ElectricRider Phoenix Cruiser II

[CVillalobos]

Just put together my sensorless Phoenix Cruiser II with 48V40A controller, and Crystalyte PDA. I have to admit I am impressed. I got a great deal because I told the guys at ElectricRider that I just wanted the old Phoenix I kit with hall sensors for around $400 less. I guess the hall sensored batch came wired wrong and all the wheels ran backwards. So they just sent out the new kits for the old kit price. Yay for me! The kit with PDA ended up costing $935.00 including shipping.

The 26" 23mm rear rim and wheel hub came with a 7 gear cassette already on, and the whole unit weighs around 16lbs. The PDA has three "gear" settings that seem to be for different power outputs from the controller. It monitors Battery Charge, Volts, Watts, Amps, Efficiency, MPH/KPH, and trip meter. The PDA may have more applications too, but in ElectricRiders rush to get this out to me they didn't send a manual so I am shooting at the hip when it comes to setting it up. I guess there is a way to program in your own battery Voltage. I don't know about the speedometer accuracy because it showed me going over 50mph at one point, but I was going downhill and peddling like crazy in the highest gear. On the flats I was catching up with cars on 30mph speed limit roads so I must be going around 35mph

I'm using two 6S1P 8000mah 30C Zippy LIPOs in series and have been getting them warm on my rides. I'm noticing some voltage sag when I use 40 amps. I just ordered four 6S1P 5000mah 20C Zippys so I can have a total of 18000mah at my disposal. Hopefully that will get rid of the voltage sag and warm battery problem. I also won't have to charge my batteries at work.

I can get the front wheel up in the air without much effort. I need to learn how to ride wheelies on a mountain bike now!

No problems yet. The sensorless motor stutters a little bit from a standstill, but I guess that is to be expected. Motor is a little warm after 9 miles of constant flogging. I had to fabricate some torque arms because after the first ride the axle was trying to remove itself from the rear fork. I'm still trying to figure out how to wire up TPpack's LVC to the throttle.

I’m very happy with this setup. I’ve ridden motorcycles for years and just got tired of all the hassle of ownership. Expensive Maintenance, Gas, and Insurance. I’m loving electric; I just hope I don’t get a ticket.

Chris

 

[gestalt]

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[CVillalobos]

 

[dogman dan]

So this is the new crystalyte motors? or the disk ready design of 5300 series? Cool they have added a dashboard.

 

[CVillalobos]

So this is the new crystalyte motors? or the disk ready design of 5300 series? Cool they have added a dashboard.

I really couldn't tell you if it's a totally new design. It's the first Crystalyte motor I've ever owned. The guys at work were pretty impressed at the speed though. 99% of the people I work with think electric is slow and heavy. I think I changed some minds.

 

[Bazaki]

Looks all very good, what kind of device is that pda ? Something like a cycle analyst ? looks great but I'm curious about the options and settings you can make with it.

 

[CVillalobos]

Here is a link to electricriders manual on their "APM", Active Power Management device.

http://www.electricrider.com/docs/APMDisplay_Owners_Manual.pdf

 

[CVillalobos]

Checked miles per hour:

I took a "Speedzone Sport" speedometer off another bike to double check the Crystalyte APM speedometer and from what I can tell the Crystalyte is off by a factor of around 2 to 1. So when I'm actually going 30mph the APM says I'm doing around double that. Now that I think about it the Crystalyte may be stuck in kph even when it's display is reading mph. I will have to check to see if that is the case.

From two weeks of riding I've found that the new Crystalyte motor with the 48v40a controller and 50V 12S lipo pack will easily do 30 to 35mph on flat ground with a 170lbs. rider, me, and sometimes will go as fast as 40mph with a long enough straight away.

 

[The Mighty Volt]

What are the parameters of this Crystalyte PDA? What voltage will it read up to, amps, how much did it cost, etc??? Thanks.

 

[dogman dan]

That's pretty fast for 12s. You must have the speed version. And the speed version appears very fast. How does it do on hills? Tried anything really steep like 10%?

Just ride polite on bike trails, passing pedestrians slower than 20 mph etc. On the street just pedal all the time and they (cops) pay no attention to your speed unless it's a school zone, or other slow speed area.

