FalconEV 36V 12ah LiFePo4 battery Test

So I took time for a test ride in my long johns (with jeans on top of course). Ambient about 32F/0C.

Got past the Base guards with no questions or strange looks, made sure to pedal.

On the flat it does about 33-35 kph no pedalling. Optimal speed is 20 kph with fake pedalling, anything faster you can't keep up and it looks weird.

Already had put about 5 miles on without recharging, started out this trip at 39.5 V and 3.6aH used. To work and back was 12 miles with a lot of hills.

Lowest V on the way to work was 36V, at work resting it bounced back to 38V.

Made it almost home, about 1/2 mile left to home before the controller started cutting it back (at about 28V). The voltage really dives at the end within a short time. I backed off the throttle, pedaled a little, then added slight throttle to keep going.

At home, the Cycleanalyst showed 37 V resting, 11aH used.

Now that I got my speedometer fixed, I'll reset next time and get the Wh/km info etc.

Started charging now at 11:30 Seoul time.

My biggest thrill was outside the Army Base, passing a big athletic type going up a steep hill in town. Made sure to pedal as realistically as I could.. :lol:

It's nice to read that your ebike-assembly odyssey has finally come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Why are you concerned about the MP's knowing it's electric?

My interpretation is that it would be okay, but you know how it goes. Lose your legs and you don't get your tour bonus...

The Regs state:

"18. OPERATION OF BICYCLES AND PLAY VEHICLES.
a. For the purposes of this regulation, a play vehicle is any motorized or non-motorized single or
multiple wheeled vehicle that is not defined elsewhere in this regulation.
b. The parent of any child and the guardian of any ward will take reasonable action to prevent the child
or ward from violating the requirements of this paragraph. Unless stated otherwise, bicycle rules will apply
when a bicycle is operated on any highway or duly marked bicycle trail.
c. Traffic laws apply to persons riding bicycles or play vehicles. Bicyclists and play vehicle operators
riding on a roadway are granted rights and are subject to the requirements applicable to the driver of any
other vehicle.
d. All personnel operating or riding on a bicycle, inline skates, roller skates, coasters, skateboard, or any
motorized or non-motorized play vehicle, while on a public roadway, street, bicycle path, or any right-of-
way under -- jurisdiction will wear a protective helmet designed for bicycle safety. The helmet will be
certified to meet Department of Transportation (DOT) standards IAW DOD --. The helmet will be
worn level on the head with the strap properly fastened under the chin. Personnel participating in any of the
above mentioned activities will wear high visibility upper body garments for day time travel and reflective ....blah blah..

AND you would think this would be okay..

Moped. Any two or three wheel device having operative capability by—
a. Human propulsion power (or no pedals if powered solely by electrical energy).
b. An automatic transmission.
c. A motor that produces less than gross brake horsepower, and
(1) Propels the device at a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on level ground.
(2) Has a maximum engine size of 50 cubic centimeters

But you never know with these guys.. they would take a good thing and change the regs to exclude it if they thought someone was having fun..

Deepkimchi said:

On the flat it does about 33-35 kph no pedalling. Optimal speed is 20 kph with fake pedalling, anything faster you can't keep up and it looks weird.

Click to expand...

You must have a small front chainring.
I've found the practical upper limit to be around 20 mph (32 kph).
At that point the difference with manual input is about 1 mph, two if you crank flat out.
I surmise that's why 20 mph was chosen as the cutoff for the legal definition, it's no longer a bike after that.

In the ebike community the more concise & technical term for the 'big athletic type' that ride bicycles are known as Lycras.
And it has nothing to do with what they wear but rather an atitude of smug superiority.

Perhaps this was just a test run to determine max range, but to sorta answer your other post regarding when to charge, as a general rule I'd say for max life no battery likes to be completely drained.
Or at least do so as little as possible.
There's no downside to topping up at every opportunity & you'll postpone the high cost of replacement that way.

It charged back to 44V in 5 hours.

Tommorow I'll take another test run, this time with the odometer reset on the Cycleanalyst.

Hope the weather holds..

Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh said:

Deepkimchi said:

On the flat it does about 33-35 kph no pedalling. Optimal speed is 20 kph with fake pedalling, anything faster you can't keep up and it looks weird.

Click to expand...

You must have a small front chainring.
I've found the practical upper limit to be around 20 mph (32 kph).
At that point the difference with manual input is about 1 mph, two if you crank flat out.
I surmise that's why 20 mph was chosen as the cutoff for the legal definition, it's no longer a bike after that.

In the ebike community the more concise & technical term for the 'big athletic type' that ride bicycles are known as Lycras.
And it has nothing to do with what they wear but rather an atitude of smug superiority.

Perhaps this was just a test run to determine max range, but to sorta answer your other post regarding when to charge, as a general rule I'd say for max life no battery likes to be completely drained.
Or at least do so as little as possible.
There's no downside to topping up at every opportunity & you'll postpone the high cost of replacement that way.

Click to expand...

for this reason i changed my front chainring over to a schimano tiogra road tripple chainring. i can keep up with the peddling at 45kph no problsm. 48 is where i begin to loose it. I like to peddle along even if it doesn't provide much speed assistance, i find it heelps to reduce the amps drawn esp up hills. I've lost weight this way due to high speed peddling with low load = perfect for fat burning!

Ok - I did a full reset on my CycleAnalyst to clear the kilometers and other info.

Went 15.24 km round trip and here's what it read at the end..

12.1wh/km
184.30 watt hours
Amax 43.31
Vmin 15V
Max s (speed?) 37.5
Avg s 20.3
4.89 ah
The end rest Voltage is 39.3V

I weighed myself 165 lbs with clothes, 16 lbs battery in toolbox, 66lbs bike with everything -> Total weight 247 lbs.

Tires pumped up to 45 psi each.

Only surprises is why Vmin is 15 V, kept my eye on the meter somewhat, didn't seem to go below 36 V under load. Some CA glitch?

I did fake pedalling a lot but with no effort at all, just to spin the pedals, and not attract attention on the Base.

Any comments on the readings, in comparison to other batteries?

Deepkimchi said:

Only surprises is why Vmin is 15 V, kept my eye on the meter somewhat, didn't seem to go below 36 V under load. Some CA glitch?

Click to expand...

I'd reset again and check the Vmin prior to another test.

It might actually have detected a bad connection.

Did you power off the system during the ride? I find that my new CA, when you turn it off, the voltage drops slowly, and the last reading before it "fades" is always a much lower voltage. So, although my pack voltage never drops below 60v, the CA often shows a 25v Vmin.

Jozzer - yep, cut it off about 1/2 way, to stop and pick up my tail light that fell off.

Yes, i get the same Low V reading when powering the bike off.. the low V during load is what you want to watch carefully ( but not tooo carefully.. ya know.. cars and all.. hehe.. )