Custom Drift Trike build - Golden Motor advice

[TheWelshGuy87]

Evening Chaps/Chapettes,

New member here, joined up after starting a recent man cave project... An Electric Drift Trike. I figured this would be the place to ask advice regarding the golden motor hub (pro 901) I've used.

Fancied building one of these for a while and mulled over the concept before taking a leap and sourcing some parts.

It's a Triad drift trike base and I'm at the final stage of the build, it's been conservatively 'bench tested' and all seems to run fine.

Components are-
1000w pro 901 direct drive hub -20" wheel
48v 20.4ah li-ion battery
1500w external BLDC controller 35+1A  (@1500w)
Sw900 Display Unit
Interchangeable rear wheels (drift sticks & 8" pneumatics)

For the final setup, My main question, knowing nothing about Golden Motor hubs other than they're hard to come by in the UK, 
What's the score with amp capabilities on these pro 901 hubs?

My display unit has a feature that allows the limiting of max amp current... obviously I want as much testicle tingling power as possible but don't want to damage the motor so figure that limiter feature would be ideal to safely set a boundary so I don't run the risk of my brain ordering my thumb to push harder at the wrong time!

I also don't know max discharge capability of the battery I have either however it was originally running a 1700w rear hub through a 40a controller so I'm assuming it's got the minerals to do the job.

Any advice/information regarding this hub/setup is greatly appreciated, I'll include a couple of photos (if they upload).

Thanks in advance

[Bikemad]

Helo andto the forum.

I don't think you will need to worry about damaging a motor fitted with a 20" wheel, as it' will probably wheelspin if the current is too high (or the incline is too steep).
I think the battery's BMS or the controller is more likely to be the current bottleneck in your setup.

The current will drop considerably as the motor speed increases, so it will only draw high current under heavy load at slow speed, which won't be for long with a 20" front wheel with limited down force holding it in contact with the road.

I don't have any first hand experience with the 901 motors, but I've successfully pushed more than 97 Amps through a Magic Pie motor without motor damage:



I have just had a quick look over on the Endless-Sphere forum and it appears that your motor should be able to withstand 60~80 Amps peak.

Alan
 

[TheWelshGuy87]

Thanks for that reply Alan, and the welcome to the group.

Ok that's fantastic, so if I set my limiter at 30-35a and see how it performs...
Presumably if the battery/bms isn't capable of delivering what im asking it will cut out to avoid cell damage, is that correct? I can then dial it back on limiter if needed to find the sweet spot.

I figured a GM hub in a 20" was going to be capable of handling the job... they are very heavy duty and feel very well made.

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

Tom

[Bikemad]

Hi Tom,

Here is a picture of Jay Leno riding on a Magic Pie powered drift trike:



The Magic Pie is larger in diameter than the 901 and therefore produces greater torque, but a larger motor combined with an internal controller means that it is also a lot heavier.
I guess the additional weight of the Magic Pie would be beneficial in this situation, as it should help to increase the grip of the front tyre.
Yours has the advantage of a forward mounted battery pack, which should also help to provide more downwards force on the front tyre

It will be interesting to see how powerful and fast your 901 powered trike is, but I don't imagine that it will be anywhere near as fast as the ones in this video.

I'm looking forward to seeing a video of your trike in action.

Presumably if the battery/bms isn't capable of delivering what im asking it will cut out to avoid cell damage, is that correct?

The battery's BMS will typically cut the power if any cell voltage drops below a pre-set value under high current conditions, and also if the safe maximum current for the BMS is exceeded.

Some BMS may automatically reset after high current protection has been triggered, but others will require the power switch to be cycled Off and On again before the battery output is restored.

Alan
 

[TheWelshGuy87]

Gotta love Jay!

Yea I believe these ones are 2-3kw so I'd imagine they've got insane power....
I've actually got a second one of these hubs and frames so may do a 52v version just for kicks.

It's ready for real world testing now, I've just not had 5 mins to get on it today but weathers fine for a bit now so fingers crossed I can get it out for a blast. I'll be sure to grab some footage at some point too. In the meantime, here are a couple more shots.