Hub Motor on Fox

[TheKid]

I installed the hub motor again, just to see how it worked before i take the trike apart for painting. I reduced the weight as much as possible, and without the rear wheel, the trike weighs 42-43 lbs. I used my digital fish scale which was recently calibrated to weigh the motor components. Added together, total weight is 21.3lbs. So I'm figuring the trike weighs about 65 lbs., and with my weight of 250, that's 315lbs. The trike got up to 20mph without trouble, and climbs hills without pedaling pretty easily. Then I tried it with 48v sla batteries, which weigh 40lbs. Even with extra 34 lbs., the torque increase was very noticeable. I got up to 24mph, but climbed hills much faster. The motor was a little warm, but not hot, so it should be able to handle 48v.
I had my neighbor who weighs 160lbs. try it and the results were astounding. Bottom line- I need to lose at least 65lbs.
With the 36v lithium pack, he went up hills much more easily and his top speed was 23mph. With the 48v sla pack, he reached 27mph, and he said the acceleration was much faster. So I guess I'll be saving for a 48v LiFePo4 pack, which will cost $511. I'll use the 36v lithium pack on the DR.

[Radical Brad]

Those hubmotors are truly amazing. The one I am using on the latest electric BMX is only 400 watts, yet can haul two people up any hill I have ever tried. I have yet to stall the motor out climbing hills, even when it was taking two people up a huge hill while installed on the LodeRunner. Total weight must have been 400+ pounds. I have never seen the hub get warm yet, even after an hour straight.

Brad

[TheKid]

Wow. Seems more powerful than mine. Is that a crystalyte? How many volts are you running?
In another post, I brought up the new golden motors magic pie motor/controller in one. The new ones have the same controller they sell now, built into the motor. The controllers take up to 60v, but if you use higher than 24v batteries, they have to be lithium with BMS to get undervoltage protection. They'll be available in 2 weeks.

[TheKid]

Okay I see 4 batteries. Almost only 3. I guess the batteries could take more punishment than we thought. With 48v, does that up the wattage to about 700?

[Radical Brad]

Mine is a Wilderness Energy BL-36. I think at 36 volts, it was only rated at 350 watts, so at 48 volts, I am probably getting about 450 watts. That seems low considering Sparky had a 2000 watt motor, but the efficiency of a brushless hub motor is unreal.

I have had many opportunities to compare this motor against those cheap scooters and mini electric motorcycles using those el-cheapo so called 1500 watt tin can motors (Ebay fame), and there is no comparison at all. Those noisy, overheating inefficient can motors are a joke. I would put this 350 watt motor up against any of those 1500-2000 watt budget motors any day..... better for Top speed, torque, and quality.

When I had the electric LodeRunner out for a camp weekend, that little motor pushed it all day long on hilly back roads (2-3 passengers) without even complaining once.

I really want a Crystalite Brute, but it is simply not in the budget this year unless I can score a used one.

Brad

[TheKid]

Mine is a Wilderness Energy BL-36.

They're up to 600w now.

http://www.bernsonev.com/wilderness-conversion-bl36-electric-bicycle-conversion-kits-p-121.html

[badcheese]

What sort of controller are you guys using to run the motor with a 48v pack?

[Radical Brad]

I am using the original 36 volt controller. The voltage limit is only due to the FETs and the regulators, so a quick look inside my controller tells me that I could probably get away with 60 volts before I had to make mods.

If you really want hard-core, look into the Crystalyte Phoenix motors.

Brad


What sort of controller are you guys using to run the motor with a 48v pack?

[TheKid]

I'm running 36v, with a golden motor controller. The Infineon controller that came with the kit doesn't have regen braking or reverse, two features I'd like to have. Regen braking won't work with either of the LiFePo4 batteries I have, so I'll be using the SLA betteries from the DR for the Fox, and probably go to NiCads to lighten the load in the future. I just acquired a 750w 36v Golden Motor hub motor, which climbs hills better than the 9 Continent 500w motor iI bought originally. I'll use the 9C motor on a lighter vehicle I'll be building next year.
I've been told that Kelly controllers are a better option, being fully programmable. The one I was looking at will cost about $180 with shipping, which includes controller and main contactor. The contactor is required but isn't included when you buy the controller. I already have cables for programming, and key switches and fuses which are also shown in the wiring diagram for these controllers. I'm going with the 24-36v 40a controller, which is $20 less than the one in the link. If it proves to be better than my other controllers, I'll get the 24-36v 20a controller for the 500w 9C motor.

http://www.newkellycontroller.com/product_info.php?cPath=60&products_id=504

http://www.newkellycontroller.com/product_info.php?cPath=32_47&products_id=577