Hi all,
I am going to do my first ebike and have been reading through the site and visiting the vendors you have listed. After a couple of weeks I am confused and have a headache lol. I will be commuting about 13 miles each way to work for a total of 26 miles. I am able to charge at work and I weigh 180. I was hoping for 25-30 MPH but cost is a factor. I live in NY, long island area and will be doing this in the winter, does the cold affect the batteries?
Has anyone done buisness with http://www.e-bikekit.com
Their prices seem fair, what would your recomend? do their specs seem right?
Does it seem realistic to do the job for under 1000? If I knew it would work and met my specs I could do the 1000 watt kit with the lifepo4 batteries.
Thanks so much I am sure I will have 1000 more questions
Jim
The vendor you mention is communicating on the endless sphere, and seems to be trying to do things right. He is supposed to be sending a couple of free kits to es members for rigourous testing so if you wait awhile you can see how they review. The guy seems very genuine so far, but I don't know of anybody who actually has one of his kits now. Time will tell but I think he may be a better risk than the usuall ebay vendor you never heard of.
On batteries, a whole lot of people are not too satisfied with lifepo4 packs made of the 18650 cylindrical cells. One ebay vendor in particular has sent out some real junk and likes to change the name he sells under about monthly.
In my opinion, you can't do any better than to get a pack of at least 20 ah sise from Ping on ebay. I just logged 1500 miles on my ping pack and it still has not lost any measurable amount of capacity. Approximately 200 cycles now. Ping uses a superior type of cell that looks like a little pouch. This cell needs a lot less individual units to make up a pack, and the connections are all soldered instead of spot welded. It's simply a better pack, and more than worth the price, that is, if it is even higher priced at all. Don't be fooled by what people pay at auction, just email Mr Ping and get a straight price from him. He is the most trusted vendor of affordable lifepo4 in the world at this point.
While the nice commuter ebike for $1000 is a nice round number and a good goal to aim for, you will be better off if you spend a bit more on the battery. I expect my ping to outlast several motors. A nice strong 48v 20 ah pack will make any cheap motor run great, so spend what you have to on the battery, and figure on motor upgrades when the first on wears out. Cheap out on the battery, and you end up with a bike that cuts out on hills, and maybe only goes less than a hundred cycles before so many cells in it die that it is useless. Budget for around $1200-1500 and you will get a bike that can last many many miles of daily commutes. My own setup cost just under $1000, but that was last spring. To build the same bike today would cost about $1300.
Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global
Thank you so much for the information! I will definitely check out ping and shoot him a email. I also have a question on the 1000 watt compared to the 500, will the 1000 watt have a higher top speed? will it have more range? or is it mostly torque?
inkedsfu, do you have many hills, or is it mostly flat?
If you are certain that you will be riding in slippery winter conditions, I have read snowy posts that indicated a front hub-motor pulls well in the straights and around corners. Plus, when pedalling, you have 2WD.
There are benefits and drawbacks to every choice.
A Watt is a measurement of power (745W is one-HP) and you can get the same amount of Watts/HP from either:
high volts, low amps, or
low volts, high amps
Since mileage is important to you, you can't just get a very big motor (5-series hot rod). Although that would guarantee you have more than enough power to make you happy. However, when you're just cruising along, a big motor will draw more power than neccesary, shortening range.
The Watt rating of a motor is for a specific voltage, such as 500W @ 36V. When you apply 48V to that motor, it will have a higher RPM, and also about more 33% more Watts, because you're giving it 33% more volts.
The law in MOST states says that the power limit for an E-bike sold to the public is 750W/one-HP, but as soon as you get it you can apply more volts to it, so the kit producers know why they sell more 750W @ 36V kits than any other. Though its labelled as a legal kit, it is actually producing 1,000W @ 48V.
You can get a bike with fat tires, a front disc brake, and front suspension for under $200 at Wally World (aluminum frame/steel fork). They have cruiser street tires (instead of the off-road knobbies) for $35/pair.
Get torque arms right away, or use two wrenches with hose clamps if you temporarily have to.
The Crystalyte 408 is very common, many feel it has the best balance of top-speed/hill-torque. The 4011 has 11 windings per coil instead of 8, so it has better torque and lower top speed. The 406 has 6 windings, so, better top speed, less torque.
Get the controller and motor from the same supplier so the connectors are the same.
If you DO select a front-hub kit, you have many options for the frame. If you can afford an acceptable size of Ping pack, you then also have the option of rear suspension (instead of a hard-tail with heavy lead/acid batteries in saddlebags).
No big deal when pedalling at 10 MPH, but at 25 MPH, rear suspension may end up being important to you.
Hi Dogman,
I just purchased a LiFePO4 48v 20ah battery from a "non-ping" ebayer (volgood, 70 feedback, 100%). How can I find out if my pack has the 18650 cells that you mentioned some people have been disappointed with? Thanks
Jerry
As far as I know, there are no vendors of duct tape packs other than Ping, that sell the prismatic cells. Many of the worse packs have lifepo4 hk stickers on em. The worst vendor of the 18650 packs is not known to sell under the name volgood as far as I have heard, so you should be ok. It's tough trying to make it on a $1000 budget to ride 13 miles unless the ride is really flat or you ride really slow. Many have balked on paying the extra for a ping, and then had to shell out to get a functioning bms or charger. Hopefully if you do have problems this vendor will make good, but given shipping time from china, the time is the really frustrating thing for most. Bear in mind, tons of these 18650 packs have been sold, but mostly we only hear from the guys who get a bogus one.
Chances are yours will work fine, but in some cases the 18650 packs don't quite deliver the same range as the Ping, especially if you ride full throttle. That is generally because when the battery is drained quickly, a few cells in there get low quicker than the others, causing the pack to shut down early while other cells still have power.
Again, chances are you will get a good pack. We just hear from the few who don't for the most part. I had a hard time deciding to get my ping last spring, since at that point, most of the posts dealt with problems with them, mostly from people who bought the small size.
Be the pack leader.
36 volt sla schwinn beach cruiser
36 volt lifepo4 mongoose mtb
24 volt sla + nicad EV Global
So, I took my battery out for some tests. My cycle analyst shows me that I have only used 17.8 Ahs before the battery is cutting out from drainage. Is this a normal variance from the stated 20 Ahs that I thought I was getting? Should I tell the seller he owes me 2 ahs? Just wondering if my expectations are too rigid, or if I should be getting the full 20 Ahs.
Just to sum up: I bought a 48v 20ah LiFePO4 battery matched with a 72 v controller and 500 watt motor. Me, the bike, everything weighs 300lbs and I get 40 km per charge so far.
Thanks