Battery life for heavy bikes with daily use?
06-02-12, 04:38 PM
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Battery life for heavy bikes with daily use?
I truely will appreciate any responses.
I am intrested in getting an electric bike to go cross country along the 76 trail. What I would like to do is get a recumbent bike
with a small trailer attached in the rear. The total weight of bike and rider will be 450-500lbs. I plan to add a few solar panels to the
trailer to recharge the batterys during the day. I would need to be able to go 20 miles without pedaling every day.
I have a few questions:
1) Will an electric motor be able to move 500lbs?
2) Is it fesable to be able to travel 20 miles/day while having such a high weight?
3) Would solar power even be able to recharge a battery?
The reason the bike will weigh so much is that I am a large man. I weigh 430 lbs. I've made a deal with myself that if I can lose enough to be
less than 300 lbs I will attempt my life long dream of traveling cross country.
I am intrested in getting an electric bike to go cross country along the 76 trail. What I would like to do is get a recumbent bike
with a small trailer attached in the rear. The total weight of bike and rider will be 450-500lbs. I plan to add a few solar panels to the
trailer to recharge the batterys during the day. I would need to be able to go 20 miles without pedaling every day.
I have a few questions:
1) Will an electric motor be able to move 500lbs?
2) Is it fesable to be able to travel 20 miles/day while having such a high weight?
3) Would solar power even be able to recharge a battery?
The reason the bike will weigh so much is that I am a large man. I weigh 430 lbs. I've made a deal with myself that if I can lose enough to be
less than 300 lbs I will attempt my life long dream of traveling cross country.
06-02-12, 05:54 PM
#2
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500lbs on a recumbent is gonna need a 48v 1000w motor with a 48v 15Ah (20ah would be better) battery to net you 20 miles in a day, before recharging. A solar charging setup would be need to be way to large to charge up the battery to any reasonable level.
If you get a 48v 5a charger it will only take 3 hours to charge the battery from dead. The 15Ah battery would net you about 30 miles distance at 20mph.
So it's really doable and the setup would prolly cost sub $1,000.
On a side note... You could easily do 60 miles in a day without too much worry...
Ride 30 miles (even at 15mph) takes 2 hours.. Then recharge for 3 hours, then ride another 2 hours and you're set for the day...
60 miles and 7 hours per day is what you would use up.. So, it sounds like a plan...
P.S. You COULD get a solar panel setup that would charge at 48v, but would only net you (best case scenario) 1a per hour of "decent" sunlight for maybe 3 hours for a total of 3ah, but realize the setup would be way large and probably would need excellent shock protection...
If you get a 48v 5a charger it will only take 3 hours to charge the battery from dead. The 15Ah battery would net you about 30 miles distance at 20mph.
So it's really doable and the setup would prolly cost sub $1,000.
On a side note... You could easily do 60 miles in a day without too much worry...
Ride 30 miles (even at 15mph) takes 2 hours.. Then recharge for 3 hours, then ride another 2 hours and you're set for the day...
60 miles and 7 hours per day is what you would use up.. So, it sounds like a plan...
P.S. You COULD get a solar panel setup that would charge at 48v, but would only net you (best case scenario) 1a per hour of "decent" sunlight for maybe 3 hours for a total of 3ah, but realize the setup would be way large and probably would need excellent shock protection...
Last edited by SpecialX; 06-02-12 at 06:01 PM.
06-04-12, 03:40 AM
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Hummm...
Somewhere I read you like to go from 430lbs to 300. Probably you need to pedal more and use the motor as less as possible. Solar chargers are bad idea and probably the better solution is to get powerfull HQ charger so you can recharge your battery every time when go to have a (light) meal in some dining place along the road.
Somewhere I read you like to go from 430lbs to 300. Probably you need to pedal more and use the motor as less as possible. Solar chargers are bad idea and probably the better solution is to get powerfull HQ charger so you can recharge your battery every time when go to have a (light) meal in some dining place along the road.
