[newguyintown]

Hi everybody,

I found some high power to weight ratio motors originally intended for use in RC helicopters. Would it be possible to use one as a hub motor for a bicycle? From what I've read a person peddling produces a few hundred watts of power, and I found a motor that can do 2kw continuous. That seems to me as if it would be able to easily sustain the speeds you would do on a bicycle, and possibly get you to a higher speed.

My question is, how would I control such a motor. I assume I need some sort of motor controller or PWM. I don't want to use a resistor as that would just waste energy. It seems like the RC vehicles themselves need some sort of controller. Would it be possible to wire one to a throttle, or are they just using resistors?

My other question is, how would I control more than one motor at the same time? I know people do this when they use 4 hub motors in some EV's but I'm not familiar with how this would work. Would I need one controller for each motor, and even so how would I tell each controller to give the same amount of power? If I can do this, I could in theory put two motors(one on each wheel of a bicycle) to provide more power, right? Also would it be possible to put more than one motor on each wheel? For example could I put two or three motors on the same axle? If I could, then I could theoretically use several of these motors to drive a small car, right?

If the controller isn't too expensive, I might be able to build an electric bicycle for under $100. I'm going to do some more research on what people have done in the past. Please share any experience or knowledge you have.

Thank you