eBike for home-school-work

[Acti]

Hello

I want to build my own eBike to bring me to school and work and back (around 20 miles).
I did some searching myself and found the following

The bike I have and want to use is the TOWNIE BALLOON 8D


The engine i'm going to use is propably the Magic Pie 3 on the rear wheel


The battery is coming on the front in a bike basket (thinking about 48V20AH LIFEPO4)


Do you guys think it's an okay setup?
Considering I live in the netherlands and everything is pretty much flat.

I've no idea how to connect the battery to the MP3. Has the MP3 an universal plug or do I need to make something myself?
Hope some people could give me some insights on this so I can start ordering and building

[footloose]

Hi Acti,

First, don't envy your weather this time of year, but sure do envy your cycling environment in Netherlands!
Have done half dozen trips to Netherlands over the years just to cycle around... without worrying about getting run over.
You guys sure did something smart in making bikes equal on the road.

Re your proposed setup...
That bike, I think, is ideal. Have been thinking about getting one of them myself.
The Magic Pie motor... maybe not so perfect? I don't like the in-board controller in principle. There are a few other DD motors that might be better, with external controller.
The battery? 48V / 20Ah of LiFePo4 is going to be way heavy for bike basket mount. Triangle on that bike is huge, think about using it.

[Acti]

Thank you for the reply

Cycling in the Netherlands is quite safe indeed. Especially where I live (only grass and cows and a road).

I'm also not sure about the motor, thought the MPIII was easy, plug&play. That's why I choose it. Also the cruise control feature was a pro.
I was looking on eBay for other motors, but there are just so many and I'm a real noob when it comes to eBikes.
I just want a motor that is silent, fast and reliable.

For the battery i'm going to consider to place it elsewhere. Thought a 48V20AH LIFEPO4 battery was only 8kg.
Or maybe a smaller one. Like 48V10AH LIFEPO4.

[Punx0r]

I ended up buying my motor kit from a company in the Netherlands:

http://www.devi-motion.com/webshop/e-bi ... -rear.html

You do need to do a little wiring and making of spacers/washers/mounting brackets to fit most of these kits.

A rear rack is an easy eay to mount a battery, but not good for weight distribution on the bike (balance).

[d8veh]

Just in case you don't know, the law in Netherlands is 250w maximum, no throttles allowed and max speed of 25 km/hr. The Majic Pie is a big motor that you can't disguise. If you're going to go illegal, would a stealthier option be better? Do you need that power and weight?

[dogman dan]

Very true, it's about the most conspicuously big motor there is. But even if there is a law, does anybody care? Likely not, if it's rural rather than city.

Re the battery, 48v 20 ah is plenty for your range, at 25 mph. But48v 15 ah will do it. 48v 10 ah won't have the range, nor be able to run a more powerful motor.

Best setup for stealth would be a smaller planetary gear motor in the rear wheel, smaller, slower controller, and then a 10 ah battery would be enough to go the distance at 25 kph, rather than the 40 kph the pie could do on 48v.

A small motor, on 48v, will still have just enough power to tolerate some windy days. On 36v, then you will get slowed down more when it really cranks some wind.

[Acti]

I'm aware of 250w law in the Netherlands. But i'm not really scared to get caught.

Was looking on the internet and found a similar bike with the Magic Pie 3
Only difference is that I want to go for a rear hub.

Picture:


Video:


The motor is obviously there but i really like the speed and power of the motor.
Was also looking at a geared bafang motor 500w, but it has moving parts and makes noise i read..

[dogman dan]

Figured you were aware, but still good for us to be sure. Only you know if the local cops give a shit.

Put it on the rear, and if you need to hide it more, put panniers over it. With the pie, you will need 48v 15 ah to get the distance you want, at 25 mph. 48v 20 ah gets hard to carry on most bikes, but it looks like the townie can fit a big box in the frame. Get the townie and measure it before you order your battery. Make sure your battery won't get hit by the crank arms before you spend for the larger size.

Also, consider how safe your parking places will be. Lotta money in that battery, sitting at school where thieves may be shopping. Hopefully work will have a secure place to leave the bike.

[footloose]

If you haven't already, take a look at the new Bafang BBS01 / BBS02 motors.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewto ... 28&t=50104

Small but powerful. Pretty stealthy. Very easy to install. Much quieter than other gear motors.
Mass is where it should be for ideal handling: low, and near the bike's center of balance.
Visually it looks like it would be a perfectly legal 250W motor, so unlikely that it would catch attention of the police.

I installed a BBS02 (750W nominal, actually running at ~1400W peak) on one of my bikes.

Like it a lot so far.

[Acti]

Thank you.
I've read a bit about those bafang and it looks good but it's pretty expensive

I also looked for another, stealthier motor.
It's the Prokit-901 48V-1000W from golden motor (sold here in The Netherlands)

It's a complete set (Motor, spoked rim, throttle, controler, multicontroller button and cables. Battery not included)

Do you think the controller provided is any good


I guess it's basically a Magic Pie 3, but a bit smaller and with an external controller.
Looks pretty good to me.

EDIT: Also looked at Crystalyte HS 4040 and other Crystalyte motors
They also seem to be good, but i cant find a store that sells them.

[footloose]

Looks like a good kit, good price, and from a local vendor which is really nice.
Do like DogMan suggested... put some panniers on the back and it will be basically invisible.

[Punx0r]

I like that controller. It's small and reliable. The regenerative braking is very effective and I haven't managed to kill it yet, despite stalling the motor momentarily at full throttle many, many times. That was running 50A peak @ 44V as well (I modified the current-sensing shunt). I am quite pleased considering it is inexpensive, Chinese-made equipment.

[louis raaijmakers]

eey dat is leuk
nog iemand in Nederland met een electrische 1000w fiets.
ik heb er zelf ook een 1000w 901 kit 48 volt met een zelfgebouwde accu van laptop accu's
48 volt 15.6 ampère en ik rijd er iedere dag mee naar school (van Nuenen tegen Eindhoven naar Helmond.)
bevalt me goed ik heb de fiets nu +- 7 weken in gebruik.
beetje scooters bij houden en scooters eruit trekken bij het stop licht. echt lachen alleen 45 km per uur scooter houd je niet bij.
maar ja die rijden ook dik 60,70.

maar ik volg je in je project.
hier trouwen nog een klein foto'tje van mijn fiets. zie de link.
http://naafmotor.nl/index.php?topic=298.60
met hard mee trappen ga ik 49 km per uur.

small translation for the enlish members of ES

hey thats nice.
a new guy in the netherland that has an ebike with 1000w
i also made my own ebike i got the 1000w 901 kit with an 48 v home made battery made from notebook battery's
i got 48 volts and 15.6 A i ride my bike every day from home to school ( from Nuenen small village to Helmond thats an city in holland an the distance is 24 km from home to school and back home)
i like it alot i ride my bike every day exept the weekends to school.

but i am goin to follow your project.
here a litle foto from my bike. with alot op peddeling i go 49 kmh.