I am "folding" the plan to add a motor to my 16" dahon to get it to 30 mph. I took my bike down a steep hill last week. It rode well, but I could see, given the road conditions, that control could easily be an issue under less than ideal situations. I still plan to add a motor to it..but it will come later, and be a much less powerful match.
So...off to plan B. I saw an e-scooter 2 nights ago with 60v battery and 500 watt motor. The scooter body and parts were average to not bad. The motor and battery were pieces of junk...the scooter was practically begging me to rid it of the embarrassment of the trash that was within it and let its spirit fly....anyway, scooter is designed for the speed I want to go and even to carry 2 people, though I don't think the 500 watt motor will carry 2 people at such a high speed. The scooter, as it sits now, weighs 120 pounds. 50 pounds of that, per the salesman, is the sla battery pack. 15 is the motor. I can probably get the shell - scooter less motor and batteries for under US$100 and have a fun toy to operate on, that looks really cool. Cool looking is important when you are teaching uni students I think the scooter had 10" wheels but I have seen similar with 12".
I am still looking for 30 mph, but if a motor will give more without blowing up, I will take it.
Question 1: I have seen a few motors rated at 130-170 kv that were used by people in this forum doing projects - Turnigy and HTX, just to name 2 of them. They all seem to weigh 2-3 pounds and are rated to use 20-48 volts. Which motor/esc combo would you recommend? would you de-recommend any?
Question 2: Why do the mfg limit these motors to no more than 48? I am not complaing...36-48 volt battery packs are becoming somewhat cheap here.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. Quick would be good - I will be going to HK this weekend If I buy all of the parts in Asia I can get almost anything sent to me in 2 days, if not overnight.pengyou
Hm, 30 miles/hr on a small bicycle may be excessive - I suppose "control could easily be an issue under less than ideal situations" you mean that the small wheels might get swallowed into cracks in the road?
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/bicycles-and-pedelecs/1450
http://visforvoltage.org/blog-entry/202-dahon-mu-sl-folding-bicycle-bionx-pl350-kit
At Interbike last year I saw that Dahon is planning to make an electric bicycle. I thought I'd seen a recent announcement on it and wrote an article, but can't find it if I did.
For a 30 mph goal you're probably better off going with a vehicle designed for the speed, like the scooter you're looking at.
e.g. I have an EVT 4000 with a 48 volt system, 1500 watt motor, it's excellent, 30 miles/hr, but might not deal well with hills.
- David Herron, The Long Tail Pipe, davidherron.com, 7gen.com, What is Reiki