Any way to do 100 miles or more with an ebike?

[EwanG]

Have spent the past month commuting daily to work with my iZip e3 Zuma. Outside of the occasional driver suggesting I should be on the sidewalk rather than the road, and some less than clean bike paths, it has been pleasant.

There's a part of me that would like to take a week or two later this summer and head out for a longer ride. But it seems that all the things that make riding the ebike enjoyable become liabilities once I pass the 12-20 miles my current bike's battery will cover. I presume I could actually turn it off on the flats - although I would then be pedalling a much heavier bike with no assist and suspect that I'd actually go slower than a regular 10 speed then. I suppose I could get a second or even third battery and chargers (since I would need to charge overnight and wouldn't want to wake up at midnight to change connections), but I have to assume that the extra weight of those batteries would reduce my range.

Any thoughts?

 

[beast775]

Sure is,weight- money -knowledge, is the only thing stopping you.a few 36v 15ah batts with a good fast charger plus controller will do it.an efficient hub and pedal power.

 

[EwanG]

a few 36v 15ah batts with a good fast charger plus controller will do it.an efficient hub and pedal power.

Is that something I could likely use with the current setup, or would I need to move to another unit? Current Battery is 36v, but the charger takes at least two and sometimes over 3 hours. Perhaps there's a fast charger that works with the iZip LiPos?

 

[EwanG]

I suggest first reading up on Kingfish's California trip threads, and JustinLE's cross-canada trip thread. There are a few others that also have done stuff like that.

Would you happen to have links to either of those?

Thanks!

 

[r3volved]

I would think that the easiest way to gain that many miles would be a battery trailer. Going 100 miles, you'd probably want some form of trailer to at least hold your supplies. Fitted with a bunch of extra ah seems logical.

Though it does seem like a lot of investment in batteries for a one time trip. Would be awesome if you could find lenders to 'sponsor' you with loaner batteries for the duration of your ride.

 

[wesnewell]

You've got a huge open triangle just begging to be filled with lipo. Weight isn't a big factor, space is. Another 40ah or more of 10s lipo should fit nicely into that triangle giving you a 100+ mile range easily. You could also put another 20ah on the rear rack. All it takes is money. and a little common sense.

 

[The fingers]

Go to Board index, General Discussion, forum E-pic Topics at top of page.

 

[15rms]

Optibike has a 100 mile option.

 

[heavymetalthunder]

Loading up with 50 ah worth of lipos, keeping your speed to 15 MPH and adding some pedal power will probably give you the 100 mile range you are looking for.

 

[wesnewell]

You need 20wh per mile at 20mph, so 2000wh for 100 miles. So roughly 55ah at 37V nominal.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Cross-Canada by Ebike
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7134

Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28573

 

[EwanG]

Hi,

Cross-Canada by Ebike
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7134

Back in the Saddle: Going to California: 2011
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=28573

Thanks for the links!

 

[EwanG]

Optibike has a 100 mile option.

So they do... and certainly if you are looking for pre-built (as I'd prefer) it appears like a nice option other than the sticker shock

 

[itchynackers]

I did it last summer (99.8 miles) on 1110wh. Just set your CA to a low maximum amps (I used 2a), a low top speed (I used 20mph). Try to do the trip on a non-windy day (my day was very windy). The hills were a bear. To tell the truth, I won't ever do it again. When I got home, I don't think I could've pedaled another 1/4 mile if my life depended on it.

 

[dogman dan]

Most of us won't want to go quite to that extreme. At some point, you have set the assist level so low all it is doing is making the bike pedal like it weighed 20 pounds rather than 50. Why not just pedal a light bike if you set it that low?

But 200w max is a reasonable assist that helps a lot, till the big hill comes. ( 4 amps at 48v) On flat, or just slight inclines of rolling hills, 200w will get you 5 hours of ride time from a 1000 wh pack. So say you rode 15 mph, that's a solid 75 miles right there. Likely you pedaled at 100w, so you actually got 1500wh of power to the wheel. You can get up some pretty steep hills on 400w, and then coast to get the miles back on the other side. Only really steep long hills will shorten your range that much.

By 75 miles, I bet you a hundred bucks your ass is begging for mercy, and you want off for the day. To do a 100 mile day, for any normal person not accustomed to 6-8 hours of saddle time a day, Kingfish has the solution. Travel closer to 30 mph, and carry a honking big battery to do 100 miles. But that is a ton of weight, and most normal bikes can't carry that much.

I will guess that right now you have 36v 10 ah? Get another 36v 10 ah, or even 15, and you will have a pretty solid 40 mile range if you ride 15 mph. By then you will want to stop, ( 3 hours in the saddle) at least for a few hours, so find places you can charge mid day. Only out west where I live is it truly 60-70 miles between towns. Most of the USA has much shorter distances between plugs.

