Recent content by lava

I got my Geoorbital today. Looks and feels very high quality. I'll give it a try by the weekend and post my thoughts.

I backed the GeoOrbital Kickstarter. I'll be sure to write a review here once I've had a chance to try out my wheel in November. Here's hoping it's not vaporware...

Is the resistance of the motor beyond no load rpm as much as the resistance when the throttle is off?

Nelson, when you say the "motor cuts out completely" are you saying that it turns off or is no longer contributing any energy? Please explain. Teklektik, since I already know I can hit 30 mph on the flats on my recumbent, and there's no way I'm generating 1000W when I'm doing that, I can be...

Reading your post again, it seems a little contradictory... you say it's hard work to pedal only 3 mph faster than your motor with WOT. Why? Because your bike isn't geared right? Or because the motor is resisting you? But then you state I should have no problem going from 20 to 30? It's a little...

Great, thanks for the reply. Honestly, if I hit 30 I'll be happy. Don't really need to go any faster than that. But what is WOT? EDIT: Nevermind, wide open throttle...

This has probably been covered on this forum before, but I couldn't find it with the search function. Let's say I have an e-bike kit, a 500W brushless hub motor w/36V battery, that gets my bike up to 20 mph with no pedaling. Here's the question: Assuming my bike is geared high enough for me...

I see your point, The fingers, but I kind of feel like I'll be extending the life of this VW by electrifying it.

Thanks Amberwolf, but as I stated in the original post I already did those searches and almost all of it relates to e-bikes or e-scooters and not electric cars. The *one* thread relevant to cars talks about what companies to go to but doesn't offer any particulars pertaining to the questions I...

My father-in-law just informed me that he is giving me his pristine orange 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle. Beetles appear to be one of the easiest vehicles to convert to electric, so I am super pumped to get started. I did a search on here regarding what to expect when insuring it once it's...

I am considering building a 48V A123 LiFePO4 pack instead of buying one; can someone direct me to a schematic of a typical arrangement with BMS? I looked at quite a few pages of this thread but didn't find anything. I'm an electrical engineer so I am pretty sure I could pull it off without much...

Thanks for the heads-up, Tommy. I also am only doing half-discharges on my commute, as I can plug in at work. I looked through the stickied schematics thread but it was kind of overwhelmingly long. I am now considering building a 48V A123 LiFePO4 pack; can someone direct me to a schematic of a...

Thanks for the info guys! What is different about the A123 cells that allows a higher discharge rate? Are A123s more expensive than standard LiFePO4 cells? EDIT: just checked out cell_man's website; looks fairly pricey. Would you say it's worth the extra cost? Are the performance and cycle life...

Thanks, but I don't need/want a battery with more than 10Ah capacity, but I do want to have 20A discharge current capability. Granted, the battery in the link you posted can discharge at 45 Amps, but at 20Ah capacity it's way more than I need and would be a significant weight penalty. In the...

I see this pack on the BMS website: http://www.bmsbattery.com/48v/496-48v-10ah-lithium-ion-electric-bicycle-battery-pack.html Says it has a 15A continuous discharge current. On gocarlite.com, the same battery...