3DRoboGuy
10 mW
Hi,
First time on the forum, so introductions first :
my name's Ian.
I'm an electrical/electronic engineer to trade and am reasonably handy.
I now live in France where nearly all the 14+ year-olds ride a 50cc petrol bike / scooter - least-ways my son and all his mates do ! Man, they're noisy, stinky, leaky and almost always needing repaired - the scooters, I mean !
After a bit of googling for some parts one day, I became distracted by emission control regs, scooters being banned from cities or charged for daily access to them... It seems that many thousands of older 'dirty' 50cc petrol scooters are facing premature scrapping (Netherlands / France) due to their age and the fact they are considered 'dirty'.
I'm pretty passionate (in a calm and resigned way, I think) about the planet, weather changes, greenhouse gas / small partical emissions and started to think of how I could make my son's (and his mates') scooters more eco- (and noise) friendly.
Anyways, I need a project and thought I'd convert one to electric.
I already have the scooter : 50cc chinese in good nick but with an annoying oil leak and intermittent spark problem.
My thoughts so far :
a 3Kw mid-mount AC or BLDC motor and compatible controller
a 72V LiPo battery pack - 20S8P (2Kw - can add to this later if required)
a small 12V LiPo battery pack for ignition / start-up etc
a 72/12V converter to charging the 12V LiPo pack and supplying lights and horn etc
a pair of SSR contactor(s) - 1 hi-voltage (72V) and 1 x lo-voltage (12V)
a similar acceleration & top speed (better if poss. but no worse)
20Km+ range / autonomy (with the internal 2Kw pack)
an onboard charger (4 to 5 hour charge period)
provision for an additional 2Kw of LiPo (increase range to around 40Km)
I intend to keep chassis / original equipment mods to a bare minimum - except the switch from ICE to electric and I'd like to think that as many decisions as possible will be based upon maintaining DIY simplicity / transfer to other makes of scooter. I don't really know the implications re: re-licencing / MOT / TuV but believe it to be pretty simple (having spoken to the DVLA) in the UK. In France, it's most impossible (currently) but everyone 'upgrades' their 50cc 'scoots' and no-one blinks an eye. No idea about the Netherlands and further afield.
The 'donor' scooter is to be the 'el-cheapo' Chinese RPS scooter in great nick, the parts could always be sold on - if I can find a buyer.
I'd like to think that 800 - 1000 Euro would do the trick. Considering the current London ULEZ charges (12£50/day) this would equate to a 3 - 4 month (5 days a week) reclaim period... seems pretty reasonable IF it can be done...
I'm thinking of documenting the whole project with a view to enabling others to copy... I'm most deffinitely not a You-Tuber but I could update the forum with progress and even make a website for posterity
Does this sound feasible ? Any ideas / advice / thoughts ?
First time on the forum, so introductions first :
my name's Ian.
I'm an electrical/electronic engineer to trade and am reasonably handy.
I now live in France where nearly all the 14+ year-olds ride a 50cc petrol bike / scooter - least-ways my son and all his mates do ! Man, they're noisy, stinky, leaky and almost always needing repaired - the scooters, I mean !
After a bit of googling for some parts one day, I became distracted by emission control regs, scooters being banned from cities or charged for daily access to them... It seems that many thousands of older 'dirty' 50cc petrol scooters are facing premature scrapping (Netherlands / France) due to their age and the fact they are considered 'dirty'.
I'm pretty passionate (in a calm and resigned way, I think) about the planet, weather changes, greenhouse gas / small partical emissions and started to think of how I could make my son's (and his mates') scooters more eco- (and noise) friendly.
Anyways, I need a project and thought I'd convert one to electric.
I already have the scooter : 50cc chinese in good nick but with an annoying oil leak and intermittent spark problem.
My thoughts so far :
a 3Kw mid-mount AC or BLDC motor and compatible controller
a 72V LiPo battery pack - 20S8P (2Kw - can add to this later if required)
a small 12V LiPo battery pack for ignition / start-up etc
a 72/12V converter to charging the 12V LiPo pack and supplying lights and horn etc
a pair of SSR contactor(s) - 1 hi-voltage (72V) and 1 x lo-voltage (12V)
a similar acceleration & top speed (better if poss. but no worse)
20Km+ range / autonomy (with the internal 2Kw pack)
an onboard charger (4 to 5 hour charge period)
provision for an additional 2Kw of LiPo (increase range to around 40Km)
I intend to keep chassis / original equipment mods to a bare minimum - except the switch from ICE to electric and I'd like to think that as many decisions as possible will be based upon maintaining DIY simplicity / transfer to other makes of scooter. I don't really know the implications re: re-licencing / MOT / TuV but believe it to be pretty simple (having spoken to the DVLA) in the UK. In France, it's most impossible (currently) but everyone 'upgrades' their 50cc 'scoots' and no-one blinks an eye. No idea about the Netherlands and further afield.
The 'donor' scooter is to be the 'el-cheapo' Chinese RPS scooter in great nick, the parts could always be sold on - if I can find a buyer.
I'd like to think that 800 - 1000 Euro would do the trick. Considering the current London ULEZ charges (12£50/day) this would equate to a 3 - 4 month (5 days a week) reclaim period... seems pretty reasonable IF it can be done...
I'm thinking of documenting the whole project with a view to enabling others to copy... I'm most deffinitely not a You-Tuber but I could update the forum with progress and even make a website for posterity
Does this sound feasible ? Any ideas / advice / thoughts ?