Fron Hub Battery pack!!!

[GM Brazil]

Today I tested to ride my bike without my hands. Tha front wheel starts to oscilate hard, in ressonance! This is due the new wheigt distribution, with the motor and battery back.

I'll use fuse lead inside the handle bar, and this extra inertia should dump the oscilation nicely, and it will only add a max of 1kg to a 138kg rider+bike.

But there is this nice idea, GM look at this:


The hub at the front is THE BATTERY PACK!!! NICE IDEA!!

Site: http://www.epluselectricbike.com

[GM Brazil]

1.*  Through the E+ Advanced LCD display unit, the E+ can be  set into one of nine different "fitness" modes which turns the motor into a generator and charges the battery as you pedal.  Basically, the higher the resistance the more you charge the battery - become your own human electricity generator!
 
2.*  Each time either brake lever is pressed, the motor is used to help slow the vehicle down through regenerative braking.  The energy created by the motor spinning is used to charge the battery as the vehicle slows down.
 
3.  Plug in the NiMH Smart Battery Charger into your 115VAC or 230VAC wall outlet and the other end into the battery power cable, and fully charge your battery in a few hours.
 
* The E+ Electric Bike system will only allow charging via this method if the battery temperature, voltage, and state of charge are within safe limits for the battery.

The E+ has a LCD display unit that combines functions of a bike computer with that of an electric vehicle.  It provides quick access to riding information such as bike speed, odometer, battery charge remaining, and much more. The E+ display can also be used to enable a security mode that locks the rear wheel, and can be removed from the bike for ultimate security.  Plus, it has a LED backlight so the display can be used early in the morning or at night!


That's what I was talking about at the Magic Pie Feedback Nice LCD! But with the pie they should do this panel with BLUETOOTH. Keep the controls wired, but let the info and set up be made by an nice bluetooth lcd panel

[Electrobent]

Why would you want to rotate the weight of the battery?

This seems like an inefficient design to me.

[GM Brazil]

The battery will not rotate, they are fixed as the stator from a hub motor!


I still prefer the back battery as the one from GM, but the LCD is something vey like I've proposed at the Magic pie feedback.

[Electrobent]

That makes more sense but it seems like unnecessary complication and it means that your batteries (or controller in the case of the Magic Pie) are necessarily unsprung and subject to the shocks and strains of every pothole and bump. 

I suppose GM sees the Magic Pie as being more simple than a system with a separate controller because then they don't have people like me who can't make them work together.  They made their machine more complicated in order to make the process of converting a bike simpler for their customers. 

I guess the battery in the hub thing is good for the manufacturer as it takes a commodity item (the cells) and converts it into a specialty item by mounting them together in the hub.  If you have that system and have to replace it, chances are you buy your replacement from the same place you got the original.

I like to keep my stuff generic when possible.

[GM Brazil]

I agree in some therms,

This company also use the controller inside the motor and have a very simple installation, but as I said, I still prefer the battery at the rack, or at the bike frame. But is a clever idea of how to balance the weight and I like clever ideas to get inspiration: That is the idea of the post, not necessarily compare the products but look at the good aspects.

GM asked before, I do not remember where, for ideas to use Bluetooth at the magic controller and pie. I think a good use should be a nice LCD panel! The motor can provide the signals for the speed from the hall sensors, give feedback about malfunctions at the display, simpler override capacity, real battery state, etc! And using Bluetooth to communicate with the panel.

So it would be BETTER, much better. The pie is already a nice product, easy to install and fun to use, and I'll be happy if it becomes even better

One possible idea for the panel, is the active an off0line lock solution for the pie, that will keep the wheel locked even removing the battery. This can be commanded by the wireless panel

[Electrobent]

won't shorting the phase wires together "lock" the motor w/o the battery?

[GM Brazil]

I think so, but with the pie the controller should do this... As we do not have easy access to the phase wires.

I do not know if there is a way to do this by software.