Test Pilot Upgrades

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PJD
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Test Pilot Upgrades

Some semblance of winter has finally set in here in the 'burgh, which means it would be a good time for the promised upgrades. Have any test pilots here had the upgrades yet? Please chime in either way...

Derby
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I was told a few days ago that prototype for the dash improvement was expected to be finished around mid-January. Then they would start building (or setting up to build) the productions gauges for the test pilot bikes.

Derby

LeThala
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I haven't upgraded my scooter yet but I haven't pushed for it. My charger stopped working a few months ago but I've been busy with home renovations and needed to put my bike project on the back burner. Hopefully I'll be able to have the upgrade done early winter and get the bike back on the road. I don't trust shippers so I need to plan a trip to MI from VA to have it done.

LeThala
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I've not been upgraded yet but I haven't pushed. I don't trust shippers so I need to find time to make a trip MI from VA. Hopefully I'll be able to arrange something early next year.

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I don't trust shippers so I need to plan a trip to MI from VA to have it done.

Actually, Current does not use a shipper. They have a van that can carry up to three or four scooters. Terry drives the van himself. Alternatively, if there is adequate garage space they can do the mod at the users home.

Mine continues to run well. With the dry and mild weather up to this point, it is still my day to day transportation. It is approaching 6000 miles of use.

LeThala
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I don't have a garage yet. That is my spring project. I'm going to buld an oversized shed where I can keep the bike and work on it. I used to keep it in the house until last month but I'm turning that spare room into an art studio for my wife.

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I left a voice mail with Terry before Christmas, and on Wednesday I got a voice mail back. His news was that they will soon have a bolt-on version of the charger upgrade which can be shipped to and installed by the owner with no welding needed. However, he seemed to imply that the test pilot instrument panel upgrade won't be available until spring. I'm looking forward to the new charger. The fancier panel is not a high priority for me.

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

Well, Spring is here and no word from Current. A call has been left un-returned. Anyone heard anything?

My scooter is running fine, but I'd like to have the newer charger - and some kind of service information. I'm not so optimistic as to expect a glossy comprehensive factory service manual - but some wiring diagrams, connector pin assignments and BCU configuration information would be nice.

Paul D.

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

Hmmm... 3 days and no comments.

Hellooooooo!

LCJUTILA
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

Hellooooo!

Try emailing them. Sometimes Terry is super responsive and other times he is swamped.

I would sure like the updated instrument cluster they were talking about or a fix for the ampmeter that is in the dash but not connected.

My bike is working quite well though.

LCJUTILA

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I've never had much luck e-mailing Terry or Erik. I've had better luck by phone, but not this time.

Company founder John Harding, developer of our scooter's BCU, is no longer with them - and he is missing from this forum too in spite of once being an active participant here. Wonder if he is under some kind of "gag" agreement as part of his going-away compensation.

I'd love to see some kind of information on their financial health.

LCJUTILA
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I noticed John was not with them any longer too.

I think I have contact info for him buried in my old emails.

Last I talked with Terry (Maybe Three weeks ago) we were discussing setting up my bike to charge at 220v at work. I am still looking for an outlet.

Do you know if the bike can charge on 220 and 110 or are you locked in to whichever one you chose?

LCJUTILA

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I have been told that the newer fanless chargers (I have an older fanned one that they had relaibility problems with) run on either 120 or 240 wthh no changes. The older chargers have a selector switch (hard to access when installed) that must be changed.

Running the existing charger on 240 volts will not change the charging rate. A different charger will be needed for that. The main advantage of 240 volt charging is that, with a J1772 socket installed and a few other changes, the scooter can be charged at a standard car charging station.

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I have been told that the newer fanless chargers (I have an older fanned one that they had relaibility problems with) run on either 120 or 240 with no changes. The older chargers have a selector switch (hard to access when installed) that must be changed.

Running the existing charger on 240 volts will not change the charging rate. A different charger will be needed for that. The main advantage of 240 volt charging is that, with a J1772 socket installed and a few other changes, the scooter can be charged at a standard car charging station (and it is easily chargable if you move to a majority of the countries outside the US)

LCJUTILA
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I have the new fanless charger and it works quite well. Terry told me that you can get it to charge faster with the 220 v with a slight modification and the addition of a black box that costs around $100.

