Results tagged “moped” from The GPSy EV Project

My latest acquisition is a beautiful old Garelli moped. I'm still ambivalent as to whether this will be EV converted. For now, here are some pics from the seller.

The seller called it a 1972 Garelli Bonanza, but I'm pretty sure it's a 1976 Garelli Eureka Flex instead. Here are some links to other Garelli Eurekas:

• http://www.mopedarmy.com/photos/brand/18/1844/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/63216488@N00/3404162837/

MopedArmy.org has the Clymer's repair manual for the Garelli on their website, but it's individual JPG files and I found it difficult to use so I collated them into a single PDF:

The weather was finally nice enough to commute to work this week on my Piaggio Boxer EV with Prius NiMH batteries.

Here's the data from my CycleAnalyst:

	Run #1 1.18 (To)	Run #2 1.18 (From)	Run #3 1.19 (To)	Run #5 1.20 (To)
Distance	5.2 km	4.85 km	4.21 km	4.19 km
Efficiency	45.1 Wh/km	39.2 Wh/km	42.2 Wh/km	47.6 Wh/km
Energy used	234.23 Wh	189.87 Wh	176.92 Wh	199.03 Wh
Charge Used	5.90 Ah	4.28 Ah	4.01 Ah	5.01 Ah
Max Amps	106 A	101 A	91 A	101 A
Average Speed	20.6 km/h	23.3 km/h	24.8 km/h	24.1 km/h
Max Speed	36.6 km/h	40.3 km/h	39.0 km/h	36.6 km/h
Starting voltage	---	49.9	50.2	47.2
Ending voltage	43.8v	45.9v	---	44.2v
Run time	15 min	12:30	10:10	10:24

My commute is slightly uphill on the way to work and downhill on the way back, which accounts for the difference in energy efficiency going to and from work.

The bike feels much lighter than with the SLAs and faster too (even with the gear reduction) so I have to say it's an unqualified success. I just hope I can get good life out of these batteries.

After Run #4, I was in a rush and so I put the charger on and went to a talk and then came back. About 3 hours had passed and the charger had over charged the batteries. It actually wedged the battery holder apart. So I'm worried now that my batteries will be weakened -- even though most of the bulging has subsided.

I reinforced the battery holder this morning and we'll see how it holds up.

My little Piaggio-EV is back up and running. I made the following mods:

• My replacement HV-110 is now installed in an external plexiglass box with (much) better airflow and forced as well as passive air cooling. The forced cooling is on full all the time rather than the temperature variable fan that I used to have.
• Extra caps (470 uF x 6) soldered in parallel with input leads
• (Slightly) beefier wiring used -- 8 gauge rather than 12 ga
• 75 amp Andersen PowerPoles used instead of 30A
• Wiring shortened a bit
• Thermometer probe directly on caps to monitor heat

So far, it seemed ok. After my ride to work this morning, the caps heated up a bit -- from 17°C ambient at the beginning to 37°C ambient at the end of the 5 kilometer ride. I'm working on getting even more cooling in there.

6 amps used. 30 watts/kilometer average energy expenditure.

I've been asked if I had to register my Piaggio Boxer in CT and get it plated and insured. When it was a gasoline scooter in Minnesota, I had it plated and insured (and have a MN title for it). When I got to Connecticut, I was told that because it was 49cc, it fell under the moped provision and didn't need to be titled, registered, or insured.

Here are the requirements for mopeds in CT:

a. goes no faster than 30 mph

b. displaces less than 50 cc

c. has an automatic transmission

d. less than 2 brake horse power

e. and after 7/1/97 the need for pedals is deleted from the requirements.

When I did the EV conversion, I think I remained within the moped parameters. The scooter is geared so it doesn't go more than 30 mph; it displaces 0 cc which is less than 50 cc; it has one gear and a centrifugal clutch, so it is automatic; brake horse power is a defunct and idiosyncratic measurement system with no easy equivalent in other systems; and it has pedals.

