12/05/2010 24V 10AH lith Ezip $599 @Target

Not my thing, but i'm glad they're getting halfway decent lithium battery bikes out into the public. I believe that motor is geared as well.

I like this company because they are sorta like Ford in the Model T days. They are finding a way to make this stuff cheaper to the public, whereas everyone else wants $1200-$3000 for something that is pretty much functionally identical.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'd like to try one of these out and see if it is 'recommendable'.
 
So, I'm totally new to the world of electric bikes. This deal is very appealing to me, but I wonder about the upgrade capacity of the ECORide. I see some other posters have wired up more voltage and amp-hours to their eZip Trailz, but that has a 450w motor. This looks like it's only 250w.

If I buy this and find out it's insufficient power for the rides I'd like to do, am I back to starting at square one?
 
Indeed, they are listed as 250W motors on the http://www.currietech.com site, while the lead acid Ezip is listed as 450W. Nobody here has ever opened both a 450W and 250W motor to see if they are the same thing. The controller on my 450W Trailz Ezip has a sticker that claims 35 Amps which means it can feed 840W peak to the motor. If the ECOride controller is 35 Amp also, I'd bet the 250W and 450W are the same motor.

Other mods to these include modified motor mount plates to fit two motors. If nothing else, it is a heavy steel frame that might be good for a rear hub motor.

[EDIT] I just looked at the parts available from the curie site and they do list the ECOride controller as 15A. This is curious as they now have a Lithium battery compatible with the 35A model. So I suppose you could get the 450W motor for $108 and/or the 35A controller for $65 as power upgrades and see if the ECOride battery can handle them. The $399 lithium battery for the 35A controller seems pricey and would require a different rack, but might be an option.
 
First, thanks to gogo for doing the research that I'm not educated enough to do confidently myself. I've read a lot on the forums, but not enough just yet.

Second, it sounds like by buying this bike I'd be disappointed, and very slowly disappointed, at that. The engine, controller, and battery would all have to be replaced (or, in the battery's case, modified significantly) if there weren't enough juice in the setup for me. It seems like I'd almost be better off getting the Trailz and going from that motor, bike, and controller with a third party battery (this is possible, no?), which makes me a little confused about why this is a good deal(maybe for a targeted audience?) rather than just a big discount. Steel frames aren't all that expensive or hard to come by...

I guess if I anticipate putting any kind of significant demands on the bike, I'd be better off going with one of the integrated controller/motor/wheel kits that are sold by any number of vendors, slapping a battery pack and a steel frame around it, and going from there.

I'm sure you'll catch me if I've said anything wrong there. Thanks again guys. Love the forum.
 
Perfect bike for the guy who wants to ride the same speed as he used to pedal a bike. For me though, the real appeal was being able to go 25 mph for miles and miles and miles instead of for just a few yards at that speed. So for a faster bike, 36v-48v and 500-1000 watts are the choice.

Nice to see they ditched the sla's. With lithium, this bike would be perfect for many many many people. Most are not like me, willing to spend 2 hours on the bike daily.
 
ndk, you have it right, the 15A controller on the ECOride is a deal killer and might be the reason for the discount. I had assumed the only difference between the ECOride and the Trailz lead acid Ezip was the battery.

The ECOride appears to only have enough power to be a pedal-assist bike and not pedal optional.
 
Too bad you can't try before buying.

The problem with specs is that manufacturers can have different ideas on how to base their specs, you're not exactly sure on how the bike will perform until you get on it. That said, i find there's a big difference between motors above and below 450 watts.

After converting a few bikes, I'm surprised how much bike weight and rider weight makes. If you have a small rider or light bike, even 250 watts can feel pretty good. It's not fast or powerful, but decent. Considering that a lighter bike and less powerful motor is more ideal for batteries, there's a case to be made for the 250 watt electric bike.

If you want to go to the federal electric bike limit of 20 mph, most people are going to want 450 + watt motors and 20 amp controllers-- something pretty standard.
 