I found riding on long tours faster than 20 mph to be worthless. Only at 15-20 mph do you really see the country you are riding through. Any faster, you just see the next broken bottle you need to dodge and that's all.

 

[friendly1uk]

Where you going and how fast.

I was a desk bum when I built my bike. I couldn't use it without power. Just turning the pedals to keep the motor running was tiring me out. In the first week I did a 18 mile run down the riverside using 4Ah, so you can easily do 100 miles with 10kg of lipo. My projection suggests 6.5kg. Just 20Ah for some sedate riverside cruising.

 

[dogman dan]

Oh yeah, 10kg is about 22 pounds. 48v 10 ah of RC batteries is about 8-9 pounds. So that's adding a solid 1000 wh. If you ride 15 mph, that should get you close to 50 miles. Further of course, if you pedal up more than 100w. Even a pretty fat old fart can usually put out 100w.

 

[friendly1uk]

15mph! you hooligan! lol I was looking at the river and the grasslands. The flowers and the lady joggers.

The ebikes sim projects 100 miles from a bpm geared hub using 44v and 20Ah if you do 8.5mph. That is without pedaling. I guess I turned that 8.5mph into 10mph with my mild effort. That is over tripple walking speed.

The actual route and speed are everything.

 

[itchynackers]

The dog: not that you asked, but I was running 200w max (at 2 amps).

 

[kudos]

I love this forum! I was literally thinking yesterday if I wanted to do 100 miles in a single ride how would I do it, I check in and here's a thread about the very thing.

I have a dream to do a round the world trip on two wheels. I've always presumed it would be on a motorbike, but now I'm realising by the time I'm in a position to do it, I might very well be able to go electric.

My first thought was, how long am I willing to spend in the saddle. 20mph average is 5 hours, that's a long time when I can usually handle no more than 2....but then it depends on what kind of route you're on. A boring road you might want to do a bit faster.

Then you've got charging time. Say you went lipo. A battery sized at 50-60Ah is going to take hours to charge. My 13.5Ah battery takes 1.5 hours to charge from flat using a 300W icharger. Of course I could get a more powerful charginging setup but I know from experience that not every outlet has the same available power.

Several of my friends in France have opted for a 10amp service to reduce costs which would mean even my lowly setup would trip their breaker.

So although technically you can buy any size battery you want for a one off trip, if you were touring, then time to charge and time to numb bum maybe take precedence?

I have a kiddy trailer I use to take my son around sometimes, there is enough volume in there to carry everything anyone would need for a round the world trip batteries included.

Getting off topic a bit maybe but love to think about this stuff.....

Kudos

 

[wesnewell]

The only way I'd spend more than 2 hours on a bike is a recumbent. Preferably a recumbent trike. That's the only way to any distance imo. Nice lay on you back like an easy chair/

 

[davec]

48v 40ah battery should do the trick
although you may need a strong cargo bike to carry it(either cargo bike- or bike with trailor)- you could do it on a smaller battery but than you're stuck wasting time re-charging

 

[Sunder]

I have a dream to do a round the world trip on two wheels. I've always presumed it would be on a motorbike, but now I'm realising by the time I'm in a position to do it, I might very well be able to go electric.
Getting off topic a bit maybe but love to think about this stuff.....

Funny you should mention this. I was dreaming of doing the UK on electric bike in about 5 years time, then all of Europe in about 15 years time. (If I can get that early retirement I'm hoping for).

I don't think bike physics and motors will change in that time, but batteries definitely will. So I'm now looking into how to get better aerodynamics without getting hunched over positions, how to design and tune motor windings to be most efficient over a particular speed, different tyre types and thickness, including ride comfort.

I'm hoping in 5 years, we can increase energy density 20-30%, which will make doing 100 mile days tenable with a break. I'm hoping by the time I retire, we increase it 100%, to make 100 mile days without recharge tenable. So right now, not even thinking about weight or chargers.

It's a pipe dream now - hell, for all I know, it's too cold for an Aussie to bike around the UK except in mid-summer or something. But it's nice to dream, and it gives me something to work towards. Hey, if you can give me a place to crash in the UK, maybe I can give you a place to crash in Australia

 

[kudos]

Sunder,

I don't know if you've watched this:

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=56154

Well worth it.

I think you're right about batteries, five years from now capacity should have increased by approx half again.

I'd happily give you a place to crash just as many Ozzies did for me on my travels down there, but I'm not in mainland UK! I'm on a small island off France.

I'm looking forward to seeing the long range bikes appear on these forums year by year though.

Kudos

 

[mvly]

Sure just pedal the whole way.

I had a 51.4V22Ah battery and was able to do a full 126miles on the single battery. I think I still had 1-2Ah left.

The key is to pedal the heck out of it and only use the electric motor for hills or when you feel a cramp coming on.

The other option is carry a shitload of battery, but I don't like it as much because after a certain point you will be carrying a shitload of battery everywhere.

100miles is the dream.

Time for a nuclear battery?