Can I increase speed on Jetson Bolt over 18 MPH?

Hello I am 13 years old. I wanna know if I can modify and increase the speed of the Bolt over 18 mph. If I can, tell me how I would do this, thank you!

You don’t want to go faster on that bike. Use something with full-sized wheels.

Most e-bikes can be made faster by using a higher voltage battery, unless the controller is electronically restricting speed, or the top speed is limited by motor torque rather than rpm. It’s not easy or straightforward to do with a proprietary built-in pack like that one, though. Your effort and money would probably be better spent converting a regular bike with a cheap hub motor kit.

Yes, but you would probably need a bunch of expensive replacement stuff, new controller, maybe new battery, and as mentioned that bike isn't a good platform for speed. You will probably also burn out the motor going too fast it looks pretty small.

I understand. I don’t get all the technical terminology, is there an external link to a guide of some sort that details how to make it faster and what parts I would need and pricing?

Also, on the app you can change the maximum speed the bike can drive. The bike probably prevents in within the controller, so I’m wondering if I have to replace that as along with the higher voltage battery..

"You don’t want to go faster on that bike. Use something with full-sized wheels"

"...that bike isn't a good platform for speed"

They're not wrong.

Enjoy your 18mph for now, stick around here and do lots and lots of reading, then see about building a proper ebike in the future. I know waiting sucks, but going face-first into the asphalt at 30mph will suck way harder. Especially if you pissed away a bunch of money to make a fast unsafe bike with less range than when you began that your folks will never let you touch again.

Cereal. :wink:

HK12K said:

"You don’t want to go faster on that bike. Use something with full-sized wheels"

"...that bike isn't a good platform for speed"

They're not wrong.

Enjoy your 18mph for now, stick around here and do lots and lots of reading, then see about building a proper ebike in the future. I know waiting sucks, but going face-first into the asphalt at 30mph will suck way harder. Especially if you pissed away a bunch of money to make a fast unsafe bike with less range than when you began that your folks will never let you touch again.

Cereal. :wink:

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I'm reluctant to provide advice until I know the parents are onboard.

Your controller probably is adjustable in the app up to maximum speed. In other words it probably runs as fast as it can. The battery voltage, roughly, determines how fast you can go with a given motor and controller. There is also something called flux weakening that many controllers can do which has a similar effect.

But you also need to consider how much power you will want / need for a given speed. Power requirements increase with your speed cubed. Your battery needs to be capable of supplying this level of power, and your motor needs to be able to deal with the fraction of the motor input which is not converted to work (the inefficiency) ending up as heat. This heat will quickly destroy a motor if you pick one that is too small for the given workload.

Look at people's build threads (google ebike build thread) and build videos to see what kind of equipment and techniques others are using to make AWESOME fast ebikes. There are many examples to learn from.

Finally as a 2 wheel vehicle increases in speed the handling and skills required quickly enter motorcycle territory. You need lots of practice to safely and reliably control a motorcycle. So make sure to spend hours practicing things like quick braking, turns, u-turns, etc.

The thing is I live in a rural area so increasing the speed a little wont be too much of a deal

Boomerb said:

The thing is I live in a rural area so increasing the speed a little wont be too much of a deal

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Small wheels, short wheelbase, questionable geometry... and is there even a front brake on that thing? Urban or rural, young or old, physics don't care. It's a bad platform to build for speed.

That said, to get it going much faster will probably require replacing the battery pack for one of a higher voltage, a new controller to go with it, and a motor that won't liquefy itself under the increased power levels you'd be throwing at it. Basically everything that makes it an e-bike will likely need to be tossed out and replaced. Plan to spend around a grand on that endeavor. Or take the advice most commonly given to new members and buy a decent used name brand full suspension mountain bike, then buy a kit, a good battery, and assemble something worthwhile. With parental consent, of course.

Thank you all for your helpful responses. I do understand there is a lot of money to spend as well as precautions to take. I might look into getting a more advanced customizable e bike in the future, as I learned this e bike wouldn’t handle high speeds.