Dual Hub Motors/ Self rechargeing circuit

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FarRider

New Member
Jun 8, 2011
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Brooklyn N.Y.
I've been kicking around the idea of building a electric bike using 2, 1000w non geared 48 volt hub motors, powered by twin 48volt 12 ah Lipo aluminum brick batteries, regenerative disc brakes and a 50 amp controller.
One minor obstacle I foresee will be sync'ing the front and rear motors to throttle at the same time.
Any one have any experience with using twin hub motors?

Ive also been thinking about a self recharging circuit that uses the bikes own wheels unused kinetic power thats usually wasted, alternating between recharging both both batteries on the fly.

Any one?

FR
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Can't help you with controlling two motors but your charging idea would be something akin to perpetual motion. So far no one has achieved that. :)

Tom
 

Thud

New Member
May 26, 2010
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West Michigan
I hear reports of several guys running dual hub motors with 2 controllers.

they report tying the grounds together on the throttle input wires & keeping the controllers as close together as possible works.

My experiance is not so good with twin high rpm RC motors sharing a throttle with sensored controllers. one of the tends to "fall asleep"

A 2 motors set up as described in op...will be a disapointment. using one or the other as a generator while your driving will reduce your effective range far more thsan the energy you capture back in your batteries....there are losses any time you convert any energy back & forth.
 

Rickygintpa

New Member
Mar 23, 2012
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Tampa Fl
I have an ewheels e500 and I took a small weedeater engine and connected a generator to the end of it and i'm charging while I drive... I know i'm cheating by using gas but I had to extend my range so I can cross town when I need to... Here's the problem, if you drive any higher than 15% throttle then i'll never make it to my doctor but if I stay at about the same speed as a pedal bike I can go til I run outta gas... I'm thinking about finding a bigger generator and run my weed eater at a little higher speed but for now I can drive across the entire city of Tampa Fl and back in 2 hours non stop.
 

allen_okc

New Member
Aug 18, 2010
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oklahoma city, oklahoma
man you think you have problems with a EV... try a 72 volt chopper motorcycle...

but if you look at the elmoto thread on dual motors with one controller - i think you will find you will have a phasing problem - your best to do dual controllers with one throttle... if you dont believe me, then believe Thud, he has a great deal of knowledge about EV's...

http://www.elmoto.net/showthread.php?1932-Dual-motor-setup-what-have-we-learned
 
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allen_okc

New Member
Aug 18, 2010
149
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oklahoma city, oklahoma
believe me i wish there was a way to regenerate the batteries while riding - the gas generator for right now would work the best... but you need a BMS "Battery Management System" to stop the charge until needed...
 

Fugi93

New Member
Dec 30, 2011
144
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illinois
I have an ewheels e500 and I took a small weedeater engine and connected a generator to the end of it and i'm charging while I drive... I know i'm cheating by using gas but I had to extend my range so I can cross town when I need to... Here's the problem, if you drive any higher than 15% throttle then i'll never make it to my doctor but if I stay at about the same speed as a pedal bike I can go til I run outta gas... I'm thinking about finding a bigger generator and run my weed eater at a little higher speed but for now I can drive across the entire city of Tampa Fl and back in 2 hours non stop.
Could you post a picture of your bike with the generator setup? I always thought a little itty bitty 100 watt gererator would be so handy to power a 72 watt battery charger.
 

racie35

Active Member
Nov 17, 2012
1,702
5
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usa
you can never generate what you use to move etc....you can benefit from braking etc though if its fed back.....the home page for the whizzer in tawain (the guy that made em)....has an ambassador with just such a setup on it......so a 1000w hub and a hub generator up front......and the bike looks a million.
 

neptronix

New Member
Mar 24, 2013
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Salt Lake City, UT
You don't need a special circuit for regen.
You can buy controllers that do that for you.

When you turn regen on however, there is drag added. You may get about 5-10% of the energy your batteries put out back during braking.