Thats a relatively good deal considering.. for a ready to go ebike. Or add a couple paralleled 6s zippy packs to this... series'd in for more speed. This is the noisy geared my1018? Is it the same frame as the sla version?
 
Do SLAs have a higher C rating? If so, someone with hills to climb might be better off with the SLA version, if using a 10 Ahr battery. Just a thought.
 
gogo said:
Indeed, they are listed as 250W motors on the http://www.currietech.com site, while the lead acid Ezip is listed as 450W. Nobody here has ever opened both a 450W and 250W motor to see if they are the same thing. The controller on my 450W Trailz Ezip has a sticker that claims 35 Amps which means it can feed 840W peak to the motor. If the ECOride controller is 35 Amp also, I'd bet the 250W and 450W are the same motor.

Other mods to these include modified motor mount plates to fit two motors. If nothing else, it is a heavy steel frame that might be good for a rear hub motor.
Click to expand...

The 35a controller is for a brushed motor w/chain drive. The 15a controller is for a brushless geared hub motor. The parts are not in any way compatible.

The 450w chain drive motor and controller are not an upgrade in any way. That brushed drive has a lot of torque but no speed. Nor can it handle 36v for any reasonable amount of time. It is grossly inefficient too.

The steel frame *is* good for a monster hub motor. On my mongoose-currie bike, the dropouts are monstrous.
 
neptronix said:
The 35a controller is for a brushed motor w/chain drive. The 15a controller is for a brushless geared hub motor. The parts are not in any way compatible.
Click to expand...
The 15A controller on the Ezip ECOride is for its 250W brushed/geared chain drive motor according to the specs on the Currie site.
 
facepalm. Pardon me.

Looked like a hubmotor in the pic. I know they have some low-powered geared hubmotors.
Gee, 15a is pretty pathetic.
 
Currie has some contradictory information on their website. If you click the TAG/PAS link on the ECOride page, it pops up a PDF that claims the ECOride has the 450W motor. Elsewhere they list the motor as having "250W of Power from a DC Brushed Earth Magnet Motor". This makes me think there is not two different brushed/geared chain motors, just the 450W version.

If you go to the parts page for the ECOride, it lists a "Controller, 24v15a, PAS only". Elsewhere they describe the ECOride as TAG/PAS.

The ECOride battery is listed as having an advanced BMS and a commenter @the Target page claimed it had Sanyo batteries. The BMS might limit the power, so upgrading the controller might yield limited results unless a different battery is used.

@ whoever asked about the frame, the ECOride is 54 LBS. and aluminum, the Trailz is 68 LBS. and steel. Considering the Trailz has a lead acid battery, sounds like they didn't save much weight by using aluminum.
 
gogo said:
.... Considering the Trailz has a lead acid battery, sounds like they didn't save much weight by using aluminum.
Click to expand...

you rarely do ! Al is a lighter metal, but you need more of it ( bigger, thicker tubes etc), to keep the strength.
A good steel frame can be lighter & stronger than a regular Al frame. :roll:

Frame weight is not a major factor on "commuter" Ebikes, many of which still use lead batteries.
 
gogo said:
The 15A controller on the Ezip ECOride is for its 250W brushed/geared chain drive motor according to the specs on the Currie site.
Click to expand...


Just wanted to verify this information. Physically, the motor appears exactly the same as the 450W motors on the SLA models. But Currie had to lower the discharge rate to protect the lower C-rated Li-Ion batteries. So they reduced the rating on the motor to 250W and dropped the controller from 35A to 15A.

There is noticably less power with this model in comparison to the SLA version. For someone who has never rode an e-bike before, it might feel OK. But it's definitely weak for most people on this forum. Probably only suitable for lightweight riders who ride mostly flat terrain...
 
That would be great if the motor isn't wound differently and its just the controller.. more amps is a $20 TNC controller away. Or blob of solder away even! My "450" motor will pull like 1000W peak at 36v. More at 48.

If you can score the lower end bike for $300, how do you justify an extra $300 for this with its low C battery. A DIY'er can go out and spend that upgrading the $300 bike with a high C battery instead. Its all relatives though, the price isn't so bad for a plug and play bike.
 
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