I am almost ready to commute with this bike. I plan to start commuting on Wednesday baring any unforeseen issues that pop up. I was actually going to start tomorrow but I have a dinner meeting after work that I need to attend.
I conducted a couple of range tests today and yesterday to measure how much range I will need to get to work.
I mapped out my ride here:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/35710136 - as you can see it's mostly a flat ride (elevation goes up to 80 feet) with a little bit of elevation at the end but hardly noticeable. Mile total says 15.86 miles.
I believe a 12s2p lipo setup will be fine for a one way commute. I plan to store an extra meanwell power supply at work and bring my charger with me in my panniers. However, to be safe, I am going to go with a 12s3p setup for now for extra range. I also have extra lipos so I can go up to 12s4p if I really want to.
Yesterday, I conducted my first range test. I ran on 12s3p. However, my test was not all that scientific. I did a little bit of test riding on my street beforehand, let my friend test it out a little bit on my block, etc. I then reset the CA and went out for my ride. There was a lot of head wind and conditions were not very good. In the end, my CA reported 9.893 miles traveled, a start of 49.2v and ended at 46.6 v. 4.136ah used. My charger (hyperion 1420i) reported 5326mah charged. I attribute the difference to the test riding that I did earlier before the ride, etc. Like I said, it was not very scientific. However, if I extrapolate my ~10 mile ride, I feel good that 15ah is more than enough capacity to handle my 16 mile commute.
Today, I conducted my second range test. I ran on 12s3p again. This time my test was more scientific. I was careful not to ride or use any battery before my test. I charged to 85% TCS which results in cells balanced at roughly 4.11-4.12 volts. I started at 49.2v. This time I rode 16.22 miles and ended at 45.8v. 6.027ah used. After my ride, I charged again and my charger reported 6030mah charged. I rode about 1/2 way to work (the same route) and rode back home. The 2nd half of my route is not too much different from the 1st half. Unfortunately today is Memorial Day which means everyone comes to the beach so there was a ton of congestion on the bike trail, etc. I expect my time to be much faster but in terms of battery usage, hopefully not too far off.
I feel good that my 12s3p setup will be more than ample to get to me to work.
I took a video of the first 30 minutes of my ride:
http://www.vimeo.com/24448320 - as you can see, I live only a few blocks from the beach and the beach bike trail. However, it was really crowded and I ran at speed 2 (out of 3). I maxed out mostly at 22mph although I did go WOT on speed 3 at the end which maxed out at around 28mph and felt like flying.
I'm a little nervous about how much power I can be drawing from the motor and controller. Is it pretty safe to ride at 22mph drawing about 10-15 amps and 800 watts continuously? I feel a bit nervous since I'm still in testing mode so I usually do that for about 30 seconds, let off to let things cool, then go back again, etc.
I should take some updated pictures. I installed my torque arm (sorta, it's a ghetto install job), added a bell, added a horn (air horn), installed hydraulic front disc brakes, changed my front tire to be more slick, added a precharge resistor, cleaned up wiring a bit, installed the controller for better air cooling, installed my brooks saddle from my other bike, etc.