12V DC Motor Harbor Freight

Did you say hybrid ?

I've got one on the drawing board and mentioned it in another thread here (laws Ohio)
just today.

I've looked at that motor at my closest HF every time I've been in there. Are you thinking
of friction driving the front wheel like Deacon's set up or setting up a chain drive ?

I'm in Ohio where our laws and BMV clerks make it nearly impossible to get one of these
bikes leagal & licensed to use on the road.

I'm wanting to mate a auto alternator with internal voltage regulator to a small motor to
use as an onboard generator to charge the batteries. I'd like to be able to run it while
running on the electric motor all while under way. Possibly use a small string trimmer motor
to turn the alternator to start with. But I may be faced with having to park the bike while
the generator recharges the battery.

You may be with more understanding of electrical matters than I. But, what do you think
of such a set up ?

I was wondering if the alternator with a built in voltage regulator could be set up to
recharge while under way. The motor that powers the alternator may have to run thru
a sprocket chain set up to step up the speed of the alternator to get the constant
output. A flywheel may even be needed to keep up the inertia.

Deacon's electric DIY bike project went thru a revision where he had a chain drive front
sprocket.

I've looked at some plans for hybrid electric cars, such as plans offered by Mother Earth
News magazine. The controller box and a chopper were the components that put me off
for inertial brake/recharging etc. I don't have quite that much electrical know how.

Below is a platform I like the concept of. I'd remove the motor as you see it and install
the battery there and the generator above in the front of the wooden freight bed. The HF
electric motor could be set up over the front wheel and run thru a chain driven
sprocket where it would provide a 20 mph speed. (legal limit in Ohio)

heres an old link i found laying around. He uses a starter motor from a car and a very simple but clever circuit to switch between off/12v/24v for recharging. It is explained there better than i can. It should be simple enough to add a few more voltage settings (If you have more batteries). Didn't you skip a few generations of batteries in your considerations? I see NiCad and Ni MH as the 'value bet' for price to power/weight. (if you semi scavenge (surplus store's box lots on Ebay))


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for anyone who doesn't wanna click strange links heres the guts of it. I do recommend it though, the guy knows his stuff.

'' Two batteries are used with a double pole, double throw (DPDT) switch wired to configure the batteries in either series or parallel. (A further switch acts as an on/off control.) Let’s assume that they’re 12V batteries. When the batteries are configured in series, 24V is available at the motor. When the batteries are switched to parallel, 12V is available at the motor.

The natural speed of the bike in 24V mode might be 20 km/h, but in 12V mode it’s more likely to be just a quick walking pace. So when you switch to 12V mode when rolling down a hill, the motor tries to pull you back to that slow speed. As a result, regen braking is very effective – in fact, in this example, the regen will work at all speeds down to a walking pace... at which point the 12V batteries then start driving the bike forward.''

John

SVC that was rather interesting. Weird site, they don't link the articles together.

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How much does that motor cost?

I'd love to build an e-bike, but I'm afraid the wife would veto that idea since I have a decent amount of money put into my gas bike already...

Endless-sphere.com • Index page has a LOT of battery info. How much are you willing to spend? That's the real question.

For $150 you could get a 12v 50ah SLA battery:
Electric Motorsport EV Parts :: BB Batteries

Or for $320 you could get 4 3v cells of LiFePO4 40ah cells and you'd get great life and very light:
Electric Motorsport EV Parts :: Thunder Sky Batteries