Hey, this are my first impressions on a EM3EV kit after 3 weeks of usage.
First of all here's what I bought:
*50V 12.3Ah Samsung Triangle Pack
*500W Direct Drive Kit
- 26" Wheel
- Rear motor 305rpm (244rpm loaded) @36V
- Controller Type 9FET 30A w/EB3 Program Cable
*add to this spare throttle, brakes and a few other bits'n pieces
About the shipping (to France), something went massively wrong as the box got mangled, every packing inside torn/cut, the DH19 wheel slightly bent. We were very lucky that no major parts broke, but most got at least a hit or two, even the battery. Since the packing was so badly torn and yet most things were not badly damaged I can only assume things got bad closer to destination, maybe even after/during customs in Fr. I was raging, but since then it seems no major harm was done. The shipping option on EM3EV was Speedpost Battery, I doubt it can be worse.
Now, about the bike. Pic below with everything mounted:
*the bike is full aluminum frame, 27.5kg with the electric. The weight is significant, but nothing like amazon-based or dutch-frame bikes one can buy in Europe from a store.
*dynamics: I find I can take turns slightly slower than before. The tires are however mountain-bike Michelin-s, so not adapted to street use. The bike being heavier slides on the bumps on the edge of the tire. I will update the dynamics bit after trying with a pair of Schwalbe Marathon. I'd say that the bike still works like a bike, I can do forest trails, keep balance at close to zero speed and steer around an unexpected hole in the road at 25km/h (16mph)
*first start: I couldn't erase the grin of my face for many days. The torque is just awesome. First try after mounting the system in the living room I turned the bike with wheels the right side down, jumped on, propped my back against the saddle, front brake on (not ebrake) and I pinched the throttle: burnout on the carpet! That's some serious torque, but since then I had to do all testing outside or my lady would sent me sleep in the doghouse.
*full power testing: all grins and awesomeness. The max the controller current is 30A, but I don't think I ever reached that. Starting from standstill, only pinching the throttle almost throws me off (me=150pounds). Throttling from 20kph boosts quickly to 40-something, mere seconds. A 300m 10% hill next to my home is a breeze. I find it so amazing that everybody should have one. The eBike system removes the difficulty from two parts of biking: starts and hills.
*making it road-legal for Europe: to keep it short, in order for a bike to be legal in Europe as far as I read it has to: be PAS-only, 250W at the wheel and not assist over 25km/h. Considering the EB3 controller is programmable some of these restrictions are easy to comply with:
*250W - just limit the DC current in the battery. This is not exact science since the voltage roams between slightly above to somewhat below 50V. I just took 50V. Then the 250W needs to be at the wheel, so the DC current should account for the inefficiencies of the inverter and motor. I haven't done any of that and chose 5A limit on DC. It's conservative, I'll try to relax this as time goes by.
*25km/h - with this particular winding and 50V I find that 50% speed setting in the controller roughly corresponds to 26-28km/h. The wheels are 26" with 1.95 tire wall.
*PAS - EM3EV's PAS is integrated with a 36V battery SOC indicator. This is unfortunate, since they only sell 50V batteries
As such I took a PAS sensor from ebay and it'll have to be soldered on the PCB of the controller. I'll post when it's done.
*recovery isn't active yet due to incompatibility between the bike and eBrakes, TBD when ready
User's thoughts on the system:
*cellman's kit breathes quality. Even though the packing was battered almost all parts arrived untouched. The connectors click together, I picked the default bullets for AC and Anderson for the rest.
*In the box there was no wiring diagram, but it wasn't needed as any connector can only fit to its pair.
*The programming tools for the EB3 (both original and modded XPD) are awesome and for someone that has an idea of electricity they're quite easy to grasp.
Day to day limited @250W DC:
*it really makes a difference to how I use the bike. I have to pedal, it's not powerful enough to push by itself up the 10% hill. I never wanted a eScooter, so it's ok. I go up hat hill @17kph (10mph) with moderate pedaling, about twice my previous mountain-bike speed and slightly faster than the lycra speed while not sweating at all.
*I haven't charged the battery yet... because it's still going strong. I have some 30km on board, most on 250W limitation and it reads above 54V.
*I don't think a torque arm would be useful, at least not at 250W.
Battery disconnected (to simulate SOC=0%):
*so with only pedal power, the cruise speed on flats is ~20kph, 30kph possible.
*The cogging torque I was a bit afraid isn't that bad. It's dampened by the 200 pounds of me+bike. So in case one's battery runs flat the bike can be used like a bike. Just make sure there's no steep hill between you and the outlet as you'll have to work hard for it.
Future:
*tweak the PAS
*setup regen
*change tires
*do a proper endurance run; this can be hard because as the old saying says "Winter is comin'". I'm quite optimistic that it would to do 60-80km @250W limit. A CA would have helped, if there's anyone in Paris willing to borrow one just PM
That's about it for now. All the objectives were attained for the first few weeks: managed to build an ebike that is better and cheaper than what can be bought in a store. Far better, not much cheaper, but still... And it just is very very fun. I'm not going to give up the lycra any time soon, but this is something else, much more practical for day to day. I'm going to press anyone I know to build one and if we find some arrangement so that the packaging won't be shattered I I highly recommend EM3EV's DD kit.
Update1: Regen is working. On "soft" setting in controller (XPD) it slows the bike down quite fast from 25 to about 15km/h. For my weight the "soft" setting seems too little, it probably goes higher without breaking grip (at least in straight line and dry).
