Building a legal ebike in South Australia

[Spaceball]

I have built an ebike using a Bafang BBS01 250W mid mount drive system.
Due to the recent increase in police awareness of illegal ebikes I would like to ensure that mine complies.
The last couple of days I have been doing a lot of reading of the ADRs and SA regs in regards to ebike and I believe that there is no way to build and ebike that meets the
pedelec requirements set out by the SA department of transport (250w 25kph standard).
The main requirement is that it needs to be certified by the manufacture and labelled as complying with EN 15194.Not sure many kits sold in Australia would comply with this.

The other option would be to build to the older 200W standard. I have been reading through the Aussie 200W thread. I have not been able to find out much information on how this is measured or certified.
I will try and get some more info from the department of transport through a friend.

Has anyone gone down the build of a ebike and been able to get the bike tested / certified to show that it complies with the requirements?

Any info would be much appreciated.

Gareth

 

[marty]

Would this help?
200 watt motor stickers

 

[Spaceball]

Unfortunately not.
They are a bit clued up over and and don't believe what is written on any sticker.

 

[ideaHex]

I live in SA as well and I am about to start my second build so this is an interesting question. I have looked through some legislation and design rules in relation to the 200 watt rule. There appears to be no standard to have your bike certified to comply with. There only appears to be a maximum output of 200 Watts.
The output power of a motor can be calculated by measuring the torque and rpm. The torque is directly proportional to the motors electrical current. It should be theoretically possible to limit the motor current such that the motor can't have an output of more than 200 watts. I would then suggest that you have complied with the law.

My next build will be a rear hub motor hopefully limited to an output of 200 watts. My thoughts have been to measure the torque output of the motor at different motor currents so I can calculate the motor torque vs current. Then if I measure the rpm and current of the motor (wheel) I can calculate output power and limit this to legal limits. This should allow me to use a motor rated at more than 200 Watts but remain legal. For a hub motor this should give me more torque at lower speeds and the torque will ramp down as the speed increases. I am not sure if this has been done,I have yet to do a search, but I am sure it has.

 

[Samd]

Actually the laws are quite verbal. And vague.
To the point where some folks like AusPost interpret the 200w rule as a Max Average over a typical run - and peak at about 480w from memory.

I know there's been a clampdown on those deathtrap scooters that look like the rider is a Jack Russell trying to get down off a barstool (thanks to the 100mm token cranks). But I know of few actual ebikes getting pulled up. I know of only one in SA. It was a guy with a big Clyte running a few kilowatts. Police tried to dyno it with a car dyno. He got it back.

Do you have the two laws in parallel there like we do in Vic - 200w throttle and 250w pedelec?

 

[Spaceball]

Sorry for the late reply. Been away on holidays and busy with work.
Well last week I clocked up 200Kms (20km each way to work) commuting on the BBS01. I have turned the current down in the software and I think the magic number will be 6.5A on the 36V battery. I have also wired up a cheap GT power meter and I am drawing 260-270W max at this setting. Looks like the BBS does a good job at limiting and regulating the current. On my 20Km commute I sit on around 32-34Kmh (30-32kmh with a strong head wind) for half of it on the flat road section then a bit slower on the winding shared path section. I also put a far amount of effort in myself, average moving speed for the trip is 27-28Kmh. When I arrived home I had only used 100W from the battery, I don't think I need the bigger battery sitting in the shop ready for collection.
I just have to sort out a terrible lag with the motor. Takes ages to spool back up when you are cruising along @ 30 and tap the brakes or change gears. That is my biggest gripe at the moment. Kills my momentum especially in a head wind.

I spoke to a guy in government before Christmas on the requirements of eBikes in SA. He was helpful but as always the info is limited as it is all verbal.
What I took from the conversation was that the 200W limit is SA is at the wheel, it will be higher at the motor. When taking into account the efficiency of the motor and the losses in the drive line I should be spot on the money pulling 260W from the battery (77% transfer of battery power to the road).
In regards to the labeling of the motor the police don't care about the sticker as they all know the motors can be over powered. So as long as you aren't doing anything stupid or riding it like they believe it is overpower then there should be no reason to be pulled over and questioned.

