Why is mileage you get so poor?

GoldenMotor.com

carless

New Member
Apr 18, 2010
1
0
0
new hampshire
I know this should post since it was the third entry I tried to post and it did post before.

I started research on the idea of alternative transportation last year and was doing some playing around but never made it anywhere since I kept running into one stumbling block that I think I may have overcome now in the past few days. I'm back looking into the idea once again since I'm about to go carless come the end of the month. No sense in trying to do any upkeep on my car anymore. I'm the original owner and it has 313,000 miles on it. Not bad considering the lack of any major work that has been done to the car in the years I've owned it.

I'm back investigating the idea of converting bike tires over into a trike, for better balance at stops without having to put the feet down. I would then like to go ahead and power it with either gas or electric, tending toward eletric. The problem is I don't understand why you guys are getting such horrible mileage on your electric bikes. I can understand the lack of speed due to restrictions placed by the law but the sucky mileage makes no sense at all.

Last year in doing my research I stumbled into the idea of Electrathon vehicles. It's a cluster of high schools and colleges throughout the country that build up electric vehicles from scratch and race them each spring at tracks around the country. They have some simple requirements they must meet to be able to compete, the big one being the battery requirement:

No more than 67 pounds of SLA batteries...err 1Kw.

There is also one major race requirement as well:

No recharging batteries during the race unless using solar cells placed on the car.

Back in 2006 they managed to have a race at New Hampshire International Speedway and the winner ended up being a private entry from Portland, ME. He won the 1-hour race by going 53+ miles. He broke his own record this past summer at a special invitational event at the Ford Proving Grounds in Dearborn, MI. He upped his mark to 62.05 miles in one hour...using 1Kw of battery power.

evmaine.org/html/worldrecord.html

Why is it you guys are getting such crummy mileage from your set ups. Michael isn't using much in the way of electricity and he is still getting 60+ miles on one recharge while going highway speeds. I can understand the extra aerodynamic drag from the bike but the bike has the benefit of less rolling resistance at the same time, again it makes no sense.

I'm not sure what to think right now. I have thought about playing around with electric weedeater engines since everybody is always looking to get rid of them for free. I remember last year reading that it wasn't a smart idea to use old car starter engines since they are built for continuous use like something along the lines of weedeater would. Before I start playing around I would love to find first though why the mileage difference is so great between what Michael and quite a few other Electrathon competitors have gotten and what you guys are getting. I would love to avoid the problems you guys are having.

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deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
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north carolina
I have no idea what you had posted, but in general let me try to answer that question. Ebike mileage is just like car mileage. There are many variables. It is like running your car with a one pint gas tank. If you only go to the corner store, you can do it on one tank of gas. But you are not going to drive all the way across town and back on that pint of gasoline.....If the road is flat you might will make it farther on one pint of gas. But if there are a lot of hills the engine will strain more and the mileage goes down. Same with weight of the car.... A smart car will go farther than an suv on that one pint of gasoline.

In other words the batteries we have suck even the best of them.
 

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
We would love to get better milage on our batteries as well. When you figure it out let us know. A lot of the guys on these forums are buying high efficiency kits with good batteries and yes they get better mileage than i do so maybe there is something we don't know and would love to learn...
 

grouchyolfart

New Member
May 31, 2008
267
0
0
Wahiawa, Hawai'i
Carless, you're comparing apples to oranges. Alot of these "teams" have access to resources and engineering expertise most of us only dream of. For the most part, we're only a bunch of DIY'ers and work with only what we have or can easily obtain at affordable prices. Some of us even know how to weld.

They can carry up to 62 lbs of battery. Depending on which tech, they're capable of carrying a minimum of 72 volts in sla batteries and sky's the limit in new tech batteries. They use way bigger motors, can build intricate alloy framing and aerodynamic body panels.

We got bargain basement bikes salvaged off Craigslist, can comfortably carry 36 volts or 3 12volt sla batteries on the bike cause we can't afford the new tech stuff and are thus limited to smaller motors, all we got between us and the wind is a windbreaker and our bikes flex like crazy at our blazing top speeds of 20 mph making for a heck of a spooky ride at times which makes us wonder if we'll get home from the grocer with all one dozen eggs still intact in our handlbar basket.

They have more power and bigger motors and can get higher speeds and mega mileage.

We have way less power and smaller motors and we get to work in a reasonable amount of time, if we pedal, so long as we don't live more than 15 miles from work and still have to recharge at work.

We're always trying to find ways to get more speed and mileage and that's the fun of being involved with this hobby and forum. If we all could do 60+ mph and go 50 miles on one charge without pedaling, we'd all be complaining about the traffic cops instead of sharing what we learned after burning down our garage due to a short circuit or something. zpt

Personally, my commute is a 4 mile r/t and a few more for errands per day. I get plenty enough mileage for my purposes and simply recharge overnight. Others ride a bit further, but still manage to squeak out a few more miles and recharge at work. All of us use pedal assist most of the time. Most of us just like to be outside getting a bit of excercise.

In your perspective, our mileage may be "crummy". For most of us, we be having fun. dance1
 

TheE

New Member
Jun 26, 2009
185
0
0
Canada
We have a competition-grade e-vehicle at my university too. Those things are designed with lightweight fiberglass bodies and every aerodynamic consideration possible. It's no comparison to a bike.
 

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
You guys make a much better point than I could ever have made. I think my bike does just fine for me. It's mostly because I can't see me being on any bike more than a few miles. Some of the younger guys need a lot more speed and range than me. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't speak for everyone.

I am never going to build a high tech bike, I lack the skill for one thing. Even if I had the skill, I lack the access and the resources to buy the really cool stuff necessary. But for me its more about time than anything else. I have a perfectly good system for how I use the bike, It is complete and works every time I hit the throttle, but I'm building, what for me is, and exotic battery pack just to fill the time.

So I guess what I'm saying is that, for me at least, it isn't the end result. it's the trip to the end that is the fun part. It isn't like flying to Disneyland, it more like riding a motorcycle cross country stopping in little towns along the way. Eating in greasy diners and visiting the local hot dog museums.

The trip ain't for everyone, just for us lucky ones who know the value of time well spent. Who understand it's all dust in the end so we do it for ourselves. We do it for the two black guys who pulled up beside me yesterday and asked, "Hey Mister did you build that thing? Does it go by itself? How can I build one?" With a little luck, one of those kids will be inspired to build something with his hands, instead of just seeing an old man on a thrift store bike with a scooter wheel on top. Maybe that is my immortality.
 
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