Ride like a jerk, wrong way up the road, running lights and stop signs, etc. Then you get what you deserve.

 

[torker]

Looks good. Do you have anymore pics of the motor? It looks too small to be a 53xx series. Maybe a 4xx series. Or is it the brand new hs-35?? Got me wondering . I really like the PDA speedo. If you can get it calibrated.

 

[CrazyJerry]

sometimes will go as fast as 40mph with a long enough straight away.

Yup. Get a little aero incorporated and you'll really be wide-eyed. I have the same set-up but different batteries than yours and I can routinely cruise in the 40's - no long stretch needed
Have fun!
CrazyJerry

 

[CVillalobos]

How does it do on hills? Tried anything really steep like 10%?

I have a short 10% grade close to my house. If I use full throttle (without pedaling) I can start on the bottom that hill from a dead stop and accellerate up to 20mph in a pretty short amout of time. On 6% grades the motor can push around 25mph.

 

[CVillalobos]

Looks all very good, what kind of device is that pda ? Something like a cycle analyst ? looks great but I'm curious about the options and settings you can make with it.

Some cool features I've found:

You can set it up for 24, 48, 60, 72, and 84 volts. So that the battery display will correlate with your voltage.

Maximum Current Setting- You can modify the maximum current your controller will pull. So if you have a 40amp controller you can make it so it will only pull a max of a lower setting. Control is to the integer level.

Low Voltage Cutoff (LVC) Setting - Set your own LVC. I have mine set at 41 volts. Control is to a tenth of a volt.

Cruise control- It's pretty crude or maybe I'm not using it right. I can't seem to get it to set where I want so I stopped using it.

Has three speed or assist modes depending on how your bike is set up. The speed mode will reduce the power to the motor once you get to a certain speed. Keeps me from speeding.

I copied the rest from the ElectricRider manual:

DISPLAY OPTIONS:
Speed – Displays your speed, real-time. The rider can choose KPH or MPH.
RPM – Displays the RPM of the motor while in motion.
Current – Displays the amount of current (Amps) being used to keep your vehicle in motion.
Torque – Displays the amount of torque your system is producing at any given time.
Watts – Displays the amount of Watts (Power) being used by your motor to keep your vehicle in motion.
Efficiency – Displays the efficiency percentage of your current riding situation. Example: You may notice your efficiency is at 10% when applying full throttle from a dead stop. However, you will also notice that pedaling very lightly during acceleration will increase your efficiency dramatically. The efficiency display can help the rider to know when energy is being wasted, and how to balance power and range effectively. We highly recommend using the efficiency display feature, as it can help to extend your range dramatically without much effort.
Scan – This display option will continuously cycle through all the display options. Each display option will appear for 3-5 seconds before switching to the next

 

[CVillalobos]

Current Bicycle Photos. I plan on adding front suspension with disc brake and a 52 tooth or greater chainring so I can pedal at 20mph+

 

[mvly]

I am interested in the kind of range you get. Also if you find a way to calibrate the speed, that would be great! I got a BMC V3 motor and I can get 33mph on flat no pedal using 36V at 33Amp current limit and the speedometer is calibrated accurately to a gps. I hear that the Cruiser II can hit 40+mph and want to compare it to my BMC V3. Also where are you housing the battery? I am assuming in the center of the frame?

 

[CVillalobos]

I've been riding every day to and from work. At full charge (~50Volts) and 40Amps I can get up to 40MPH, but on average the max speed seems to be around 35 to 37MPH. Range is a tough one to state because I never take my battery much below 30% charge, and now that I have a charger at work which is around 10 miles away I run pretty inefficiently. Full throttle most of the way home.

 

[Trackman417]

Hows the new battery setup going for you?! Any updates from last year?

 

[CVillalobos]

I'm still using the original battery pack. I have to admit that I didn't ride the bike much last couple years. My work schedule changed so that I have to ride during rush hour now plus some nasty multiyear road work on the overpasses that I use have made me skittish to ride. But it is nice to be able to take the bike and battery pack out of storage every year and have it work without a glitch. Can't say that for a ICE bike.