formerly RE

Thanks. I just went there and sent feedback. We'll see what happens.

The Big Wheel

I was thinking about getting the ezip but after doing the calculations the battery that comes with the bike would have to be replaced maybe twice a year and since they overcharge for it it would be a lot cheaper in the long run to just get a $600 lifepo battery.

Have you done that math on how long the battery is going to last you or did you just buy it because the price was so cheap?

donob08

Big Wheel

I don't know if it's a fluke or may happen again, but in the summer of 2008 I put 1500 miles on my ezip with two batt packs. I still use one pack as a backup for my Ping LiFePO4. It seems OK. The other two "Enduring" 12V that are no longer in the case the Ping is using, I use for experiments and gadgets around the house. They still take and return a charge.

I bought the Ping for lighter weight mainly, but enjoy the higher voltage and the strong 15 Amp Hrs of output. Both of my Currie packs with the "Enduring" batteries suffered from bad internal connections, one more than once, each in a different place. I wonder if some with "dead cells" really have dead connections.

formerly RE

Battery is supposed to last over a year. Only time will tell.

tpreitzel

The batteries will last at least a year if properly maintained, i.e. drained no more than 3/4 of their fully charged capacity and recharged promptly after use. However, Currie has shipped "new" battery packs that were obviously sitting in a semi-discharged state so these packs won't last as long. I know from experience.

Basically, the E-Zip is a fine bike for its cost. The major problems are loose screws due to vibration, replacing flat tires on the rear rim for the first time (snap after that), and broken spokes. That latter problem is simply a recurring issue that an owner must address. I have a rim truing stand so the problem is minimal, but an owner of an E-Zip will definitely learn how to align rims or shell out the money to a LBS. I'm familiar with one 2007 E-Zip that now has about 5500 miles on it and it's still in great shape.

dgk02

I remember once seeing an episode of either Fernwood Tonight or America Tonight (Martin Mull spinoff from Mary Hartman Mary Hartman). It was a spoof of a talkshow. One segment had a conversation with an electric car inventor. The car wouldn't work, so he explains that one of the batteries must have died, and he opens the hood and the whole thing is filled with D cells. He starts testing each battery to find the bad one.

Battery technology has come a bit since then.

Here, I knew someone would have it on YouTube.

dumbass 

My wife and i each have 2 ebikes. 1 Wallie World bike with a Cyclone 360w kit and 1 Ezip 450w. I love riding both on mine but my wife only rides her Ezip. She never rides more then 4 to 6 milesat a time. Whereas, I like to go for 20 to 30 miles at a crack. On out short rides (4 to 6 miles) we have no problem with the Ezip batts. But there is no way I would ever attempt using them for 20 to 30 miles. For mt bike I have Thunder Sky 24v 20ah lipo4 packs. One pack will carry me 30 miles on forset preserve trails with no problem. And with my second pack my butt would give out long before the batts would. Cost for a TS 24v 20ah pack is only $256. A great price for lipo4 batteries but considering I only paid $240 for each of our Ezips I guess some would consider it expensive.

Without question there are 2 problems with the Ezip design but both are understandable. problem 1) cheap batteries. But let be honest you got what you paid for. The basic bike has a few really cheap parts on it but you can generally live with them. But the batts are a long term expense and the time to deal with it is as soon as the original batts fail. Don't waste money buying more SLA batteries. Bite the bullet and go lipo4 and they will last you for many years. Problem 2 in the weight distribution. I actually rolled my bike up onto a 2"x4", sat on it and rolled off the front wheel onto a scale and then the back tire onto the scale. here's what I found. First I weigh 220.5# and the bike is 84.5# with 2 batts. = 305#. The front tire is supporting 89.5# or 29.3% of the total weight. The rear tire is supporing 209# or 68.5% of the total weight. Yes i know the numbers don't add up. I think it was because I was supporting myself on the car so I didn't fall over. But it's close enough to show the problem. This is why the Ezip breaks so many spokes. The batteries and motor look good sitting back there but it's a hell of a load when combind with a disproportion of your own weight.

By the way I made a case for my lipo4 packs and they mount in the rear tire rack the same as the original Ezip batteries do. While the lipo4 packs can run 4 times the miles and live 10 times as long they weight exactly the same. What a deal!! [/IMG]

As you can see the lipo4 pack is a little bigger the the standard SLA pack but it's well worth it.

ecowheelz

Dumbass... where did you get that battery case? Did you build it? Out of what?

We're in the process of trying to create a LiFePo4 upgrade pack at our shop. But we can't find a pack that fits in the standard Currie battery case. Apparently, it needs to be at least 15AH, otherwise the stock controller / 450w motor will draw too many amps and the BMS will cut power. So a 10AH or 12AH won't work...

Have you had any issues with the BMS cutting out at 20AH? Still trying to figure out the optimal battery size... then we need to come up with a battery case...

dumbass 

The problem isn't the batteries it's the BMS. If the batteries can handle the drain 10ah batteies will work fine. But the BMS has to be rated higher then the Currie controler. There are 40ah BMS available. The problem is trying to fit the batteries and BMS into the original little box. I have read a report from one guy that said he had Ping build a 10ah and MBS for him that fit into the Currie box. However, he had to trim out all the insides of the box to fit it all in. 10ah to me is still to small but it's more then twice the SLAs and only 12 pounds and of course it fit the box.

I do not run with an BMS so I don't have a problem with cut outs. I charge from the original Currie SLA charger and it charges my cells to 3.55 avg. for a total of 28.4v. And I don't drain them below 24v or 3v each. So far so good but I wouldn't offer this method if I was selling them.

I have been looking at Headway cylinder cells 10ah. They are rated at 5c cont. and 10c sor 15c for short bursts. They may fit into the Currie box but the BMS is likely still a problem. There are also packet cells that are very thin and can handle 3c discharge. I think they come in 5ah and 10ah. I would think they would fit with no problem. Remember you need to vent the BMS too.

With all these problems is the reason I decided to build my own pack box. It looks a lot better then the pics show it because I had most of the screws out to take pics for a few people on different forums. They are also looking at building their own boxes and using mine for ideas.

nwmtnbkr

echowheelz,

I agree with dumbass that you'd be better off developing your own box rather than trying to use Currie's box. I'm planning on ordering 8 10AH Thunder Sky prismatic cells from EV Components next month (they seem to have the best price--my total cost will be $193.60 plus shipping). I will use ABS to build my own box, but my configuration will be slightly different than dumbass' since I will put the 8-cell 40A BMS that Battery Space sells in the box. (Since the Currie 24V controller can demand 35A, you really want a 40A BMS.) Dumbass, if you don't mind my asking, where did you get the brass posts that you put on the bottom of your box to make contact with the Currie rack?

dumbass 

nwmtnbkr _ Actually I think your planning to but 8 - 20ah cells not 10ah. I know someone does make them but I don't think TS does. No of course I don't mind you asking about the brass studs......but I just won't tell you. Just kidding. Actually they aren't brass their steel serated bolts that had a coating on them. But I am looking for brass, bronze or copper ones to replace them if I find something better. So far I haven't had a problem though. There is a name for them but right not I just can't think of it. But they are typically used on a car wheel to hold the wheel on. I bought a size I though would work and cut off the threaded end to size and pressed them into the plastic.

nwmtnbkr

You're right, it's 20AH cells. My mistake. Thanks for the info on the bolts.