Electric Quad Bike Advice

[E_by_Gum]

Hi there folks,

Looking for some advice please. I have bought an electric quad bike, Dazzle Pro quad 1500w 60v with 60v 20ah lead acid battery made up of 5x12v 20ah packs. It's got a Votol em100 controller rated at 50amp max so prob 25amp constant.

Currently only goes 30mph with no load [me holding the back end up and applying throttle]. Manufacturers claims are it will do 40 / 42 mph. Thinking the battery is sagging and not making over 60v on full throttle. Sent an email yet to have a reply from company.

Main question : looking to get more power and change to lipo batteries what would be the best route ?

Any ideas or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for having me aboard.

KR,

Jamie

 

[amberwolf]

First, try measuring the actual battery voltage under the conditions it doesn't meet expectations. If it isn't sagging more than a couple of volts, then that's not the problem.

If it's only running at the 30mph no load with very little voltage sag, then either the speed is limited at the controller (in which case it will run at about the same speed on flat ground), or it's geared wrong or has the wrong winding of motor to get the claimed speed.

Usually if it's geared wrong to get only 3/4 or less of the speed it should, the batteries and controller will see even less load than normal, so you would get less sag than if it were geared correctly.


FWIW, it's not all that great or easy to work with, but there is software out there to access the Votol controller to at least see what it is set at, even if it is locked to disallow changes. THere's a few threads around here on these.

 

[PaPaSteve]

An observation ...
1500W (2 HP) ... 40 mph would be a bit optimistic with 4 tires of that size.
An example : a Segway 260 (small motorcycle) takes 5000W to run 45 mph on 2 relatively narrow tires.

 

[E_by_Gum]

First, try measuring the actual battery voltage under the conditions it doesn't meet expectations. If it isn't sagging more than a couple of volts, then that's not the problem.

If it's only running at the 30mph no load with very little voltage sag, then either the speed is limited at the controller (in which case it will run at about the same speed on flat ground), or it's geared wrong or has the wrong winding of motor to get the claimed speed.

Usually if it's geared wrong to get only 3/4 or less of the speed it should, the batteries and controller will see even less load than normal, so you would get less sag than if it were geared correctly.


FWIW, it's not all that great or easy to work with, but there is software out there to access the Votol controller to at least see what it is set at, even if it is locked to disallow changes. THere's a few threads around here on these.

Hi amberwolf many thanks for the swift response. Voltage does sag but only a few volts....from 60v to 58v under full throttle with no load and with person on it.

I will look into the software you have mentioned to what the settings are running at.

Thinking I will be going down the route of swapping out for new controller and lipo. Have you got any recommendations for new controller and battery please. Want to stay away from wish alibaba for the battery at least.

Thanks again.

 

[E_by_Gum]

An observation ...
1500W (2 HP) ... 40 mph would be a bit optimistic with 4 tires of that size.
An example : a Segway 260 (small motorcycle) takes 5000W to run 45 mph on 2 relatively narrow tires.

Hi there PaPaSteve thanks for the reply - I was of the understanding that the motor may well be only 1500w but at 60v the controller can output upto 50 amps so that would be 3000w of power all be it for a short burst. However I agree that the claim of 40mph is stretching it a bit far .

 

[E_by_Gum]

Any good reputable lipo sellers in the UK that anyone uses ?

 

[nicobie]

What's the max V your controller can tolerate? It should be listed on the label. More volts = more speed when it comes to choosing battery/controller combo.

 

[E_by_Gum]

What's the max V your controller can tolerate? It should be listed on the label. More volts = more speed when it comes to choosing battery/controller combo.

Hi there,

I'm happy to sway out the controller I have currently. There's nothing on label apart from 60v 50amp max discharge.

Any advice on new controller. Battery wise thinking 72v 35ah / 40ah would be good for the quad...?

 

[nicobie]

It all depends on how fast and far you wish to go.

 

[E_by_Gum]

It all depends on how fast and far you wish to go.

40 mph top end ....strong acceleration to top end. Run for 2.5 hrs at average of about 20 mph would be good

 

[uhmwpolyethylene]

Legality of street quad ebikes? Say I had a 750w bbshd set up with a surrey bike Flintstones type thing with tarp or as a single seater cargo thing with full canopy, is that still legally an ebike in the US? Would be nice to cut around on sidewalks a bit but I feel like it would pass people off taking up a full lane too

Are there any encapsulated tarpped quads on the market right now? Or just stuff like catrike

 

[amberwolf]

Legality of street quad ebikes?

Quads are often not bicycles by definition of the local vehicle/etc codes, so you must check those where you are. If you are in the USA, your state DMV / MVD should have these regulations and codes available, if they are not in an online state database you can search. Your local (county, parish, city, etc) codes may further restrict what's legal for you.

If I could use a quad here, I would, but they are not a legal form of bicycle here; can't have more than 3 wheels in contact with the ground. To have four wheels it must be a car, truck or other large motor vehicle***, and follow DOT federal regulations and whatnot for those things in addition to local ones. I don't want all that complication, so I have to stick to a trike design for my heavy cargo hauler. (or bicycle with trailer).

***there is an exception for a kind of tour-bus-quad-bicycle, but these must be built by specific companies (not listed in the law itself) and used only in specified ways in specified places, such as tours in public parks, so this exception is not useful for individuals.

 

[uhmwpolyethylene]

Quads are often not bicycles by definition of the local vehicle/etc codes, so you must check those where you are. I

Found some Chinese two wheeler pvc canopy as well but it's very... short.https://a.co/d/1pMN3g3 Yeah maybe a trike could work.