Rhoades Car

[Teri]

Hello everyone. I am planning a cross country trip in my newly purchased Rhoades car. It is a pedal car with an electric assist motor. The problem I am having at the moment is the motor seems to drain the batteries very quickly when we use it to assist us up hills. I have 2 deep cycle marine batteries (80 AMP hours) and a 24 volt electic motor. This is thier discription of the motor, however it doesn't work that way for me. The PD-750 is a 24 volt 750 watt Powerdrive motor assist. It's a heavyduty system designed to give continous pedal assistance up to 18 mph. Range with locally available 35 & 75 ah batteries is up to 30 & 60 miles respectively,

In addition to the draining of the batteries, there is little power up even the smallest hills.

Thanks for any help!!!

[Daox]

Gonna need some more info here. How are you measuring state of charge? What controller are you using? How many amps does it pull going uphill?

[Teri]

Ok a little bit more info for you all. I am a female who knows a lot about some things but very little about electic motors, so when you reply, please talk to me like I am a 4 year old!! LOL

I did recieve a PM requesting this information "How are you measuring state of charge? What controller are you using? How many amps does it pull going uphill?"

Where/how do I find this information out?
Teri

[Ryland]

If 750 watts is all that the motor and controller can handle then it's less then a horse power, so with the weight of the car, batteries, motor and driver, I would guess you are going 5-10mph up hills, is that correct?
It boils down to that your motor and speed controller are way to small for what you are asking them to do.
The speed controller is the box between the motor and the batteries, is there any info on it? is it labeled for peek output or peek amps?

[Teri]

Ryland, I looked at the controller and all it says is Rhoades Car Controller and instructions on how to turn it on and off. It has two switches and one key. 5-10 miles per hour up hill if we are pedaling as hard as we can AND someone is pushing. I really do believe that my motor is too small -but was told when I purchased it that it could handle it. When it is fully loaded with our gear and the two of us, I believe the total weight to be about 500-550lbs! TOO much for such a small motor - I think....Suggestions?

[Frank Lee]

The PD-750 is a 24 volt 750 watt power drive motor assist. It's a heavy duty (30 lbs. without batteries) system designed to give continuous pedal assistance up to around 15 mph. Range with locally available 75 amp hour batteries is about 25 miles at 10 mph if you are not pedaling. If you are pedaling expect approximately twice that range. The motor comes with an onboard charger, electronic hand operated throttle, overload protection, and lockable battery box with master controls. It requires two (2), 12-volt, deep cycle batteries which are not included. The motor is chain-driven via a freewheel to the rear axle. The motor freewheels with no added resistance when not being used. All speeds & ranges given are estimated and your results ultimately depend on the size of the battery, weight of vehicle/occupants, terrain, and amount of pedal-power being supplied by the riders.

from the Rhoads site: Frequently Asked Questions

which seems to have very few details.

pic (and seemingly erroneous performance stats) here: http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic...-car-quadcycle

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7518201...in/photostream
really? those little wires are big enough?

[Teri]

So is there a way of changing out the current motor with another motor that would give me what I need and would work with my car?

[Frank Lee]

There is always a way, the question is, how do you do it and how much are you willing to spend? Is the original working correctly? Is it returnable? Was it new? Did they mislead you? Many questions.

[euromodder]

Forgive me if I'm asking too daft a question, but ...

What voltage are the batteries, and how are they wired (series, parallel) ?


750 W is 3 times the allowed max. for an electrically assisted bicycle over here, so it should provide some notable assist, despite the weight.

[Teri]

I am not sure they mislead me, I think it does what they said, but I think I wasn't fully aware of what I needed it to do. I thought it would last longer, 2 hours with the deep cycle batteries I bought and I thought it wouldn't drain any quicker up hill. That was just my lack of knowledge about electric motors. Can't return it at this point as I have used it a bit and you know how electircal parts go. Once it is used, it is yours! I have already invested about 4(k) in this thing and I could dump a little more if I was SURE it would work for this journey!