First of all here's what I bought:
*50V 12.3Ah Samsung Triangle Pack
*500W Direct Drive Kit
- 26" Wheel
- Rear motor 305rpm (244rpm loaded) @36V
- Controller Type 9FET 30A w/EB3 Program Cable
*add to this spare throttle, brakes and a few other bits'n pieces
About the shipping (to France), something went massively wrong as the box got mangled, every packing inside torn/cut, the DH19 wheel slightly bent. We were very lucky that no major parts broke, but most got at least a hit or two, even the battery. Since the packing was so badly torn and yet most things were not badly damaged I can only assume things got bad closer to destination, maybe even after/during customs in Fr. I was raging, but since then it seems no major harm was done. The shipping option on EM3EV was Speedpost Battery, I doubt it can be worse.
Now, about the bike. Pic below with everything mounted:
*the bike is full aluminum frame, 27.5kg with the electric. The weight is significant, but nothing like amazon-based or dutch-frame bikes one can buy in Europe from a store.
*dynamics: I find I can take turns slightly slower than before. The tires are however mountain-bike Michelin-s, so not adapted to street use. The bike being heavier slides on the bumps on the edge of the tire. I will update the dynamics bit after trying with a pair of Schwalbe Marathon. I'd say that the bike still works like a bike, I can do forest trails, keep balance at close to zero speed and steer around an unexpected hole in the road at 25km/h (16mph)
*first start: I couldn't erase the grin of my face for many days. The torque is just awesome. First try after mounting the system in the living room I turned the bike with wheels the right side down, jumped on, propped my back against the saddle, front brake on (not ebrake) and I pinched the throttle: burnout on the carpet! That's some serious torque, but since then I had to do all testing outside or my lady would sent me sleep in the doghouse.
*full power testing: all grins and awesomeness. The max the controller current is 30A, but I don't think I ever reached that. Starting from standstill, only pinching the throttle almost throws me off (me=150pounds). Throttling from 20kph boosts quickly to 40-something, mere seconds. A 300m 10% hill next to my home is a breeze. I find it so amazing that everybody should have one. The eBike system removes the difficulty from two parts of biking: starts and hills.
*making it road-legal for Europe: to keep it short, in order for a bike to be legal in Europe as far as I read it has to: be PAS-only, 250W at the wheel and not assist over 25km/h. Considering the EB3 controller is programmable some of these restrictions are easy to comply with:
*250W - just limit the DC current in the battery. This is not exact science since the voltage roams between slightly above to somewhat below 50V. I just took 50V. Then the 250W needs to be at the wheel, so the DC current should account for the inefficiencies of the inverter and motor. I haven't done any of that and chose 5A limit on DC. It's conservative, I'll try to relax this as time goes by.
*25km/h - with this particular winding and 50V I find that 50% speed setting in the controller roughly corresponds to 26-28km/h. The wheels are 26" with 1.95 tire wall.
*PAS - EM3EV's PAS is integrated with a 36V battery SOC indicator. This is unfortunate, since they only sell 50V batteries
As such I took a PAS sensor from ebay and it'll have to be soldered on the PCB of the controller. I'll post when it's done.*recovery isn't active yet due to incompatibility between the bike and eBrakes, TBD when ready
User's thoughts on the system:
*cellman's kit breathes quality. Even though the packing was battered almost all parts arrived untouched. The connectors click together, I picked the default bullets for AC and Anderson for the rest.
*In the box there was no wiring diagram, but it wasn't needed as any connector can only fit to its pair.
*The programming tools for the EB3 (both original and modded XPD) are awesome and for someone that has an idea of electricity they're quite easy to grasp.
Day to day limited @250W DC:
*it really makes a difference to how I use the bike. I have to pedal, it's not powerful enough to push by itself up the 10% hill. I never wanted a eScooter, so it's ok. I go up hat hill @17kph (10mph) with moderate pedaling, about twice my previous mountain-bike speed and slightly faster than the lycra speed while not sweating at all.
*I haven't charged the battery yet... because it's still going strong. I have some 30km on board, most on 250W limitation and it reads above 54V.
*I don't think a torque arm would be useful, at least not at 250W.
Battery disconnected (to simulate SOC=0%):
*so with only pedal power, the cruise speed on flats is ~20kph, 30kph possible.
*The cogging torque I was a bit afraid isn't that bad. It's dampened by the 200 pounds of me+bike. So in case one's battery runs flat the bike can be used like a bike. Just make sure there's no steep hill between you and the outlet as you'll have to work hard for it.
Future:
*tweak the PAS
*setup regen
*change tires
*do a proper endurance run; this can be hard because as the old saying says "Winter is comin'". I'm quite optimistic that it would to do 60-80km @250W limit. A CA would have helped, if there's anyone in Paris willing to borrow one just PM
That's about it for now. All the objectives were attained for the first few weeks: managed to build an ebike that is better and cheaper than what can be bought in a store. Far better, not much cheaper, but still... And it just is very very fun. I'm not going to give up the lycra any time soon, but this is something else, much more practical for day to day. I'm going to press anyone I know to build one and if we find some arrangement so that the packaging won't be shattered I I highly recommend EM3EV's DD kit.
Update1: Regen is working. On "soft" setting in controller (XPD) it slows the bike down quite fast from 25 to about 15km/h. For my weight the "soft" setting seems too little, it probably goes higher without breaking grip (at least in straight line and dry).
