dirtdad
1 kW
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2008
- Messages
- 309
Since putting together my Electric Ute http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13834 I have been toying with the idea of a reaaally big one day ride. 100 miles, or a century ride as roadies call it. I don't know if anyone has done it and posted on it yet. I mean, Dr. Bass goes fast, and Justin went a long way across Canada, but I don't know if they have done that many miles in one day. Even if someone has, I wanted to, too. The idea is not hard. You just need enough batteries. You could load a trailer with batteries on any eBike and go. There is the option of charging and carrying less batteries, but then there are only so many hours in a day.
So I did the math. I have 36V 50Ah (most likely less) of battery capacity at my disposal. If I keep a pace of about 15-20 mph I can usually consume about .5 Ah/mile. Or, since voltage is always changing, it is better to work with watts. That is 1800Wh, so I just need to keep consumption under 18Wh/m, which also means keep my speeds down and add some pedal power, but it should be no problem. BUT...I am pretty sure those battery packs are not at full capacity anymore. And 18Wh/m is boring. And I want to include some hills in my loop, and there will be headwinds. So I brought chargers. There are 4 separate packs. 3 10Ah and 1 20Ah. I have 2 4A chargers and 2 2A chargers. That is 12A of charging power. Assuming less than 100% charging efficiency and some non-linearity in charging, I figure I can get 10Ah pumped into the packs in an hour of charging. Even a 1/2 hour coffee break should give 5Ah. If I can do a couple charge stops I should be ok. I will just measure pack discharge and keep them on a rotation based on the next charging station so that all of them come in partially discharged and all of them can be charging and making the most of the charging ability. Those with more discharge will get the 4A charger, those with less will get the 2A charger.
Next...San Clemente to Cooks Corner. And pics.
So I did the math. I have 36V 50Ah (most likely less) of battery capacity at my disposal. If I keep a pace of about 15-20 mph I can usually consume about .5 Ah/mile. Or, since voltage is always changing, it is better to work with watts. That is 1800Wh, so I just need to keep consumption under 18Wh/m, which also means keep my speeds down and add some pedal power, but it should be no problem. BUT...I am pretty sure those battery packs are not at full capacity anymore. And 18Wh/m is boring. And I want to include some hills in my loop, and there will be headwinds. So I brought chargers. There are 4 separate packs. 3 10Ah and 1 20Ah. I have 2 4A chargers and 2 2A chargers. That is 12A of charging power. Assuming less than 100% charging efficiency and some non-linearity in charging, I figure I can get 10Ah pumped into the packs in an hour of charging. Even a 1/2 hour coffee break should give 5Ah. If I can do a couple charge stops I should be ok. I will just measure pack discharge and keep them on a rotation based on the next charging station so that all of them come in partially discharged and all of them can be charging and making the most of the charging ability. Those with more discharge will get the 4A charger, those with less will get the 2A charger.
Next...San Clemente to Cooks Corner. And pics.