 

[Lurkin]

Have ridden a BBS01 extensively commuting in the last year.

Reality is, if your not being a dill, your not really of interest to the police to start with. They can do without the paperwork if no ones complaining about it. The biggest risk is probably a board cop, a complaint or a standard procedure kinda check - theres sometimes police on the busy bike trails checking motor bikes are not using bike lanes and people are generally behaving themselves. Mines speed limited to 32.5kph which is technically over the ebike limit of 25, but really, its not an unrealistic speed for an unassisted bicycle to do. I am frequently passed by Lycras if I don't put in some muscle on the way home, I'm usually happy to let them go and just cruise home. I've ridden past police many a time, they have better things to do than pull over relatively law abiding ebikers. 8)

Somehow find a way to rip down the main street at 70km/h pulling wheelies or skids whatever? Yeah, expect a visit from the boys in blue regardless of whether your bike is assisted or not - it's likely to be interpreted as being dangerous/careless and common sense provides this is an attention drawing thing to do. I'd be pretty surprised if you could end up in this category with a BBS01. Actually, if you got a ticket from it, it's probably frameable! 8)

I realise thats not the legally correct answer you are looking for. Frankly, I think many of the bikes that have the compliance stickers are not compliant anyway - its well known the Bosch mid drive bikes can be derestricted with software etc.

 

[Spaceball]

Well after 1200kms on the BBS01 I think it is time to built a low power hub motor setup.
There are a few things that I do not like about the BBS01 setup for my flat fast (32-36Kph) commute. I have tried to work through these by changing the software. Also there are a few that issues that are inherent with mid-drive designs.
While a hub motor may not be the best solution it should remove some of the issues that I have with the mid-drive.
I might even go down the path of mapping the power at the road and and use an external arduino controller as ideaHex suggests to flatten out the power curve.

 

[ideaHex]

I'm still slowing building mine. I would be interested in collaborating with the 200Watt output limit electronics and software. What hub are you thinking of? I've been eyeing off the cute 100cst with 32 holes for my 29er.

 

[Spaceball]

Sounds like a plan.
I think I will be going a cute Q100C (cassette) 328 rpm on 36V (have the battery from the BBS01 build). It will be 32H with a Mavic rim from CRC
Might try one of the BMS S06S controllers https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/546-s06s-250w-torque-simulation-sine-wave-controller-ebike-kit.html
I will only be pumping in 7A @ 40V so should have no issues with heat if I keep it above 20kph. Based on the Motor Simulator over on ebikes.ca it should produce smooth constant power from 15kph, albeit only 200w.

I think we need to get together and buy 2 of everything to keep the cost / freight down. And I have access to a couple of good wheel builders.

 

[athletic91]

Sounds like a plan.
I think I will be going a cute Q100C (cassette) 328 rpm on 36V (have the battery from the BBS01 build). It will be 32H with a Mavic rim from CRC
Might try one of the BMS S06S controllers https://bmsbattery.com/ebike-kit/546-s06s-250w-torque-simulation-sine-wave-controller-ebike-kit.html
I will only be pumping in 7A @ 40V so should have no issues with heat if I keep it above 20kph. Based on the Motor Simulator over on ebikes.ca it should produce smooth constant power from 15kph, albeit only 200w.

I think we need to get together and buy 2 of everything to keep the cost / freight down. And I have access to a couple of good wheel builders.

if you are using a 26 in wheel, it would be better too go with 201rpm. 328rpm has weak acceleration and takes up a lot of amps to accelerate

 

[Spaceball]

My normal cruise speed is around 32-34kmh with a bit of a tail wind I am at 36-38kmh with less then 200W battery power on the mid drive. so the 201rpm version is long gone by then. Using the motor simulator and setting the current to 7A it will run nicely up at the top end and a bit sluggish down low. I don't spend much time below 25kmh on my commute. Only once taking off from a stop. I am then out of the saddle so it is only for a short time.
260RPM might work but there in not cute in 260RPM for cassette. I could go to 48V but that would mean I have to buy a new battery pack which I am trying to avoid.