Right now it charges at about 9.5 amps. The improvement, using the black box, would not be the 14 amps I'd like to see but he said it would be significantly better than what I have.

A 20% improvement would be huge for my situation.

LCJUTILA

honesteffort1
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

Well, here I am, and yes we have been doing upgrades, and more than half of the test pilot fleet has been updated with the now production level charger, new charger fuse and fuse holder, and production level software upgrade, and six pin motor connector upgrade. We have been doing upgrades on bikes that needed the most attention first, like bikes with chargers that failed and kept the scooter from being driven.

Current Motor company had been suffering from the problem of too much success, and the growing pains that go with it. We have had good success with the production bike now, but that keeps me and the crew from addressing service issues as promptly as we would like to. Please keep on my case to get things done, and we will get to all of you as best we can. It's a simple problem of too much work and not enough time or people.

My biggest test pilot nightmare is not making the progress on the updated dashboard that I would like to. We got a couple of prototypes working, but I would like to do a little better job on them, then I have to come up with the conversion boxes to get them to talk to the BCU. It's going to be awhile, and I just can't promise a delivery date, but it will happen. The good news is that the existing speedometer doesn't keep the scooter from being used, and if your dash, speedometer, odometer, trip odometer fails, I can send you another speedo head on an exchange basis. Just let me know what the odometer reading is so I can set the odometer to the correct reading.

Paul. I owe you a phone call and I'll do it this week. We have an order out for chargers and when they arrive, I'll get a kit out to you. We now have a charger "field fix" that does not require welding to install, but does need a sawzall or air powered cut-off saw. Happy to hear that your old charger is still working, and that the warranty battery we sent you is working. You are still the highest mileage test pilot. Is anyone else above the 7000 mile mark?

Jeff. Should have your pot-hole motor repair out the door by the end of the week.

As for the J1772 connector project, we've got a couple of boxes working, and they work well, but I'm in the middle on a new pilot logic. The good news is that the new chargers do work on both 120 and 240 volts, and it does auto-sense (no switches to throw or leave in the wrong position...poof!..). We also have had zero failures on the new charger, and zero noise as well.

So yes, we are still here, and we will continue to be here. Just keep rattling my cage, and we will get to all the problems and upgrades. You guys know me and you know that I try to be an honest as possible, and I want to see everyone happy and this company be successful. So far, so good!

Respectfully,

Terry Richards
Current Motor Company

Terry the Shoprat

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

I know of no "black box" that could increase the output of a charger unless the charger itself is simply designed to switch to a higher current at 240 volts. Terry may be referring to the J1772 adapter box that a guy in Arizona builds.

In terms of charging time being excessively long, are you referring to the time spent in balance mode (short-long flash) or bulk-charging mode (long flash)?

In my case, in cooler weather, half the charging time is being spent finishing the last 2 or 3 percent SOC in "balance mode" due to the not-so-efficient charging protocol that Current uses. If the simply could go to a full CC-CV protocol, full charging time could be cut by up to 2 hours with no change in charging current at all, particularly in cooler weather situations.

LCJUTILA
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

The charging time is not excessively long. It's about 5-6 hours from empty to full. It is just that if we could get it to charge at 12 amps + instead of 9.5 that would be about a 30% improvement in the time it takes to charge. That would be a big help to me because my office is about 45 miles away and when I take the bike there I am somewhat held hostage because I have to wait 4-5 hours for the bike to charge for the ride back.

Knocking an hour off that would make a huge difference.

I am talking about improving the bulk rate, not the balance rate. My bike spends very little time in the balance rate before shutting off. I'd say a lot less than half an hour.

By the way, on the low setting of the speed switch the bike maintains 55-60 mph on the highway and gets very good mileage. I went 27 miles yesterday,with about 24 of them at highway speeds, and used less than 1/2 a charge. This was according to the guage.

I weigh about 200lbs and have a large top case on the back of the bike.

I have a CuMoCo C-130.

LCJUTILA

PJD
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Re: Test Pilot Upgrades

Terry,

Thanks for the update on the goings on at CuMoCo. Regarding my most recent call today, no reply is needed. I re-flashed the BCU and it fixed the problem. By the way, my latest BCU software version is v30.rc5. So, send any newer version you might have my way when you can.

I look forward to putting the new charger in.

Thanks!

Paul

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