So I should be good. If I'm forced to register it, I have the Minnesota title which I can always transfer to CT.

At the current moment, I have the ICE engine out and the Razor motor in and wired up. Using a small hub on the 250 watt motor, I'm getting about 5-8mph and not nearly enough power to make it up hills. Fortunately, this was designed as a moped and I can pedal assist whenever I need to. Also, the centrifigual clutch means I can't stall out the motor.

The problem is that I don't have enough power, the motor is running very hot (70 C after 10 minutes runtime), and the rinky dink batteries I have now won't give me enough distance.

As mentioned above, I've ordered an HXT outrunner motor from Hong Kong (per Scott @ Endless-Sphere's experience) and will wire it in once it arrives. I'm hoping to be able to go 30 mph on straightaways if I can with larger SLA batteries on it.

This is my very high-tech throttle control. The Rocket controller is not speed adjustable, you just have to short two wires. I short one pair and turn on the bike using the mini-headphone jack on the left (aka: "the key") and then turn on the motor using the switch on the right. I avoided doing anything nicer as the HXT outrunner + ESC that I'm using in Phase 2 will be an entirely different control system.

(Originally posted: July 6, 2008)

Well, I went to Tractor Supply Center (TSC) today and all they had were imperial sized pulleys (1/2" and 3/4" bores). The motor that I have must be a metric size one because the 1/2" hub pulleys were too large. I bought some 1/2" hub pulleys anyway since I wanted to see if it would work as a proof of concept (and just around how much more power I'll need).

Now I just have to make a mount for the motor. I think I'll just use a piece of 2x6 wood that I have laying around and make a simple mount.

I took the motor, motor controller, batteries, and everything else out of the Razor. I tried to play with the motor controller. It turned out the "throttle" on the bike was only a switch and not a potentiometer. I tried using a 5K pot but the motor speed (unloaded) didn't seem to change any. I'm not sure if this controller is variable or not, but it wouldn't make any sense not to be, right? Maybe I need more resistance.

If I can get the pulley and V-belt on next weekend and cut the mount and drill it out, I'll be able to get the electronics in and the mo-ped on the road to test it out.

---

To answer some of the comments on the previous post:

1. Definitely 240 watts is too little, if that is the actual rating of the motor. Once I get this to work and can show proof of concept to my partner, my budget for getting a bigger motor should be approved.

2. I thought about a hub motor and might go down that route if belts/pulleys become too much of a bugaboo. It'd certainly solve a lot of problems except the financial ones -- most ones I've seen are $300-500 right? That's about $200-400 over my current budget (until I can prove that this will work, and that I haven't ruined my partner's mo-ped in the name of science).

Karen



Original forum posting and comments: <a href="http://visforvoltage.org/forum/3973-modifying-my-piaggio-moped-part-2">VisforVoltage.org</a>

My partner had bought an old Piaggio Boxer mo-ped a couple of years ago but sitting in our garage had rusted out the engine. I decided to make it an EV conversion.

So far, I've removed the old ICE cleanly. It looks like the ICE was connected to the rear wheel through a belt-driven CVT / clutch.

My replacement motor is a small 24V / 250 watt one taken from a RAZOR electric (toy) motorbike. It's about the only thing I can find that would fit in the small area of the former engine compartment (about 4-5" wide). If the 24V works and doesn't have enough power, I'll have to see if I can find a more powerful pancake unit or mount the motor in a separate place.

I'm driving of to my nearest (? 1 hour+) tractor supply center today to see if I can find a v-belt pulley that will attach to the motor. The old front CVT pulley from the ICE won't fit on the DC motor because the spindle isn't long enough.

IF I can find a new pulley today and find some kind of engine mount, I think I can finish up the conversion this week. But I'm just guessing at the pulley gear ratio and I don't think that the 250 watt motor will be powerful enough.

The controller is rated for 24V / 30A so I could put in a bigger motor if I could find it..... Or I could hop up the voltage to 36V by adding another L-A battery.