Round Two

Today, I placed an order for one of the most crucial components - the electronic speed controller. I also purchased the main contactor and a couple fuses.

First Impressions:
I selected the KD72401 from Kelly Controllers. I was unsure at first whether or not to do business with them. I found slightly cheaper prices else-where, even though they manufacture the controllers themselves. Their website is alright, but not 100% clear, because of a language barrier. Also, I'd seen a forum thread where a VIP of Kelly was kinda rough on someone trashing their product. I was unsure, but I'm not anymore.

As of this moment, I could not be happier with the service they have provided, especially when compared to that of another internet-based electric vehicle component supplier. I contacted ElectricVehiclesUSA.com because of their competitive prices more than a week ago. I have not heard anything back from them as of yet. Mean-while, I contacted KellyControllers.com for the first time on Tuesday and I received a reply in thirty minutes. Furthermore, they have gone above and beyond what was necessary to make sure I'm taken care of. Plus, they seem to have some kind of 24 hours service thing going on because their operations are divided among different continents. They don't claim anything, as far as I've seen, but I can tell you one person or another has been working on my order for the last 7 hours (it's currently 11 pm, and I just got a confirmation email!), so I'm impressed.

ElectricVehiclesUSA.com has the best price on another few components I need, but I don't plan on doing business with them anymore. I've heard ok things about them, but not paying attention to a potential customer sends the worst of signals. To me, saving a few bucks is not worth poor customer service, especially when it's easy for something to go wrong with an order.

Anyway, the true test will come when it's time to install, program and operate the controller on the bike itself. Then, when it works and keeps working, I will be sold on their product and service, alltogether.

Power to the people:
Speaking of companies...
I called Mars Electric LLC today, for the fourth time. This call was 10 times more productive and meaningful than the previous three.

I ordered my motor, the ME709, from them nearly two weeks ago. I emailed their sales department (only email listed) for a tracking number two days later and I didn't get a response. I called and spoke to a gentleman who took my name and email and said "he'd get right on it." Two days later, I still hadn't received a tracking number, so I called and left a polite, clear, and detailed message. I never got a call or an email with the tracking information I wanted. My other parts, from various merchants had arrived, but I knew nothing at all about the status of my motor. So, this afternoon, I gave it another shot and all things were made clear to me.

The actual sales person for Mars Electric had been on vacation for more than a week. The salesman was super nice, knew my order based on my name alone, took interest in my application, and said he would do his best to get it processed asap. I received a tracking number late in the afternoon and apparently the package is already on its way. Whoever I talked to originally was having to fill-in, I suppose. The problem is, they didn't communicate that to me at any point. I realize you don't want to tell customers to just "try again later because so-and-so isn't here", but I'd prefer that over the silent treatment. At least then, I would understand why nothing was being done, and that I should just wait. Mars Electric had the best price, so I'm glad it's worked out so far.

Overview:
At this point, I've ordered or received the following:

• Batteries
• Battery Chargers
• DC-DC Converter
• Motor
• Motor Controller
• Main Contactor
• Main Fuse w/ holder
• Controller fuse w/ holder
  

I still need to get the following (not an exhaustive list):

• Throttles for Motor Controller input
• Drive and Driven sprockets
  
• Chain to match the sprockets
  
• Large & small wiring cables & hardware
  
• PakTrakr (maybe a Fit-PC w/ custom software to log / report / graph on)
  

I'm getting there though, and I'll tell you. It's really exciting. With a lot of help from others (with more experience than myself), I'm designing and building my own vehicle and that feels pretty cool to me.

-Colby

Sudden Purchases

About 2 months to the day since I worked on the bike, I have begun to actually order parts for the conversion0. The delay is due mostly to having other, more important, engagements, but I just decided the other day to go ahead with it, as planned. I have researched a fair amount, so I have some confidence that I'm not wasting my money.

The Parts:
I've ordered the motor, DC-DC converter, battery chargers, and picked up batteries.

The motor is the ME709 by Mars Electric LLC.
It's 36 lbs of PM goodness and was $537.

The DC-DC converter is the 300 Watt Sevcon 11086.
It will convert 72 Volts to 12 Volts with 25 Amps. It cost $213 from Electric Motorsport.

The battery charger (x2) is the JAC0891-102 by Japlar.
It's a 36 Volt, 4 Amp charger that can accepts anywhere from 100 to 240 Volts AC. These cost $246 online and should be idiot proof.

The batteries are the DCM0035L model from Interstate Batteries.
Not too expensive, nor too heavy, nor too skimpy, I believe. Rated at 34 Amp-hours and non-spillable, these will hopefully make nice starter batteries. I'm not thrilled about the terminal type, but I don't really think another 1/2 inch is a deal breaker. These cost $564 and I picked them up locally. I continued trying to decide where to place the batteries on the bike this evening and made decent progress.

Still to do:
I've still got to verify a few things related to the speed controller and order it as well. Apparently, there's a waterproofing option that costs $20. This component might also be back-ordered or slow to ship, in the amount of 4 weeks or more. Additionally, the Kelly controller I've selected is cheaper somewhere other than KellyController.com, which I find strange. Then again, I found several items on that site that seem over-priced.

There will be many other purchases, but these are the big, exciting ones for me. These are the components that are critical and must be selected for each application, individually. These that I've already purchased make up for more than half the total project budget. I'll probably try and go back through all the parts later on, describing them and my reasoning for selecting them.

Another e-Lifan:
On a similar note, I found another electric Lifan.
The first electric lifan I found was Lennon Rodger's eMoto. Last night, I found on the evAlbum, Mark Gelbien's electric 2009 Lifan GS200. It's a nice looking conversion and has impressive stats. Apparently, the guy has made his own version of a hub motor and tested his design by converting a Lifan to electric. There are videos he's posted on YouTube that aren't bad either. I'd be interested in his technology if I hadn't more or less finalized my design before seeing it. Also, his hub design being sold for $1,300 right now, so it wouldn't quite fit my project anyway. Maybe I'll seriously consider hub motors for any future conversions though, as there might be some promise in that technology.

The Goal:
National Ride to Work day for 2009 is June 15th. I'd like to participate in the global event, so this is my only deadline of any kind. I guess I'll need to have the thing legally road-worthy around the end of May so that I'll have time to practice riding, get used to the bike, and make sure it's actually safe. I'll have to get some riding gear too, which is fine by me.

I'm seriously enjoying this project now. I know I may be waist deep in wires, measurements, calculations, and nuts and bolts in a few weeks, scratching my head, but I'm thinking it will be worth it.
-Colby