Etrike Touring

[Ykick]

No need to defend an EXCELLENT vendor but please compare Apples to Apples and not Apples to Oranges.

When you pay your workers fairly, operate from legitimate storefront and provide proper warranty service for rather complicated and easily wrecked products - prices will certainly seem higher than businesses which operate on the other side of the coin and/or world.

 

[m4s73r]

And i AGREE with that 100%, however cellmans run 775. ping runs even cheaper. The same price will get you a 30ah ping for the same price. They dont make the battery as far as i can see. They just forward the order to allcell as far as i can tell. So I'm just trying to sort the huge price difference between "reputable" vendors.

 

[dogman dan]

First of all, it's on this side of the pond. Look at prices of other vendors, that ship from north America. They are pretty pricy too.

Second of all, Grin has customer service that blows away every other vendor. We love Justin here, because he bought this website, and pays the operating costs to keep it commercial free. But aside from that, he still is the best ebike motor kit vendor world wide. Best. but far from cheapest.

Plus, he's sinking megabucks and time into R&D that china won't spend the cash on. He's the one that forced all the other manufacturers to do design improvement changes to keep up with what he was having made for his retail operation. He invented the CA, which now all others are scrambling to have something similar. Grin will not stock junk. Period. You would not believe how many batteries he's tried, and dumped because his level of CS was not possible with what he was getting. Real CS for the battery can be incredibly expensive. You simply cannot afford to ship them back, and repairing them takes a guy who costs the company a lot more than minimum wage.

It don't come cheap though.

We'd love to just say " buy it all from Grin" to everybody, every time. But that's not realistic. Particularly with batteries, most of us save a lot of money by getting stuff shipped from china. EM3ev gets lots of recommendations, but you don't get local CS from him. From China, you get at best, some free parts and some email instructions.

Battery is where the money really goes on an ebike, especially one intended to ride long tours. It's a bitch, and a real big reason why so many ES people will build their own from whatever cells they can get their greedy hands on. Others like me, go the lico route and take precautions to avoid burning the house down. The battery looks like, well, you know. Don't park in front of the Govt buildings.

 

[dogman dan]

FWIW, for your purposes, a 48v 30 ah ping would be my first choice. But split for carrying, and set up to charge with dual chargers. Followed by a 48v 20 ah A123 pack from EM3ev if he still can provide those 20 ah pouch cells.

 

[m4s73r]

I went and started looking around and other NAmerica sources and youre right dogman. And that 1200 is a little low. Didnt account for shipping/battery handling. Too bad US isnt manufacturing anymore. Id like to buy local, just cant see spending $2400 for a 40ah battery when i can get the same for 1100 from china. Hopefully North America becomes competitive. Right now theyre just not.

Will be really nice when Lico can be made in such a way that you can wire it together with charge port with out having to rewire the pack every time you charge it. I wonder how outriderusa did it.

 

[m4s73r]

FWIW, for your purposes, a 48v 30 ah ping would be my first choice. But split for carrying, and set up to charge with dual chargers. Followed by a 48v 20 ah A123 pack from EM3ev if he still can provide those 20 ah pouch cells.

And i was going to go with 2 20ah from sun-thing @589 shipped with 5amp charger.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-NEW-48v-20ah-LiFePO4-Battery-5A-Charger-BMS-Ebike-Powerful-Express-/130973371320?pt=US_Rechargeable_Batteries&hash=item1e7e9f0bb8

 

[ddk]

Thanks for sharing your experience DDK. Cool to see another approach. Using 2 cheaper motors then 1 more expensive one. I like it.
I have been using the sim over on ebikes.ca. What maximum grade would i need to prepare for?
Over the last couple of days I have been considering a geared motor mid drive. The guy over at urbancommuterstore.com has a mid drive set up for cargo bikes using a 10t mac motor for hauling cargo around town and up trails. Im considering that (braket set up for 500 from him and a 6t motor from cellman) with a duel drive. The trike im building wont be just for touring.

You never said what kind of trike you ride. Is all this gear on the trike? trailer? pic?

My trike is a custom-designed delta semi-recumbent designed and built all by myself (not really, the guy in the pic did all my welding work) recent addition The roof can hold a 150W solar panel, but without sun I get chilled where I live (average temps about 13C) so I stopped using the panel on the trike

Thats interesting on the weight/watt you carry. what type of battery are you using? are you running with a fairing or some aero? and 4kw is like 80ah of battery. Im not even sure where on the trike i would put 4 20ah batteries.

which Nuvinci model was it that broke?

I'm using a NuVinci 191 which I highly don't recommend, as it's been nothing but one issue after another before i got it to work semi-reliably.
Lucky for you, they don't sell it anymore (that I know about)
The trike continues to evolve where I recently had a custom front fork made that includes clamps in loo of axle nuts to handle the regen braking force from the magic pie.
It's all detailed in this overly long and rambling random thread

No fairing so I get pretty crappy efficiencies. Still better than any of my 'former' normal Bikes. My seat sits 16" above the ground -or- almost normal chair height. I sit about even height with passenger car occupants.

My battery packs are (of course custom built) LiCo batteries with an average of 20Ah per box. The trike can carry 4 boxes, but I normally use 2
One set is 14S @ 20Ah for the pie, the other set is 10S @ 25Ah for the Bafang. I rebuilding all my 10S packs to 14S because I install a tap at 10S anyways (I like like things to be alike)

The MAC motors you mentioned are definitely more capable than what I'm using but as I mentioned, what I'm using is perfectly suitable for my needs.

BTW- I like to cruise along at 10-13mph because I like to see stuff along the way. I've crashed bikes at above 20mph and I'd rather not ever do that again
The farthest I've ridden this trike in a day was 138 miles and my a** was tuckered out.

 

[m4s73r]

I like it. For some reason it seems like a steer skull with some big ass horns is missing from the front of that. lol. Whew that is alot of battery. Was that 138 mile trip on a single charge with all 4 boxes?

 

[ddk]

I like it. For some reason it seems like a steer skull with some big ass horns is missing from the front of that. lol. Whew that is alot of battery. Was that 138 mile trip on a single charge with all 4 boxes?

yep- still 'only' used 50% or 2kW
It's extremely stupid to overly discharge batteries, unless you have lots more money than me. (I'm a thousandaire-lol)

 

[LockH]

Oh, I dunno... Perhaps some folks don't "DIY" (don't have handy all the tools, plus the expertise... to turn a screw-driver)?

Maybe the ebike Universe is a bit of a WILD WEST regarding flavours of battery, etc., etc.

Maybe some folks still HONOUR their warranties?

Personally, Master J could "soak me". HA HA! Buddy, take me for EVerything I got! (Hint: I don't currently own two nickels I could rub together.)

 

[GiantEV]

"... a trailer I built that my wife rides"

Pic please Mister Giant (a giant of few words, here on the ES Alt. Planet)!

Here you go, Mr. Lock:


Not much to look at, but it is very functional. I'm working on a custom solution that I should get together in the next couple of months. This is great for independent pedaling and the ability to leave the trailer at home when I'm riding without my wife (versus a tandem bike solution).

I plan on making a post of the new trailer, and all my other ebikes I've built over the years to give back to the community when I have a little more free time. Busy with grad school at the moment.

 

[LockH]

Ohhh... Looks like a "hottie"! (the trike too.)