I am interested in eventually replacing my lead-acid battery pack with a LiFePO4 pack, which will decrease weight, increase range and speed, all that good stuff. But since LiFePO4 batteries are much more pricey and are managed differently, I thought I'd start with a smaller EV project that uses them, to better understand how they perform.
Enter the E-Bike project!
I bought a donor bike off of craigslist, and have just ordered a DIY E-Bike conversion kit from goldenmotor.com in China. The kit contains a 36V/750W hub motor, 36V10Ah LiFePO4 battery pack, motor controller, throttle, wiring, etc. Should be here in about three weeks. Can't wait!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Lessons learned #347: LRR Tires
OK, EV fans. If anyone ever tells you that Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) tires are one of the key pieces to your vehicles energy efficiency, LISTEN TO THEM.
I recently bought a used set of low profile tires off of craigslist that made Electro look supercool and be very energy inefficient. Let me explain.
The stock tires for Electro were 185/60/14, which translates into tires that are 185mm wide and go on 14in wheels.
The new "supercool" wheels/tires I bought were 205/40/16s, which means they were 205mm wide, low profile, and had extra big wheels (16in).
Driving the same distance with the wider tires made a HUGE difference in the amount of energy I was using, which is extremely important in an EV. For a trip where I would normally use 7.1 KWh, I ended up using 9.3 KWh. That's 30% more energy - to look cool.
I am going back to stock wheels/tires for now until I can go the other way and find a narrower set of LRR wheels and tires. Hopefully I will find some that will get me significant range increases!
I recently bought a used set of low profile tires off of craigslist that made Electro look supercool and be very energy inefficient. Let me explain.
The stock tires for Electro were 185/60/14, which translates into tires that are 185mm wide and go on 14in wheels.
The new "supercool" wheels/tires I bought were 205/40/16s, which means they were 205mm wide, low profile, and had extra big wheels (16in).
Driving the same distance with the wider tires made a HUGE difference in the amount of energy I was using, which is extremely important in an EV. For a trip where I would normally use 7.1 KWh, I ended up using 9.3 KWh. That's 30% more energy - to look cool.
I am going back to stock wheels/tires for now until I can go the other way and find a narrower set of LRR wheels and tires. Hopefully I will find some that will get me significant range increases!
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