Empulse Rider Questions

[BrammoBrian]

Brian, You may have missed this follow up, for I've not seen an answer and would appreciate knowing that I'm understanding you correctly. THANKS! - Bill

Bill - I did miss this first time around.  Rather than giving a quick response, I'd like to provide you (and the other customers on the forum) with a more detailed answer.  Next week, I'll sit down with the motor designer and get his tips on maximizing performance and efficiency.

Quick update - Lead Powertrain Engineer, Dan Riegels, will be working on a detailed blog post that addresses the development of the Empulse motor (Parker GVM) and cool technical details on the IET system.  I tried to hit him up with all the questions I've seen pop up here, but if you've got something very specific, let me know. 

To answer Bill's original question - No.  You should target about 5,000 rpm in either Normal or Sport modes for peak efficiency.  Just know that in Normal mode, you'll need to run to about 7,000 rpm to hit peak power.  In Sport mode, the peak power and peak efficiency coincide at that same 5,000 rpm.  This is simplifying things a bit as the efficiency is also related to the load on the motor, but I think this is a good "rule of thumb" for riding the Empulse effectively.   Hope that helps and I'm looking forward to posting the longer answer from Dan later this week...

[protomech]

I'd love to see a motor efficiency map, if one can be made publicly available. Suspect it'd help owners too.

Looking forward to a technical info dump, especially if it causes me to re-evaluate preconceptions : )

[flar]

A question about L1/L2 charging.  I didn't see anything in the owner's manual, but if we have the time (as in overnight charging), does L1 charging have less of an impact on longevity than L2?  Or are they both below the threshold of having any noticeable effect on battery lifetime?

[Shinysideup]

Good question, flar - I've wondered the same thing.

On a related note: I've signed up for my local utility's Time of Use rates. Will it in any way affect the charger (or anything else) to plug the bike in and have a timer supply power to the Clippercreek unit?

BTW, the utilities really have their rates, ah, wired: Sure they give me a great Off Peak rate, but then, on that special, touted, EV plan, they jack up the daytime rates way above what I'm paying now. Oh well.

At least if I'm charging after midnight, the breaker won't trip when SWMBO plugs in her hair dryer.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

A question about L1/L2 charging.  I didn't see anything in the owner's manual, but if we have the time (as in overnight charging), does L1 charging have less of an impact on longevity than L2?  Or are they both below the threshold of having any noticeable effect on battery lifetime?

The answer to both questions is yes. I imagine if one bike was always charged at L1, and one bike was always charged at L2, and all else was equal, you would see a difference probably as soon as 30k miles, and see usefulness change around 100k miles. Also charging in cooler temps is easier on the battery. Most "accelerated aging" battery tests are done by cycling batteries at 120*F+, and that can show bring an 8 year life down to ~1 year in a lab.

[BrammoBrian]

A question about L1/L2 charging.  I didn't see anything in the owner's manual, but if we have the time (as in overnight charging), does L1 charging have less of an impact on longevity than L2?  Or are they both below the threshold of having any noticeable effect on battery lifetime?

While higher charge rates do, in general, reduce the life of the battery, even Level 2 charging is a pretty tame charging rate at around .3C on the cells (20-25Amps on a 90Ah pack). The life cycle testing on the cells was done at a .5C charge rate, so no need to worry about this.  This will be a consideration for packs and definitely a good question to ask when DC fast charging becomes more common. 

[flar]

On a related note: I've signed up for my local utility's Time of Use rates. Will it in any way affect the charger (or anything else) to plug the bike in and have a timer supply power to the Clippercreek unit?

BTW, the utilities really have their rates, ah, wired: Sure they give me a great Off Peak rate, but then, on that special, touted, EV plan, they jack up the daytime rates way above what I'm paying now. Oh well.

Did you sign up for the E9 rate plan?  That is the special EV rate plan and that specifically excludes "electrically powered motorcycles".

They also have a ToU E6 plan that is not EV specific.

Both E6 and E9 have some fairly high peak prices, especially if you go much over baseline, but the off peak rates are always lower: E9 less than E6 less than E1 for every tier of usage.  Daytime, though, if you go much above Baseline just kills you on E6 and E9.

I use much more than Baseline so it waters down the savings.  They also disallowed me to sign up for E9 because I mentioned I had a motorcycle.  They did offer E6 and the web site shows that I'd save about $10 per month (on a bill of about $180), but I'd also be locked in for 12 months.  Since my situation may change, and since they may revise the plans soon, I elected to wait for $10/month.  I'll continue to track it, though, because continued overnight charging may shift the savings balance.  The reason it might not is that I tend to be a night owl so I often run my power hungry PC or A/V system in the wee hours of the morning anyway...

[Shinysideup]

I did sign up for E9. I didn't mention "motorcycle". What's up with that kind of discrimination?

I also like the fact that I pay the lowest rate on weekends, as well as after midnight, so I save my laundry chores (electric dryer) for the weekends.

Too early to tell if the higher peak rates (especially over baseline) are going to wipe out any savings. I'll compare monthly bills soon...

[Brammofan]

I did sign up for E9. I didn't mention "motorcycle". What's up with that kind of discrimination?

Seriously! Most people don't even know they exist.

[flar]

I guess I could try calling back and apply "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".  Hopefully nothing was written to my account that might tip them off.

[protomech]

Quick update - Lead Powertrain Engineer, Dan Riegels, will be working on a detailed blog post that addresses the development of the Empulse motor (Parker GVM) and cool technical details on the IET system.  I tried to hit him up with all the questions I've seen pop up here, but if you've got something very specific, let me know.

Seeing this at the top of the thread reminded me. Did this blog post go out and I missed it, or was it something that got moved to the back burner? I'd love to see when and if it goes out ..