Here are the harnesses- each one is crimped in the middle, paralleling the four packs in each module, then series connected to the next module:
There’s one connector that’s flagged for the charger in/out for each module in yellow.
Here it is on the bike:
The charging connections, including the balance tabs that are paralleled within the modules, are bundled to avoid any confusion when charging.
Preliminary results of running it around the neighborhood? SICK!
Yep. It’s about that time! Thanks Harry!
Here we go… the wiring diagram for putting together 20 4s packs.
One module:
The basic concept? Everything is paralleled. All the balance tabs, and all the main + – leads from the individual packs. (NOTE: You MUST make sure all the packs are fully charged and balanced before paralleling the balance leads, to avoid any severe current flow between unbalanced packs/cells.)
Then, you series the modules:
DISCLAIMER: First, mostly all of this is from RemoteContact, AKA Adam Bercu. He gives credit over to Endless Sphere, but I know for a fact he’s learned all this stuff himself, the hard way – by building such badass robots they won’t let him play in their sandbox anymore… but that’s a tale for another day.
Second, lipo is dangerous, and you take anything I say here at YOUR OWN RISK. If your lawyer thinks I have some deep pockets he can go after if you blow your silly ass up doing anything I say here… well, your lawyer is delusional. Do your homework. I may be totally full of crap.
(edit: Please see the updated wiring plan here, due to me realizing that you have to charge through the main power leads. Duh.)
Whereat the Devil lies… (but also the fun). Here’s the status, after a great weekend hiding in the shop:
Camping in Maine is always a gamble, no less in June, but I got the bike rolling with some scooter batteries and some photos shot in the first day. Fortunately, since the rest of the week turned into a deluge. It works, it rolls, everything fits and it looks purty to boot, but now is the “punchlist” phase of the project – literally tearing everything down, doing final finish and fit, and re-assembling to be just perfect.
OCD is such an ugly term…
Got any good reference or support links for builders? Gimmee!
Big shoutout to Noah Podolefsky, and this re-post is for the folks who got to see his great presentation today! Wish I could have been there…
Reference:
Suppliers (with Reference Info):
Classifieds and Used Parts:
Groups and Forums:
Blogs and Magazines:
Books:
Courtesy of the racing kart site, CompGoParts, you got yer Awesome Sprocket Calculator here…
…and yeah, I think I’m gonna go with the 15 tooth front and see if I can pull 70+mph without meltifying anything.
Thanks CompGo, and thanks to racermike39 on ElMoto for the tip!
In 1967 or so, my Dad was working for Mass. Electric, and there was a Home Show in Worcester. There they had an electric car. It was a modified Renault, and he got to bring it home for the weekend after the show. He gave us all a ride in it, and it was, to my 11-year old mind, an obvious solution to the internal combustion engine. (One of the things that amazed me was the fact that when you stop, the motor is off. I think of that today, when I’m idling on my bike in traffic…)
My Dad said that the problem was the batteries- the weight of the lead-acid. He said that it was “up to your generation to develop a brand-new battery technology”. 40 years later, we are finally on the brink of that breakthrough, and as hollow as it may sound, I’m proud to be part of the generation that has, in fact, done exactly that.
The preconceptions against electric vehicle are based one basic notion- that they have a limited range. The facts are that most electric vehicles fall within the average daily range of most commuters and something like 90% of vehicle use- 30 miles. People think they need a 100 mile range for a commuting vehicle. They generally do not. They think an electric vehicle won’t get them where they need to go, without a gas motor to augment the batteries. That’s just wrong, in most cases. Besides that, the perception is that an electric vehicle is simply incapable of more range.
I’m building an electric motorcycle to show how simple the technology is. I’m not an engineer. I’m not a mechanic, yet the system is so inherently simple I can assemble one out of readily available parts. The batteries are here, now, and so are electric vehicles.
…and here to stay!
And here is the story of the Mars II Cross Country trip- from Electrical World, October 16, 1967.
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OK, this is awesome.
Tom Miceli built the Ion during his final year at Appalachian State University. He studied industrial design, and his senior project required him to create something that reflected all he’d learned. Given his love for getting from Point A to Point C while passing Point B in a blur, his choice for a project was a no-brainer.
“I wanted something eco-friendly that didn’t sacrifice performance,” Miceli told Wired.com.
Thanks Ken!
First, Electric Motorsport, of Oakland CA.
I stumbled around and found mention of a “sepex” motor and controller bundle on their site, and have had a series of incredibly helpful emails from their tech support guy- who is identified only as tech@… – telling me about a number of things, most interesting being the problem of running a permanent magnet motor with a regenerative braking controller. Basically, it sounds like the single best way to blow up a controller.
The numbers on this motor are better than anything else, except for the Agni. We take a very slight hit on power/weight, but a huge jump in reliability. Oh, did I mention the motor and controller bundle are the same price as just the Agni motor? Sweet!
In our conversations, I found that they can also supply Agni motors (if I still wanted to run one…) and all the other stuff I needed. I already had a brief bit of info from them about the batteries and battery management system, so the idea of getting everything from one supplier, and actually getting some answers from that supplier, takes a whole lot of what a friend of mine likes to call “pucker factor” out of the equation.
Thanks, “tech”… I hope I can buy you a beer when I swing by Oakland in the Spring! And I want to get an Electric Motorsports logo on the bike, too… if not a paid sponsor, certainly moral support.
As for the status of the project- I’ve been sculpting the body panels to allow for maximum battery capacity and minimum air drag, and I think I finally have them to the point that the bike isn’t going to look like a Stormtrooper’s wet dream. I’ve settled on a high-impact polystyrene for the plastic, and David O’Brien, friend and co-conspirator, has a bigass vacuum-molder thingy. I’m hoping to pull a few panels within a week or two.
In the meantime, it’s back to the drawing board on the motor mounts- the new motor is a much different shape than the Agni, but should be no problem making the fit. Here it is- the D&D Sepex motor- Dia. 6.7, Length 11″, Weight 56Lbs
A Basic Guide to Building an Electric Motorcycle
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