My Empulse Test Ride Experience

[Vibetrippin]

imagine an aero fairing touring bike, say 20 kWh ~100 Wh/mile @ 70 mph (7 kW or 0.35C discharge). Discharge from 80% to 20% (12 kWh) yields 120 miles range, requires 103 minutes. 2C charge from 20% to 80% would require approximately 18 minutes (roughly 1 hour riding per 10 minutes charging).

And here you have 95% of the motorcycle community. Most people never exceed that. I'm more than willing to do a long road trip on my bike but after 120 miles I'd like to take a leak and get a coffee or a bite to eat so that would work perfectly. I'm just envisioning all the truck stops in north america having a handful of chargers out front with electric cruisers parked at them while bikers sit inside refueling themselves.

[Gavin]

imagine an aero fairing touring bike, say 20 kWh ~100 Wh/mile @ 70 mph (7 kW or 0.35C discharge). Discharge from 80% to 20% (12 kWh) yields 120 miles range, requires 103 minutes. 2C charge from 20% to 80% would require approximately 18 minutes (roughly 1 hour riding per 10 minutes charging).

And here you have 95% of the motorcycle community. Most people never exceed that. I'm more than willing to do a long road trip on my bike but after 120 miles I'd like to take a leak and get a coffee or a bite to eat so that would work perfectly. I'm just envisioning all the truck stops in north america having a handful of chargers out front with electric cruisers parked at them while bikers sit inside refueling themselves.

yep...this...when I do a long ride I am A) either with a group of people and we stop a lot (scooters usually have small tanks...and scooterist smaller bladders) or am B) going alone and don't mind stopping and getting a bite to eat...or stopping and checking out the town...or stopping and just staring at the sky...

If I can get a touring/city bike that goes 120 miles on the highway (so 200 in the city), I would be a happy boy...over kill for the city, but good range for going from "gas stop to gas stop"....

maybe in a few years...

(ps...need a touring tester Brammo? oh boy can I do some long distance riding.  )


Gavin

[protomech]

Faster chargers are heavier, and more expensive - there's a weight and cost tradeoff for batteries vs fast chargers. Here's an example combined charger/control system, Netgain's Pulsar:
http://www.ngcontrols.com/pulsar.php

* 24 kW AC charging (240V 100A), J1772 compatible, up to 150 kW DC level 3
* motor controller supports up to 370V battery pack, 500A (185 kW)
* liquid cooled
* 34 pounds (not including liquid, radiator, fans, tubing)
* 18.5x14.5x5.5 inches

In comparison, here's the 2012 Zero's discrete charger and controller:
* Sevcon Gen 4 Size 4 controller, 8.9x6.6x3.1 inches, around 10 pounds
* DeltaQ QuiQ 1 kW charger, 11x9.7x4.3 inches, around 13 pounds

Better size comparison:
http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/35769-Netgain-Pulsar-vs-Sevcon-Size-4-vs-Delta-Q-QuiQ-DCI

Ahh, here's the one I was looking for.

BRUSA has a 22 kW AC charger, NLG6. Pretty sure Volvo is trialing this in their C30 EVs now.

* 22 kW AC charging (240V 96A 3 phase), J1772 compatible (but 16A max for J1772? not sure how they're charging 3 phase)
* liquid cooled
* 26 pounds
* 19.8x13.9x3.3 inches

About twice the volume and weight of the Zero's 1 kW charger. The BRUSA charger is more suitable for higher voltage 300-400v packs like the race bikes or EV cars.. but still, there are new options opening up for onboard chargers.

[flar]

Proto - maybe you can answer this.  My impression is that bulky on-board chargers are only really needed for AC charging, but that DC charging requires very little on board - which would be a big boon for smaller EVs like motorcycles.

But, perhaps I'm misinformed and you still need quite a bit of circuitry and heat sink even if you are charging from DC?  How much volume and weight would supporting Chademo (or similar DC charging) add to the vehicle?

[protomech]

I believe it's just a small control board and the inlet. Probably a couple pounds and minimal volume.

Here's an project to build an open CHAdeMO interface:
http://code.google.com/p/open-chademo/

You definitely would want to monitor the battery temperature closely.

[oobflyer]

Interesting discussion - my Leaf can charge via 120V (NEMA), 240V (J1772), or the 480V CHAdeMO charging. I had trouble getting an electrician to install a new, separate circuit for my J1772 plug, so I did it myself. It really wasn't difficult. The charging unit (LeGrand) cost $500, the wire/circuit breaker, etc., was another $100.

The whole chicken/egg thing is a pain - if the infrastructure were in place - more people would buy EVs. If more people had EVs the demand would spur infrastructure growth. Meanwhile, it would be nice to have a backup option of 120V charging. Of course Nissan has much more space on their cars for various charging options.

Getting back to the test ride - I'm curious about the transmission - how did it compare to riding an electric bike without a transmission?

[Shinysideup]

Getting back to the test ride - I'm curious about the transmission - how did it compare to riding an electric bike without a transmission?

I've only test ridden the 2012 Zero and I very much enjoyed the no-shift, silent, magic carpet feeling of a belt drive and no tranny. But I missed the off-the-line acceleration I've come to depend on during my all-day on-the-job use in San Francisco. When I've squeezed in between the lanes and worked my way up to a stoplight, I don't want to have to guess if I can shoot out in front of my neighbors when the light turns green.

The Empulse test ride removed that drawback.

I didn't shift it much (1st is good to 60 mph) but I found that the tranny did, as Craig has indicated, restore the sense of a "real motorcycle" to the ride experience. More than anything I appreciated the considerable "engine braking" when downshifting. The regen in 1st is considerable and is gonna save me a bundle in brake pads.

I'm sure the shifting will feel even more appropriate once I get out outside the confines of the city streets of my test ride. Can't wait!