Plug-in electric vehicles are the future! Homebuilt Cycle

[pheenix42]

All we need now is the necessary tech for fusion reactors, and we can kiss fossil-fuel electricity goodbye.

That'll probably happen after I'm dead, though. =(

[jakedenos]

0:52 that's not electric that just the first ever true motorcycle (gas powered) Late 1860s: Earliest references to electric motorcycles can be found in patents.

[d0ck47]

my toaster runs on coal!

[SuperLatvian]

But I do power my toaster with gasoline :<

[capnsparx]

So whats your range on it? I've seen people ask a couple of times, and you havnt answered. I've read what you posted below for specs, and that's neat, but how far can yoiu go between charges?

[BenjaminNelson]

@capnsparx

20 to 30 miles, depending on speed, weather, and terrain.

These are only 55 AH batteries. Flooded ones are typically 95 AH - better for range, but the Optima Yellow Tops are sealed and can pull a lot of amps - great for acceleration.

[UpNorthLiving2011]

now this is what im talkin about!!! way better then a car!!! less battery and more range yes!

[lpgjg]

SPECS,SPECS,SPECS Please: Watts of motor, controller specs, type of accelerator, motor sprocket, wheel sprocket, etc

Please help more of us build one of these amazing machines.

[BenjaminNelson]

@lpgjg

Briggs & Stratton Etek 48V pancake permanent magnet motor, Alltrax "AXE" 48V motor controller, 4 x Optima Yellow Top 55 AH batteries, 0-5Kohm potentiometer twist throttle, semi-custom 72 tooth rear sprocket from SprocketSpecialistsdotcom, 14 tooth front sprocket, no transmission.

[BenjaminNelson]

@lpgjg

The Alltrax motor controller is the 300 amp version.

[ve3tru]

Love the CFL bulb he's holding, funny how in Europe they banned the incandescent bulb. In china the region that makes the CFL is so polluted with mercury and the workers have hundreds of times mercury poisoning. Its also harder to make and dispose of, offsetting any savings. There are known adverse health problems,not to mention contamination from broken bulbs. Eco friendly Europe would ban your bike and fine you.

[VCat2006]

@ve3tru I use halogen lights, but what do incompetent CFL handlers have to do with banning electric bikes?

[Viking9280]

you actually did this your a very clever man

[candr]

Great work, tried to do this a few years ago but had to shelve it because of time.

[goodgigs]

Electric vehicles are not "green". It takes more power to mine, refine and process

the battery materials then they will save in their lifetime. I'm not against electric

vehicles, but they are not going to same the plaint. Also if you want to make them attractive to most people they will have to go faster - which they can and do !

[Kahnshapir]

Yup , use that coal generated electricity. 50 % of the us power is coal. Plug it into the wall and burn more coal : P

[BenjaminNelson]

@Kahnshapir My house has renewable generated electricity. Studies have also shown that an electric vehicle running on coal-created electricity are STILL cleaner than gasoline engines.

[madjimms]

This is thrilling! America definitely needs this!

[muddymuddymuddmann]

YES!!! HOW DID I MISS THIS VIDEO. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A ROLLING FRAME FOR 6 MONTHS. I HAVE WANTED AN EV SO BAD I DECIDED TO DO THE SAME THING. NOW I HAVE THE FIELD PLOWED BEFORE I GET THERE. GREAT JOB BEN. PLEASE MORE INFO ON THE ELECTRIC MOTOR.

MUDDy

[BenjaminNelson]

@muddymuddymuddmann The motor is a Briggs & Stratton Etek.

It's a pancake style permanent magnet DC motor.

Other similar styles are made by Mars and also one by Perm.

A forklift motor could work OK too - it will just be a lot wider.

Check out "VOLTZILLA" here on YouTube as well.

[kostis007]

@BenjaminNelson can you tell me the specs of the motor and the batteries?

[BenjaminNelson]

@kostis007

It's a 48V Briggs & Stratton Etek electric motor. The batteries are group 24 Optima Yellow Tops rated at 55AH.

[jdtrickster]

@BenjaminNelson ,

300-400mpg.. How far can you go on a charge and are we talking 110 charge or are you charging using 220? Will it go any faster than 45 mph?

[BenjaminNelson]

@jdtrickster

I'm just using a 120V charger.

I could re-gear for higher top speed, but 45 mph is the speed limit right outside my house anyways. The cycle is mostly used around town.

[MalloryPowell1]

Download Free Motorbike Manuals Here, It takes 1 Minute *** freemotorcyclemanuals . net

[elbeghast]

Dude,your videos rock. Seriously. You are an inspiration to DIY Eco-heads everywhere. =P

[realinohio]

What kind of electric motor are you using

Do you have a blue print on how to convert?

[wafous222]

This is awesome! and in fact this can help on the reduction of the "normal" pollution and the sound pollution, (really I'd never saw such a silent motorcycle)

congratulations!

