Stimulus used for Ebike purchase.
 

I had built an outlaw ebike a few years ago. It's capable of 3000 watts and is 100% throttle controlled with a 35 mph+ top speed, but that makes it illegal for bike paths in town. I haven't used it much on the roads because I want to go on old logging roads in the mountains and I don't have any friends with ebikes and have just been busy at work anyway. So we had some cash saved up anyway for some remodeling projects, and knowing we have some more coming with the stimulus, I figured I'd get a 2nd, legal class 2 bike I can ride to work using the bike paths and then have a bike my wife, daughters, or most likely my son-in-law can use and go camping, fishing, hunting with me.

I got the Radrunner 1 from Rad bikes in Seattle. It's base price is $1,199 with free shipping and you can get up to $100 off one of the accessories. I chose the $89 fender kit but then also found they give $200 off for first responders or veterans so I got that (although it wouldn't stack the free fenders so I had to pay for those). Bottom line $1,103 (because under $1100 there was a $15 shipping fee? but whatever). Seems good, 750 watt geared Bafang hub motor, 48v 14 Ah battery, aluminum frame, disc brakes, Kendra puncture resistant tires, headlight, tail/brake light, built in rear rack good for over 100 pounds. It was pretty well assembled and came in good shape. The rear fender was a pain putting on with the wheel in place, and there was a Allen screw holding some kind of axle keeper or torque arm in place that seemed to want to strip out it was so tight so I just left the back wheel on and worked in the inch gap left to get the fender bolted on.

Hopefully I will stop freaking snowing in April here! I haven't driven it further than around the block.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_FBnTrK6s4w

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Is it made in china?

Seems a good use for the check, though it seems you've counted your chickens before they hatched. Probably a safe assumption though. Top of the line electric unicycles can cost more than that.

I just watched a Doug review of the Model Y, and it's very tempting to me, though I'm against dropping $40k on a vehicle in principle, even if I can "afford" it.

Gonna need something though as some newbs broke my mini-Segway. They thought if you jump off it, it would stop on its own. Instead, boulders did.

Just like an Iphone. But if it's not assembled there, all of the parts come from there, or Taiwan. They do have over 150 employees in the Seattle/Portland area, maybe they do some assembly. At least they stock all the parts there because it was a 3 day shipping and those big batteries can't fly.

I had 10 grand just sitting for new floors and a bathroom remodel that's on hold now with the shutdowns, so maybe I jumped a bit, but that money should be here by the end of April. I'm also working crazy hours at the Post Office, there is no slowdown in mail at all at least here, probably higher than average spring volume, but we are getting more sick calls. Anybody has even the slightest anything, they stay home, although we don't have a single positive test in our office. That might change as we are probably a month behind other areas and we shut the state down 2 weeks ago anyway.

Missoula is not exactly the hotbed that Manhattan is.

I'm uncertain if I'll qualify for a stimulus payment. I'd just invest it anyhow, so not putting it to the use it's intended, though I would like to start a business one day or get into property development.

It's a shame you can't use the federal tax credit on it also. It is, after all, an electric vehicle.
JJ

Well I like it but my wife not so much. I don't think I can get her back to riding bikes again. My 14yo daughter is a bit apprehensive about it's speed. I told her she doesn't have to go any faster than her regular single speed cruiser goes, but she says it feels like she should. Oh well, maybe with some more practice. I like it and I sure can use it to commute. Hopefully Monday my Son in law can try it. I also got this BikeWing 4 place hitch rack. It's only rated 40 pounds per bike and the Ebikes without batteries are more like 50 pounds for the Rad and 60 pounds, but the overall weight rating is 180 pounds so hopefully the welds hold.
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E-bikes shine in stop and go traffic. Weight is a limiting factor in hilly terrain or on trails. All vehicles benefit from aero drag reduction. I don't have secure ground level storage so my options are limited.

Was leaning toward a Curt 4 bike platform but cost more than that one and I'd have to buy 2 bigger hoops for my Mongoose Hitch. Haven't watch the etrailer video on that one yet but will before I purchase.

You could change out the controller for a programmable one.

My velomobile topped out around 50mph, but I had a programmable controller which I set up to allow a speed cap in 5mph increments. It was great for letting strangers/children ride in it without risking they'd take out a tree or telephone pole.

Well I rode it to work for the first time and then ordered a suspension seat post and a new seat off Amazon while I was waiting to clock in. It actually wasn't that bad but why not make it better. It took me an extra 5-6 mins longer each way compared to driving, but when traffic gets busy again after the shutdown I bet the ride home may even save a minute or two. It did save me $.67 in diesel so just 1654 more trips and this thing has paid for itself! Oh wait I need 100 more that that to buy the new suspension seatpost and seat. The battery was just starting to show 4/5 bars on the hill home but once I stopped it went back to 5/5 bars. Don't know exactly what that means but am guessing I could probably go a week between charging although I'll probably do it every 2-3 days. I'm charging tonight because they say do 3, 12 hour exactly charges to initially balance the battery and I want to get that out of the way.

If it's below 70 degrees, expect the slow return. It's chemical after all.

Do the 3 charge cycles, but don't expect that to equalize the pack. The cells have to be done one by one either top or bottom balance.

I'll be curious to see how you like. I see quite a few Rad Runners and Rad Wagons around here and they seem to be a good mix of quality and cost.

I think there is a e-bike in my future but I want a mid-drive with and internal hub which means I will likely need to build my own. I'm torn between a small gas motorcycle vs an e-bike for full time van life.

If you are using 20% of the battery SOC per day I would charge every night. Charging every 3 days (60%) will reduce battery by about 1/2. According to this chart discharging to 20-40% is optimal for battery life.

The charge comes from: https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/...ased_batteries

I'm 1/2 way through my 2nd trip without charging or about 10 miles and it's still showing 4/5ths. I'll definitely charge it at home tonight. They say 25-45 miles and I'm going to easily get the 25 and I am running max pedal assist. I have a small 60' hill on the way home and a gradual 20' gain on the way to work. I pedal, but not that hard, and have about 4-5 stops I have to make on 3.5 trip each way. I should check the voltage when i get home and then after a full 12 hr charge and see exactly what I'm using. The gauge is to simple to show voltage.

That table does look like 20% is the sweet spot. 10% gets you more cycles but not twice the 20% which would happen 1/2 as often.

Do you have a charger that can stop at 80%? That's where the big gains are, not going all the way to 0% or 100%.

The flat discharge curve for lithium makes it difficult to estimate the charge based on voltage. I used a watt meter like this for my ebike to keep track of how much power I used. http://amazon.com/GT-Power-Analyzer-...dp/B00C1BZSYO/

I had a watt meter just like that for my other bike and it died. The other bike was a 52 volt so maybe it was too much at 100% charge? Maybe it was just a bad unit as it only lasted a week.

I was wondering how to figure out how to stop charging at 80% and then just charge every day after riding. The supplied charger gives no clue. Maybe I'll just get a time down. Maybe I'll just not worry so much and be happy with whatever. Batteries are getting less expensive still.

Looks like a 12 hr charge goes to 53.7 volts on a 48v battery so 95% according to the chart I found? At least that's not 100%

There are many cheap voltage displays that have a smart programmable switching option using relays which could be used inline between the charger and the battery.

Charts are inaccurate, as is bulk charging for determining SOC on series banks.

So if a 20% discharge is best and limit to 80% max is best, does that mean you run 80% down the 60% and then recharge to 80% for best life?

That is what empirical testing the last ten years indicate