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Old 06-27-2021, 04:15 PM   #44 (permalink)
The Toecutter
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ghettoville, USA
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Rebellion - '16 KMX Framekit Custom electric velomobile
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It is cream on the bottom, lime green on the top.

My biggest complaint is lack of ground clearance. It currently has a 3" ground clearance and I have to be selective where I ride it because a deep pothole can total it. I plan to install elastomers in addition to the stock suspension in order to add another 1" or so to the ground clearance, which will do wonders for its day to day usability.

I have one of the earlier models with the dual-sided rear swingarm which makes it compatible with hub motor installation. The newer ones have the single-sided swingarm and are not, and can only accept a mid-drive.

If I do motorize it, I'm looking to maybe get a MAC 5T geared hubmotor with a clutch that can be decoupled. This way, I can set it up with a street legal 750W/28 mph limit for going up hills and accelerating to speed, and then decouple the clutch and use 100% human power above 28 mph without dealing with any cogging losses, which would basically encompass virtually all of my flat ground and downhill riding. Some people are strong enough to cruise 40+ mph on the flat in a Milan. I'm not there yet, but maybe someday.

I suspect such a setup would yield a consumption of < 3 Wh/mi overall in a Milan, because for most of its usage it will be 100% human powered. I wouldn't need a very big battery pack. The bare minimum number of the 2170 type cells used in the Tesla Model 3, just enough to handle 750W continuous, would suffice. The complete EV system, running on a 1 lb Phaserunner controller, would probably only weigh 11-12 lbs, and it would be a very practical vehicle to live with on a day to day basis.

I'd go with a 5T wind version of the MAC so that when I use the "off road" mode, I could have a 1.5 kW setup in the programming, geared to top out at nearly 80 mph @ 72V. The FOC Phaserunner controller can vary the voltage to match the operating curve, so there'd be no worries about the motor operating with reduced efficiency.
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