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I'm getting the gist of this thing now.
There are two ways to activate the electric motor; one is with the twist grip throttle, and the other is to pedal for about 2 or 3 seconds; there is a sensor that notices the pedalling and kicks the motor on.
I like the idea of starting off by pedalling til the motor kicks in; starting out is probably the biggest amp draw so that little bit of pedalling (and having the motor kick in after it has the rolling start) could be conserving the juice quite a bit. I use the twist grip after that for cruise.
Also I took it up a steep hill today and pedalled even though I didn't have to- again, "hypermiling" the batt pack. If only pedalling a regular bike up that hill was so easy! I went several miles and the indicator still said full charge when I got home.
I've found that "1st gear" on the electric controller is pretty much as fast as I need/want to go around here. Staying in 1st has gotta extend the range vs. using the higher "gears" (remember, the motor is in the hub so no real gears). When I come to a rise and if I'm going slow enough, I'll pedal to help out- more hypermiling. But it's a fixie and the pedalling gear is pretty low. I need to look and see if a larger chainwheel can be fitted, or maybe even a sprocket cluster and derailleur, because I would like to "help out" with the pedalling more than it allows me to now.
I've used it for grocery shopping several times. The basket and racks are nice for that. Very handy!
I've decided it wouldn't be wise to use it's bits to electrify my ATB. That would ruin the value of it. Better to get other motor/batts for that project.
cf: Wasn't me that went to any EV meeting...
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