[RocketMaker10000]

Ben,

Check out my Electric Lawn mower I built....Rocketmaker10000 Visit my Youtube page and find it there....

[RocketMaker10000]

Ben,

I am President of the NJ Electric Auto Association and on the Board of the National Electric Auto Association. I know Peter C. and will let him know we were chatting on Youtube. Hope all is well.

[jaggggy]

hey thats nice. I would like to make something like this :)

[stalker7d7]

What kind of motor did you use? Can you link us to a place that would tell us how to put together out own electric bike? (:

[loveanianimeme]

How far can you go before you need to charge it up?

[fordescort98]

can I ask how much it cost to build? And how much work was required to build it. I am on a limited buget so I don't have much to spend :)

Thanks

[jackle1238]

If the whole world where to change to using electricity for everything then we would not have enough electricity to power everything.. We already get a few blackouts and where using gas for our cars and tools etc....

[rtsoccerplayer]

why not keep the transmission?

[BenjaminNelson]

In this case, both the motor and transmission of the original cycle were non-functional.

A transmission matches the speed of the engine to the desired speed of the road. An electric motor has a much wider range of torque and speed, so a transmission really isn't needed.

You do still need a way to connect the motor to the wheels.

Front wheel drive electric car conversions usually keep the transmission, while motorcycle conversions often remove them to save weight and space.

[rtsoccerplayer]

oh ic.

but wouldn't a transmission give you better efficiency during cruising and a higher top speed?

[BenjaminNelson]

A transmission CAN give you a higher top speed, but it pulls a lot more amps to do it. This is much harder on your batteries and reduces range.

Adding more batteries in series gives you a higher system voltage, which means better efficiency AND higher speed.

By not having a transmission, it gives you more room for for batteries.

Search for "Voltzilla" here on YouTube for a cycle which kept the transmission. That one put the batteries in racks outside the motorcycle.

[rtsoccerplayer]

hmmmm...that makes sence.

you know what would be cool though? if you can get a battery custom made the same shape as your gas tank! then more space for w/e you want!

[RafaeINadal]

@BenjaminNelson HI, GREAT WORK, can you add a sound system to make it sound like an engine. As a biker, I would miss the engine sound too much to convert to electric engines.

[23234324]

us normal people cant afford electric motor cycles and cant just build one just like that

[chick5581]

hi well i just finished watching the video and i have to hand it to you it was alot of fun just watching it so good job

[Chick6517]

hey well this was an awesome video can wait to check more of them out so expect more comments from me it was great.

[mikhasya1976]

cool!

[generalmarcuz]

i hope we all switch to plug in vehicles soon. Nice project. We will support you all the way.

[lcalarea47]

hi what type amps/volts brand of controller you using ,,and motor ,,thx lonnie

[Dilekz]

Ye would love to get some technical information..

We cannot do this in europe.. LAW. :(

The law forbids conversions of cars and bikes.

So we have to wait for bike/car makes to come with them..

Otherwise i would buy a cheap motorcycle and convert it. Lovely project!!!

[Bribon]

great! great! great!!! 5* and favorite!!!

[somedudeandacomp]

Nicely done great accomplishment, something to be proud of, I'm sure, keep up the help with the enviroment, if the big companies wont make what we want because the oil companies want their money... WE WILL Screw the oil companies

[boxermotorrad]

thats the real Future yea..........you on the rigth way

[botto33]

you are right even though i'm aussie

[insomnia100]

Blind people are going to love this.....smack!

[BenjaminNelson]

The motorcycle is not silent. It makes some chain noise and there is always the noise of the air being moved out of the way and the tires on the ground as well.

[Rodrigodigovbs]

the is

[gerry626]

fair play. good effort. glad to see someone making the personal effort

[beecess07]

i want one :)

[Manofry]

Where can I buy one of these? :D

[greenbow09]

This is great. Thank you for sharing this info. I will have to send this to my neighbor. He has a love for things like this.

Actually , I have several friends that will be interested. This is brilliant.

[s0berate]

lol renewable. where does the energy come from. energy produced from coal power stations is not a renewable energy source. make it solar and you can call it renewable.

[CheesieChinchilla]

Alot more energy is coming from Hydro now. Also, if you think about how much more energy it takes to

A. Pump the oil

B. Ship the oil

C. Use the oil in your car

you're using about 1/10 of the energy.

It's people like you that aren't allowing society to take the green step forward. Think optimistically, and you'll be surprised.

[randomenvelope]

brilliant it doesnt even make this terrible annoying motor sound wich i hate this is awesome

[roadster2k70]

Hey Ben awsome project! My question is where did you buy the batteries for your EV and what size of electric motor did you use? I think it would be so cool to have my own electric motorcycle but I'm concerned with how much tourque I would need and the battery life. Did the manufacturer where you bought the batteries from have a suggested battery life? As in a range from X to Y number of charges?

