News

Throughout the year we have been sampling hub motors from a variety of different manufacturers aside from Crystalyte in an effort to continue offering the latest and best electric bicycle conversion parts. One of motors that stood well apart from the pack is a new 400 watt geared hub motor from the eZee bike company. Our first large shipment arrived last week and the system is available now as part of a complete kit package with a 37V 10Ah lithium battery pack.

Let mosfet failures in 72V Crystalyte controllers be a thing of the past! We sent Crystalyte a batch of IRFB4110 mosfets to incorporate into a custom run of 72V motor controllers capable of 40A and even 50A current levels. These mosfet transistors have 1/3rd the ON resistance of the original 4710's used in previous 72V controllers and so are far more tolerant of the large motor currents in high voltage setups. As well, the stock 72V controllers now use IRFB4310 mosfets, which have over 40% less internal resistance than the original transistors.

January Update - The modified 72V controllers sold out in no time. Our next batch isn't due to arrive until March as well. However, the stock 72V 40A controllers with the IRFB4310 mosfets have been holding up just fine with most 72V arrangements, so unless you really need 50 amps, then the standard 72V controller should be fine. We have modified the Low Voltage Cutout on these to 27V, and have also added a waterproof conformal coating to the circuit boards as well. 

One source of frustration with the hub motor disk brake setups has been that the threaded disk adapters have a bolt hole pattern that doesn't match the standard for disk rotors here in North America. If you wanted a larger size rotor or a specific disc you were flat out of luck. Well, we have now had a local CNC machinist produce a custom batch of threaded adapter plates with an industry standard 44mm Bolt Center Diameter (BCD). These can be screwed onto any threaded side cover, or even bolted directly to non-threaded side covers, to bring disk brake compatibility to your vehicle.

The feedback from customers using our higher rate NiCad batteries from Elegance has been quite positive, and we are now offering these as loose tabbed cells for people wishing to build their own custom battery packs. This way it is possible to arrange the cells in any desired layout to fit the geometry of your particular vehicle. We stock Thermistors, wide heatshrink tubing, and appropriate charge and discharge connectors for those doing a custom battery build.

As well, we are also offering some high capacity R/C grade Lithium Polymer cells, battery management system (BMS) circuits, and lithium chargers, for those who want to build the lightest pack possible. These cells are less than half the weight of an equivalent energy A123 battery, and are also capable of impressive charge and discharge currents. The 6Ah cell is rated for 36 amps, and the 4Ah cell can handle up to 60A.

The Hub Motor Dynamometer was upgraded over the summer to produce load torques of up to 40 Nm and has been busy characterizing a variety of different hubs. At the moment we have added the 500 Watt motors from Golden Island Machinery, as well as the very similar looking motor being touted by FalconEV. Expect to see additional geared motors put up on our motor simulator in the near future once the model is refined to include mechanical gearing losses. 

The Hub Motor Dynamometer was upgraded over the summer to produce load torques of up to 40 Nm and has been busy characterizing a variety of different hubs. At the moment we have added the 500 Watt motors from Golden Island Machinery, as well as the very similar looking motor being touted by FalconEV. Expect to see additional geared motors put up on our motor simulatorin the near future once the model is refined to include mechanical gearing losses. 

With the normalization of Nickel prices and the desire for larger and large capacity batteries, we decided to resume carrying the popular and dependable 2D NiMH battery packs from Nexcell. Our order was placed in September and has been delayed several times but is expected to arrive either in late December or early January.

January Update - The shipment has arrived. Please see the store site for the selection of 24V and 36V 18Ah NiMH packs, as well as the 36V and 48V 13Ah batteries. 

There is no end of discussion in the electric vehicle world about recent innovations in lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery technology. The promises of charge cycles measured in the thousands, high inherent safety, and general tolerance to abuse are appealing. Indeed many of our customers have been running their ebikes off A123 cells pulled from DeWalt packs and similar.

Unfortunately most of the larger capacity LiFePO4 batteries from China are poorly built, with tangles of wires and low C-rate performance. However, there is one manufacturer we have been beta testing for the past 2 months that actually delivers, with 4C discharge currents and tidy and robust pack builds. We placed a large order for these in early Oct 2007 and are expecting arrival in January Feb 20th 2008. Price will be approximately $900 for 48V 12Ah, and $700 for 36V 12Ah.

After a summer of being in low on batteries, we finally we have some new batteries to announce, just in time for... uh, Hallowe'en? Well, better late than never. The raw material costs have somewhat stabilized again, so we've been able to order additional high-rate NiCad batteries along with a few lithium orders that are scheduled for intensive testing in a (not so) secret laboratory here in Vancouver. Additionally, batteries from our older shipments are to be sold at discounted prices to clear out our old stock - check our battery sale page for details.

Engineering diagrams for all of our motors, as well as the pinouts of the connectorsthat we use. Additionally, clicking on any controller picture will show you exactly what to expect so that there are no surprises. The work on the web site has been of glacial speed of late, but if tonight is any indication, much more content will be added in coming weeks.