other bicycle. and yet the government did nothing to change the Moped classifications.

I would like to hear other peoples comments and thoughts on what the classification limits are int their area.

My proposal would be to re-classify all non polluting vehicles that use peddle power as their primary source of drive as bycicles unless they have a maximum speed of 60kph or 35mph..

this I believe would lead to an explosion in ebike uptake in many areas of the world.

I believe china has pretty relaxed rules about these forms of transport and look how many of those things are on the road now..

LiFePO4 Lifespan (not cycle life) question

natterjak — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:39:16 -0500

Hi all,

Does anyone have any data on the lifespan of LiFePO4 batteries, by which I mean the retained capacity over time? Many manufacturers publish cycle life data showing that 2000 cycles, etc. are achieveable, but I'm specifically interested in the effect of time on the capacity.

For example, if I only cycle my battery once a week, a 2000 cycle lifespan to 85% capacity will in theory last until 2046. I wouldn't mind betting though that capacity is lost year by year.

Does anyone have either manufactuer's data, theoretical predictions or real world experience?

TIA.

A compact, reasonably light weight single-occupant vehicle

beesauer — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:54:35 -0500

Check my website for more information

Ieehoo Company LiFePO4 Battery pack and cells 3.2v 10ah 20ah 30ah 40ah ...more

jerior — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:32:51 -0500

About LiFePO4~
1. Non-toxic, non-contaminating; SGS / RoHS approved ~~
2. Extremely safe; no explosion and will not catch fire under collision~~
3. Small in size and light in weight ~~
4. For all high power output applications ~~
5. Can be used under extreme temperature ~~
6. Extra long cycle life ~~
7. No memory effect ~~
8. Can be fully charged in a very short time ~~

Our webaite :

Datasheet of LiFePO4 Cells and Bttery pack :

Also ,please looking the pictures of LiFePO4 Battery and Pack :

Recent posts

Usefulness of CB Radios on E-Bikes?

New windshields

GPR-S

Battery charging temperature

XB-700Li rear hub motor

My X-treme X-600 Review (YouTube)(Finally!)

Roomba issue

Shunt mod worth while?

Better Lighting on EVD & XM3500

Vectrix Evangelism - Encounters with the Public

Rear Wheel Puncture and Prevention - Wheel Removal/Refit

avoiding 20mph "wall"

Combine SLA and Lifepo4 ??

XM3500 Added Battery and Fuel Gauge Mod

R-30 Anyone?

brushless controller wiring

Best price LiFePO4 Battery pack and cells for Ieehoo Company

San Francisco Hill Climber

Undead's experiences on the new firmware

need help evglobal folding 36v

12 to 24 volts or more

New controller doesn't fit into R-20

XM 3500 (continued)

Extensive XB-600 modifications: no body panels, seat frame, wire consoldition, LED lighting

Vectrix acceleration testing

My new Electric E-Bike (Scooter)

Google Map for Vectrix Plug-In Locations

Newest Vectrix firmware updates

Vectrix low battery blues

Thinking about buying a Tres Terra

LED 12v lights for electric scooters use very little power - available now

EVD specials for winter - at our cost on some inventory

Estimating remaining energy/distance

A welcome change follwing firmware update

Electro-saki conversion

Brake Swap

EVD VRLA Charging

water in controller

main switch arcing problem

new product

Need A Thumb Throttle

The Cost of Trips

Can you make a better scooter?

EVD VRLA Impressions

ATVs by Xtreme ?

battery life, and indicator meters? two questions:

I advocate the Re-Classification of Ebikes

LiFePO4 Lifespan (not cycle life) question

A compact, reasonably light weight single-occupant vehicle

Ieehoo Company LiFePO4 Battery pack and cells 3.2v 10ah 20ah 30ah 40ah ...more