[Joshbomb303]

this is pretty cool

But most motorcycles already do pretty well as far as energy efficiency goes. If your going to do something like this, try making a electric car (homemade).

good try though! kudoss

-Josh

[Toshk11]

"Electricity is renewable" What a load of crap, sure there are some sources of renewable but where is the majority of it coming from from, burning coal, And let me ask you this, is coal renewable?? i think you will find that the answer is no. So if you want to be ECO-FRIENDLY make a hydrogen powered bike, then you can say that you are using renewable energy.

[krazykarl0]

And where do you get the hydrogen? Electricity.

[Toshk11]

Well a hydrogen engine would be like a petrol engine but would use water instead of the petrol, so the electricity needed would be recharged like it is on a car.

[komatsukid1]

You can´t have output energy without input energy. You still need an outside fuel source to split the water into hydrogen. Perpetual motion is still a fairy tale.

[Toshk11]

I'm not talking about perpetual motion, its like a car engine needs input energy, which it gets from the battery, which is then charged using a dynamo when the car runs. thats what would be on the hydrogen engine. anyway, there have already been hydrogen cars made it's just that at the moment they are too dangerous.

[komatsukid1]

There are hydrogen cars in service. They are perfectly safe. (Why do you think they are dangerous?) The problem is that hydrogen requires large amounts of electricity to produce. If you live in an area where electricity is produced with renewable resources, that´s great. 98% of electricity here in Iceland comes from hydro-electric and geothermal power. However, not everyone else in the world is going to have access to hyrdrogen. I think the battery bike is a great idea.

[roadster2k70]

IT IS RENEWABLE! At least in Canada. 58% of its electricity consumption comes from hydro electricity! How ever in the United States the vast majority of electricity is produced form various forms of petrolium and other fossil fuels. BUT IN CANADA IT WORKS! We also posess 20% of the earth's fresh water supply. I'll be waiting with my .50 cal machine gun and land mines when the US government wants our water. Of course thanks to NAFTA american companies have already started stealing it.

[vcj429]

One more vote for a how-to!

[RichCrisler]

You tell um Ben nice goin!! Keep it up we need all the EV car owners we can get!

[pimfram]

Wow, very nice job. I'd start up a business selling them if I were you.

[Asikinari]

That's awesome.

[angeladams]

Bill Nelson,

You rock the house!!!

Thank you!!

And thank you, Google, and thank you to EVERYONE!!!

namaste

[BenjaminNelson]

Actually, this project started as an electric bike.

Unfortunantly, I was always getting cut-off by cars, and didn't have suspension or lights or horn.

Also, I wanted to go just a little faster....

So, I converted a motorcycle.

[Darkwolfy122]

Can you do this with a car?

[chrisf6969]

One thing that you didn't mention in your video... how far (how many miles) can you go on one charge? Thats important to know the range.

[BenjaminNelson]

The cycle goes 20 miles on a charge, which is fine, considering I live 3 or 4 miles from work, post office, grocery store, etc. My typical trip is usually ten miles.

[first2di3]

Hey Benjamin is there any way you could link to some resources where you got your motor and controller? Im thinking of using your idea and putting a twist on it.. (think moped with bike pedals turning a hand-crank generator for extra power)

Please point the masses in the right direction!

Thanks.

[ViRtUaLheretic]

Nice video.

It would be great if you could provide some sort of instructions on how you built your bike.

p.s.

This video got posted on the main page of [H]ard OCP.  Good job :)

[Glacian22]

This is really great work, and I'd like to add my vote to the "instructional video" camp!

[BenjaminNelson]

Cycle goes 45 mph (55 down big hills!)

Speed is based mostly on voltage. A 72 volt cycle will go faster than a 48 volt cycle.

[oldenough2knowbetter]

Well done. I'm off to trawl ebay :)

[npc731]

Ben, This is a great project.Like the other post, in depth instructional video would be a help.What kind of range would you figure? What kind of items are needed outside motor/controller/batteries and who would be a good source? Thanks

[largehashbrowns]

hey can u please make a instruction video?

[DavyCrocket2003]

You made this on iMovie didn't you. And you used acoustic sunrise. Cool. Cool Motorcycle. Electricity is insanely more efficient than gasoline. why is it taking so long for us to accept it? Thanks.

[BenjaminNelson]

Hey Davy, not made in iMovie, but I just really like that cut of music!

[REELHUNTERSdotcom]

This is definitely a motivational video. Do you have a video where you can explain in more depth, what basics elements are required for something like this. My brother in law is a farmer and a tinkerer of the motorcycle kind and I think he'd have a hay-day with this. No pun intended.

[BenjaminNelson]

Hi Reelhunter, I don't have more of an instructional video, but just the fact that you are interested means other people are too.

Maybe I can put together a video like that sometime. Thanks for watching!