My EVT is much more useful now after my little controller swap, at least speedwise, so I hopped on it and
drove off to work a few days ago.
After 7km, I presented my ID and managed to carry the EVT through the swivel gate, after that I used it
to get around inside, for maybe 12km? in total, then at the end of the day carried it out another swivel gate
and headed for home using another route, but noticed the thing was rather slow..
Long story short, I managed to limp home the last 8kms by pushing it up a hill, and creep along, fooling the
controller each time the led went red by releasing the throttle briefly.. and then twist it again..
The area inside where I work is an industrial area, but with lots of 'jungle' and small curvy roads with birds
and animal life along the riverside, and scooting along on those roads with my EVT was close to a magical
experience, but the range of this thing so far is 'a bit' disappointing, maybe its something wrong with the
batteries I don't know, but the mileage is only 240km's so far.
Next time I'll bring the charger and probably put it under the seat with an extension cord so that I can keep
charging it when I can.
Bringing the charger along is a good idea anyway. Lead acid batteries get damaged if you leave them semi discharged for a long time. It's best to instead get them recharged promptly after use. So, charging while you're at this place would be a good idea.
My EVT 4000 got at the most 25 mile range and that was only with new batteries. In practice it would get 10-15 mile range.
By taking the bike to the point where it's going into red and you're having to fool the bike to keep going -- that's what is known as a deep discharge. Lead acid batteries do not handle deep discharges very well, even the so-called deep discharge lead acid batteries.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki
Hi Zunshine,
You seem to be a bit 'disappointed' about your scooter.
I can understand that, but probably there is some kind of malfunction.
My new EVT 168 (500 km) runs about than 40 km's (in my flat country) at full speed in power mode before the orange light turns on.
After that I should have about 8 km's left in economic mode to get home safely, before I see a red light, but I never tried that.
When your speed increases you need more substantial more energy, since the speed factor is a quadratic term in the formula E = 0.5*m*V2.
This means that you need about 50% more energy when driving at a speed of 55 km/h than at 45 km/h (real GPS km's !).
So if the scooter's range is 45km at 45km/h, you should be able to reach 30km at 55km/h.
This is still far more than your experience, so I suggest to run some test rides to see if the battery is malfunctioning, or not charged up completely.
If everything works within specs, but your range is still too little due to extensive hillclimbing in combination with the drivers own weight, the only solution is to obtain a LiFePO4 batterypack.
A 40 Ah or 60 Ah set will do the trick.
Well, same here, I think the range of this scooter (or other electric scooters for that matter) isn't what they say it is.
But, I took it to work today too, with the charger tucked away under the seat (connected to the port), and just plugged it in whenever I found the chance, and that worked just fine.
No limping home or other problems, so I'm NOT giving up on this thing. I love it, and as I said, cruising along with it is close to magic. :)
Check out this dude and Part 2 from my own country. This e-mobile can only travel ca.75km, but he is taking it for a loong trip, charging it up whenever he can.
Zunzhine!
Do you know anyone in Norway who might be interested in buying my very special EVT-4000, 1999 year model?
It has a very powerful motor, of which we only got 2 from EVT back in 2002, a Curtis 270A controller and brand new Long batteries.
Top speed around 90km/h and a very fast acceleration.
The reason I want to sell it is that I never use it nowadays, riding my upgraded XM-3500 instead.
Another reason is that I got this sample before they were approved in Europe, so it´s not registred.
It might be interesting for someone who wants to use the parts for their own bike.
Best regards
Johnny
(Founder of E-motor AB)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Hi Peter3L,
What kind of batteries is it equipped with? Li-Ion?
I have found that following traffic in Powermode with lots of acceleration and braking plus hills reduces my range alot, especially with the unrestricted controller, but the range is still sufficient, especially since I started to bring the charger along.
The batteries in my bike is AGM's that seems to work ok, at least judged from the gauge.
Also, when I switched to Economy mode and took it for a 12km roundtrip at work yesterday, it took less than an hour to recharge, so I guess the range can be ok after all.
@Johnny J, thanks for the offer :) It's tempting, but as you see from my posts here, I need a compromise between speed and range, and nearly bought a XM3500 myself this summer.
Search Norwegian sites for 'elektrisk scooter' with the site:.no switch to find forums etc, or post it for sale at finn.no, which is the Norwegian equivalent to blocket.se? Good Luck!
BTW, what range did/do you get from your XM3500?
My scooter has a set 50Ah Sealed Lead Acid batteries.
The performance and range is good, but I am considering an 40Ah LiFePO4 pack, or maybe a 60Ah pack.
The lithium pack is because the scooter is now too heavy for my girlfriend to get it on the stand.
With a lithium pack I also get more range - which is good - and some extra power seems to be neccessary in combination with a 55 km/h controller like you have.
50Ah, thats nice! Mine are only 40.6Ah, but whatever. I hope battery tech is a bit more mature when
the time comes to replace them with something else.
BTW, a controller upgrade is recommended. It's nice to know that the extra power and speed is there
when you need it, and still be able to cruise along in Economy mode for a longer range if that is what
you want to do :)
Did you already check the top speed with a GPS ?
I am still curious about that, because the extra speed should be substantial before I pay >500 euro's for a new controller.
Compared to the GPS, my scooter's speedo tends to be a bit optimistic.
Sorry for that, I'll check with my GPS as soon as possible and post the results.
The speedometer on this thing is indeed a sorry piece of engineering, but I really
didn't need it to tell the difference between the old controller and the new one.