48V hub motor controller supporting regen before May 14, 2025

[PruSavard]

Hello all,

I'd like to purchase AND receive a 48V hub motor controller supporting regen (ideally programmable) in the next week. Ideally there would be some case history of the controller being used for regen.

I'd appreciate suggestions of any controller that might be in stock in the USA right now. Sadly this eliminates GRIN

Thanks, it'd be sad to be riding with regen in a year because I missed this window.

Pru
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Just for interest, my requirements are:
-250-500W for cruising at 20-25mph on a recumbent with a 26" drive wheel (seems to be right in the wheelhouse of direct drive hub motors). 15-20A might be enough
-Regenerative braking support
-Generating electricity indoors from pedaling with bike on stands
-Low noise and long life

Not so important
-big acceleration especially from stopped
-throttle only hill climbing
-freewheeling
-super low weight

Already have access to 48V batteries
located a direct drive hub motor supplier in the US

 

[Chalo]

Have you ever used a pedal device to generate electricity? It's a cute parlor trick, but you won't want to do it for practical reasons. Not only is it tedious, but your muscles run on diesel fuel (indirectly, but definitely). One rinky dink little solar panel and a battery can outperform you day in and day out.

 

[PruSavard]

Have you ever used a pedal device to generate electricity? It's a cute parlor trick, but you won't want to do it for practical reasons. Not only is it tedious, but your muscles run on diesel fuel (indirectly, but definitely). One rinky dink little solar panel and a battery can outperform you day in and day out.

Thanks for the cautionary tale...I think it applies to many other than me, so is useful in that way. Based on your posts, I'm guessing you enjoy getting into the details...

Have an overpanelled solar system (generates far more energy than I can use in the summer) with batteries for a week of no sun.

I live where there can be up to 3 weeks of continuous cloud in the winter. In these times, the overpanelled solar will generate some combined with demand response (saving vacuuming, washing machine etc.).

I also follow the latest science of health and human longevity. Different types of exercise regimes produce big results including aerobic/lactate threshold training. I could do winter training by burning up some friction pads or... I aim to get to 200W for an hour for max health and to some extent energy generation. 200Wh/day might be 150Wh/day of usable electricity. This is enough to run all my electronics. Exposing my refrigeration systems to the outdoor cold in the winter should drop usage enough that solar can cover the electrical usage even in cloudy periods.

So, you are correct that humans are very inefficient power generators. However, I could up my mental capabilities, save years of life and many thousands of dollars in symptom treating drugs by generating a small amount of energy. That energy also serves as dispatchable energy (from a picogrid perspective), to cover the few times when an overpanelled solar and battery system with demand response isn't enough.

Also, it bugs me to exercise without producing more than just health benefits. I find doing anything without at least 3 benefits is a waste of time and is intellectually annoying.

Ironically, in the last hour, I found a 48V Bionyx wheel with original control kit, so if it still works, I might not need a 3rd party controller, but would like to find one anyway as supporting defunct tech isn't all that fun.

 

[99t4]

Bionx = defunct tech.

Suggest you try pedaling @ 200W for an extended period of time, just to get a rough idea of your expectations.

 

[PruSavard]

Bionx = defunct tech.

Suggest you try pedaling @ 200W for an extended period of time, just to get a rough idea of your expectations.

Thanks. I agree on the defunct tech, but even if none of the internal and external control systems work and I have to crack the hub to turn it into a dumb direct drive, it was 50% cheaper than the cheapest Chinese import I could find.

I'm not at 200W over an hour. It's a goal. At about 125W over an hour right now while fairly out of shape. And I'd need to do this workout whether attached to a generator or not.

Maybe I didn't explain the point...I'd like a near silent, long lasting motor on a recumbent. A direct drive hub motor fits the ride profile. Regen would be nice, but not a game changer for a flat route, but, why not have it. And if I have regen and a DC based home setup, why not generate electricity while working out rather than wearing out various friction pads.

And if everything fails as a motor with regen, I can just mount the wheel indoors on a spare bike and use a triple diode rectifier to get power out.

 

[A-DamW]

A VESC(open source motor control) based controller from Amazon is going to be close to the best bet:

https://www.amazon.com/FLIPSKY-Aluminum-Electric-Skateboard-Controller/dp/B0C69D7RWB/

Or this one with an on/off swtch built in:

https://www.amazon.com/FLIPSKY-Aluminum-Electric-Skateboard-Controller/dp/B0CNLDHTNN/

I am not generally a proponent of Amazon or Flipsky VESC's, but given your May14 constraint, and regen, power levels, etc.
one of these will get the job done.
If you get a dud, free returns.
I/we can help you get the controller setup.

P.S. I do own 4 different Flipsky VESC controllers, they work just fine if you don't push them to the limits.
The two units listed above will have 5x-10x headroom for what you need, so plenty safe.

Edit:
Here is the same unit on Ebay, us seller:

FLIPSKY 75100 Pro with Aluminum PCB Based on VESC for Electric Skateboard/Sco... | eBay

75100 Pro Size: L103mm W58mm H27.7mm. Included Components: ‎With Aluminum PCB Based on VESC. Programmable:Based on VESC, programmable via vesc_tool with overheat and overcurrent protection. Provide your electric skateboard with more powerful power and a more exciting modification experience.

www.ebay.com

 

[offGridDownUnder]

Maybe I didn't explain the point

Getting the exercise and it's benefits is all the justification you need (if you feel you need any). Beyond that, it's just gravy.

Consider not using your main driving motor as the generator, but rather hooking another chain to the chainwheel (or other convenient part) to a small add-on frame with a generator (or alternator) optimised for power generation.

You will be putting the recumbent into a stationary frame anyway - to lift the rear wheel so you can spin it. Instead, "park" the main drive chain (which then will not drive the rear wheel) and loop your generator chain over the chainwheel with a small frame forward of the bike/trike to give you the electricity.

You can then arrange the load/efficiency to suit your desires. Same problem overall, but different parameters and options.

I, too, would like to use my trike for exercise/power generation. I have been getting the primary design right, and also moving house. I may do some more experiments towards this, and may find that the two use cases (riding and generating) are too distinct to be met well by the same set up.

 

[PruSavard]

While there is an elegance in using the same drive motor for driving, regen and stationary power generation (and even riding with a weaker rider...riding around with regen on to equalize workouts , or even in the super crazy case, stopping for a meal while still pedaling! ), I'd like to understand better...

You're suggesting not overloading the main rear hub drive motor with too many requirements...have a 2nd motor/generator which can be better optimized for generation?

What would be better optimized? I'd presumed that the direct drive hub would be pretty well optimized given I can use the bike gears to get the rpm to an optimum speed and power electronics that are hopefully fairly optimized. Or maybe a belt drive for less noise? Or skipping the motor controller and just having simple diode rectification to generate DC. Maybe a Faraday generator would be better...

What did you have in mind, or have I gotten your idea wrong?

I'm presuming that you could just put up your Greenspeed Big Wheel with GRIN motor on blocks and pedal away. If you have fancy pedals that measure watts, it'd be an interesting comparison with actual generated watts.

 

[99t4]

And if I have regen and a DC based home setup, why not generate electricity while working out rather than wearing out various friction pads.

IIRC the Bionx can be set to 0 assist and max regen so you end up pedaling against a high regen load. Never measured the actual wattage generated.