Wow.. what a bunch of hoo haa haa about batteries.
tpreitzel... do you actually own and ride an ezip on a regular basis? The reason i ask is that you seem to be offering theory and generalizations, where everyone else here is giving practical every day experience. There's nothing wrong with generalizing as long as you don't purport your generalizations to be scientific fact. What you have said about SLAs is 'generally accepted' advice, but it doesn't seem all that practical when applied to the Ezip and its ridership.
Let me just give some other real life data. I have had my ezip for 2 months now and I regularly ride it 14 miles without another charge and with pedal assist. Cathy is not an exceptional rider (although she is in much better shape than I!), she is just savvy to extending the range of her batteries, something you LEARN to do the more you ride the bike. The more I pedal assist, the further I can go. (whether rain, hills, wind resistance are factors or not.) With no pedal assist, I get about 6 miles. I have the same bike as Cathy. I am 5'7" and weigh more than... hmmm... do i want to tell this part********** I have lost 15 lbs since using this bike on a daily basis and expect to continue to improve my health.. but I am still above 225 lbs... I have also carried about 60lbs of groceries bungee corded to the back rack. I am heavy, the bike is heavy, the groceries were heavy, but all is well. I am sure to check and tighten the nuts and bolts on a regular basis and my tire pressure is checked every day to be sure I am at 60psi. (I have a cheapo air compressor that I got at Wally World when I picked up my bike which makes this super easy) I have ridden the battery down to the red only light several times (and i really get nothing from the motor except sound at that point), and it is usually when i am very close to home, and i put it on the charger right away. After a couple of months of putting this bike through its paces.. my batts are still performing very well! Currie says i should get 300 charges on their pack... I figure I have put about 130 charges on it so far, so I am about half way through its life. (sometimes I charge more than twice per day!
woohooo!)
If you dont want to pedal at all.. you will get 6-9 miles on one stock 24v 10ah Currie battery pack. The reason I say 6-9 is because I weigh more and get 6 miles, but have discussed ranges with others and a 150lb rider I know gets 9-10 miles unassisted.
DONT PAY THROUGH THE NOSE TO REPLACE BATTERIES (unless you are switching away from sla's to nimh or lipo):
The Currie batt pack: open the case and you will find that it consists of 2-12v 10ah sla batteries wired in series, a BMS-Battery Mgmt System, and a fuse. You can replace these batteries for $60-70, or pay Currie or someone else double or more than double for their cute proprietary pack. If you want a 2nd standard pack to double your mileage range, then get it from Currie or someone that sells it, BUT FROM THEN ON... REPLACE THE BATTERIES YOURSELF. It is easy!!!!!! (unless you have money to burn, then you can forever pay more than double and get your replacements from Currie - if you do that, will you please let me know - send me a private message on this forum - as I would LOVE to have your used Currie case... I want another case, but I won't pay the exhorbitant double fee.)
If you want to get even more adventurous and cost cutting. Check out these links that describe some folks modifying the Currie case to fit Lithium Ion batteries inside, or ditch the case altogether and attach whatever batteries you desire easily to the nicely modifiable battery connections at the bottom of the battery rack.
This entire thread is quite interesting with lots of pics of an opened currie batt pack, and modifications:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums...ttery&start=15
Battery rack modification - Scroll through the pages of this thread, there are handy photographs:
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums...d=a&hilit=ezip
Checkout this video of an ezip modification:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-D0DHKPSoc
Checkout the threads in this forum. The admin here has an ezip and is modifying it in many aspects:
http://www.ecoforumz.com/ecar-ebike-...c-bicycle.html
I am learning many new things, getting into shape, and having a blast!
I feel like a kid again.