I'm SO confused!

[Tourezrick]

It seems that every day I read a new article about which battery chemistry is "best" for e-bikes. As a person who just finished building his first personal electric vehicle, a trike with C'lyte X5 hub, my focus to this point has been exclusively on the thing I am most familiar with - the recumbent trike. Making a decision on the hubmotor wasn't that difficult, I started out with a WE BL36 400w pedal first, and after discovering that I couldn't get the power I needed from 400w (knew it all along, but $250 incl. batts. seemed like a good way to jump in) despite how hard I pedaled, the X5 series seemed like the only answer. Now, I'm a 'FROG' - a fat retired old guy, not that I can't or don't ride - I do - a lot - over 4000 miles this year on my Scorpion trike. But a low slung recumbent trike is not the wisest choice around for a PEV. The soccer moms and A-Type dads just don't respect something that doesn't even come up to bumper height on their Hummer, and I'm not a testosterone driven confrontational type, 15 years as a WaDo Ryu black belt taught me the foolishness of going to war over every provocation. Being visible and able to maintain 25 - 30 mph when needed is what it's all about for me. That and some range from the batteries. I've gotten 33 miles from the WE setup, with more still available in the 'cans' and had solar panels adding a little (45w) bit, and a lot more weight, but dropped to 7 miles with the X5 hub and solar. Sure I goosed it up to 25 mph - 60 still isn't that old, but went back down to a more sustainable 12 right way. But, still - gotta get more than 7 miles on a charge!

So, back to batteries. I understand the chemistry and potentials (sorta) and economics (very) of various batts, and understand that everyone has opinions, just like bodily orifices, but no sooner do I think I have a handle on it and decide on LiFePo4 with Ping, along come more articles saying NiMh, NiCad and carbon foam sla are the 'thing' for Ev's! I thought Ni chemistry was past prime, and carbon foam is new to me. Again, I know one man's opinion is another's tp, but what does this forum think? Ping or competition for LiFe, Ni ??? SLA in whatever form??

 

[Ypedal]

Welllll.. i got some good news.. and some bad news...

good news : We can help you figure this out.. one way or another..

Bad news: It won't be cheap !

( damn.. caught on a call.. be right back )

ok. i'm back.. stick with what's available.. Ping, BMI/PSI/Lifebatt , LiPo( seriously ) , Headway, do it yourself pack.. etc..

Nicad or Nimh, is an option, but you need to go with the 18ah packs to feed the beast that is an X5...

A 48v 10ah pack of PSI/BMI/etc... will give you a 20mile range or so.. if you need more range than this. the 20ah Ping.

If you are handy with a volt meter, understand the dangers, and are a bit of a risk taker, RC lipo packs can put out the amps like a champ.. tell us more if you are in this category of individual.. :wink:

 

[Tourezrick]

Amazingly, I've done some 220v 3 phase work on swimming pool pump repairs. I have built 8500 rpm dohc racing engines for my Alfa Romeo, and lower rpm 327 and 427 ci racing engines when our group had an old McLaren Mk.1B sports racer. With that in mind - no, I don't feel like I am qualified or want to start experimenting with building my own battery packs, bms boards, etc. So, LiFe and Mr. Ping will have to be the way to go. It's just that another board, situated in Toronto has had a slew of posts and some documentation on this topic, and I bit into it! Learning is! Thanks for replying!

 

[dogman dan]

For the x5 get as big a ping pack as you can afford. Even a 20 ah pack can be a bit small when you have a motor capable of more than 60 amp spikes. A 24 ah would do it if you can get ping to make one. If you still get cutouts on hills and starts, you may have to doctor the bms to get just a few more max amps. But if you get a bigger pack, the strain on the cells will be less. Another approach would be to lower the amps of the controller, like getting the 20 amp controller, or setting a max of 55 amps with a cycleanalyst.

 

[rkosiorek]

Amazingly, I've done some 220v 3 phase work on swimming pool pump repairs. I have built 8500 rpm dohc racing engines for my Alfa Romeo, and lower rpm 327 and 427 ci racing engines when our group had an old McLaren Mk.1B sports racer. With that in mind - no, I don't feel like I am qualified or want to start experimenting with building my own battery packs, bms boards, etc. So, LiFe and Mr. Ping will have to be the way to go. It's just that another board, situated in Toronto has had a slew of posts and some documentation on this topic, and I bit into it! Learning is! Thanks for replying!

which toronto based board is that? asking because i aleays like to know who is more or less local to me.

Rick

 

[Tourezrick]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/e-motor-assist/

this group

 

[Ypedal]

You will find that many of us are members on alot of the forums lol..

aka: G Daigle. :wink:

 

[Battboy]

I think you mentioned in your first post you have an e - trike ? Since a trike is a different animal than an e-bike, it gives you a lot of flexibility to go with many different battery chemistries. One thing you can do for example is start out with SLA decent quality batteries that fit your motor and work out all the bugs. This will provide an easy and low cost entry point for you from which you can always move on up to the other lighter but more costly chemistries. Of course I would recommend LiFePO4 because it will give you high power and range plus last much longer than Li-Po or NiMh, but is the most expensive. On a trike you pay less of a penalty for the heavy weight of SLA, however, so why not start out with those and after you get tired of them - then have a look @ the more exotic chemistries ?

Best,

Don Harmon