getting the most milage out of your battery

[paul]

thank you. i will see if they will send here at a reasonable price. nice having 12 months of summer however it is a hassle sometimes to get things here. i actually got my stuff from china faster here then stuff i order from the states

Paul

I use these on the FD bike and for riding the paved streets work very well and at 60psi
http://www.staton-inc.com/store/products/TIRES_SUN_LT_26_x_1_95_BK_BK_KWEST_60299_KENDA-1238-34.html

Rich
that is IF you have a controller that will allow one to be hooked up not all controllers will work with it

 

[neptronix]

thumbs up for the ebikes.ca simulator link, i was about to mention that.

Best way to stretch a battery out is simple. Pedal like a beast and go slow. Aerodynamic drag is your enemy.

I have a 6kW cargo bike that can do 47mph, but i usually set the speed switch to '1' which gives me a top speed of 20mph. that's how i manage to pull 30-40 mile trips. Flipping it over to top speed is only done when i'm on a street with no bike lane and must 'be a motorcycle'.

Watts disappear very fast over 20mph.... lol

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

In the near future I plan to put a front wheel 350 watt hub motor with regenerative braking on my gas powered 5 speed autoshift bike. Since the combustible engine is 33 cc at 1.6 hp adding the 350 watt motor will still keep me under my state's (Tennessee) 2 hp limit.

I plan to use a duel twist throttle setup. On the electric I'm going to attach a hook to pull in the brake lever slightly when the electric motor isn't being used. This way the battery will be getting recharged when you're only using gas. Hope to have this done before the year is up.

 

[BarelyAWake]

If your referring to utilizing a hub motor's regenerative feature activated by a switched lever, to experiment with the above I would suggest adding an additional in line switch to bypass the brake lever's as it would be safer & more reliable...

...but unless your hub motor has fully adjustable regen parameters I think you'll find the significant drag will drastically effect your gasoline motor's preformance - try spinning the hub to normal operating speed without regen enabled and test the (disconnected) power leads, it most instances it will still generate enough of a current to serve as a trickle charger.

Regenerative braking is meant to help recover some of the energy normally lost during braking (heat), but it is also meant to aid braking & it does so, quite effectively. Just the regen ability of my hub motor set to full on (100% & no brakes engaged) will almost lock up my rear tire on loose surfaces, slowing me quite quickly even downhill until I'm reduced to a near walking speed at which point the load becomes negligible.

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

MAC CONVERSION KIT FRONT 350 WATT MOTOR; 36v/48V $699 MAC Motor Kit (Planetary Gear. Rear Motor (Disc or Rim Brakes) Black ALEX RIM, Black Spokes...Silver ALEX RIM /Spokes $75 Extra Thumb Throttle; 3-power levels, Cruise, E-Brakes 25A Infenion Controller can also be used with 48v Battery.

This is what I plan on getting. Once I get it I'll figure out a way to make it all work. Any information on this system or pictures would be helpful. The guy I spoke with sells Land Rider bikes with electric motors on the front wheel. He said you could get this system with regenerative braking.

 

[Sidewinder Jerry]

Found some videos on the hub kit itself. The person I talking with says he can fix me up with the regen setup. Research is the key to keeping expense down.

 

[Thud]

Geared hub motors-freewheel & will not offer any regeneration.

You will need a direct drive hubbie to enjoy regen.
I have ridden a few geared motors & they are wonderfull if you have to pedal any time a little louder than a DD with gear noise, but that disappears with wind noise at cruising speeds.

 

[miked826]

My batteries range is more than doubled in the city by having a 49cc gas engine do most of the grunt work. Brake Regen also adds 25% more battery range to my bike.

 

[miked826]

i was reading a technique someone uses to get considerably more distance out of his electric bike. anyway what somebody wrote is they take the bike to a desired speed and lets off the throttle and pedals lightly till the bike drops 5 miles per hour then powers it back to speed. with the ease that an e-bike pedals. i think this will work really well. i know mine coasts forever on flats and down hill is a given. i get more then enough distance for the majority of the rides i do but it will be a fun experiment to try

I just completed a 60 mile journey around L.A. county streets on gas and electric the whole time and this is what my Cycle Analyst recorded for my 12.9 Ah 48V battery on a 24" wheel and 40A controller. Terrain varied and stop and go's were endless.

Amp Hours used before Regen: 8.8 Ah
Brake Regen Amp Hours placed back in the battery: 1.99 Ah
Actual Amp Hours used for 60 miles: 6.8 Ah
Total Regen of batteries capacity: 29.1%
Max. Speed: 38.2 MPH
Avg. Speed: 22.5 MPH
Max. Amps: 42.3

Miles per Amp Hour used: 8.82

 

[n3glv]

My so-called 450w currie runs full throttle on flat @10Amps, starting out it's routinely at
25-35Amps (max for controller).
Here's an idea, I have a meter shunt in line with batteries that shows me real time load.
I can then tailor my throttle to the best economy. 16mph=10-12A 14mph=6.5Amps ie if
you are not in a hurry, back off the throttle 10% and go twice as far!
Btw, you can make a current meter very simply from a chunk of house wire and a harbor
freight multimeter.

 

[n3glv]

Btw, the effect of WOT then coast then rinse and repeat may vary by the chemistry of
battery and capacity. SLA takes a huge hit from massive current and stabs of it and coast would let it sling shot back.. maybe.

 

[n3glv]

Maybe this thread should be "what does it cost to run x miles"?
A reply of "running my 49cc engine I get 8mi/ah" makes no sense.
I did some math on my SLA packs and charger and was getting 800mi out of $4 worth of
electric @ 10c/Kwh. I could say I run for free based on my 3kw of solar on my house...
but that's not the real cost of running one of these ebikes.
One of the guys here at hackpittsburgh said his gas bike is faster.. yadda yadda, I said
"Lets take $4 worth of 'fuel' (him gas and me electricity) and see who can go farthest."

 

[miked826]

My so-called 450w currie runs full throttle on flat @10Amps, starting out it's routinely at
25-35Amps (max for controller).
Here's an idea, I have a meter shunt in line with batteries that shows me real time load.
I can then tailor my throttle to the best economy. 16mph=10-12A 14mph=6.5Amps ie if
you are not in a hurry, back off the throttle 10% and go twice as far!
Btw, you can make a current meter very simply from a chunk of house wire and a harbor
freight multimeter.

I can't afford to go any slower than I already go which is 40mph. I got too many cars out here breathing down my back wishing I was not in front of them on the road. LOL