The Close Call

[errantember]

I went from my house in South Austin all the way up to north past Mueller airport on my scooter in very cold temperatures tonight to go to a Re-Evaluation Counseling class I recently signed up for with my old Permaculture instructor Selwyn Polit. The scooter's range is reduced by as much as 40% in very cold weather, as it has lead-acid batteries. I charged the it for three hours there, which is respectable, but definitely not a full charge. I *then* proceeded from Mueller down to Elysium for Combichrist, *then* drove home *without* *recharging*.

By the time I was going pulling into the driveway, the E-meter was blinking red. It's the closest call I've had so far, and it's an *awesome* test of maximum range on the bike, since it's rarely this cold in Austin. Taking these kinds of risks is exciting. It helps me feel like I'm pushing the envelope for sustainable transportation, and the consequences of getting it wrong aren't *too* bad.

At least, they aren't when it's not nearly below freezing outside. :)

Comments

[errantember.livejournal.com]

Has he had the controller replaced yet?

I had a discussion with Selwyn last night about removing some weight from the scooter, like maybe the extra stand, etc. I was also wondering about the effect of putting in one larger battery into the series as a replacement for another to get extra capacity. I'm assuming there are some technical issues with the pack hanging off that one battery, but I'm not sure exactly what the consequences might be.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. I guess the only way to boost the entire pack's capacity with a different sized battery would be to have it hooked to every battery in parallel, which might not be possible if those batteries are themselves hooked in series.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

That's clear, thanks for spelling it out. Batteries in series must be the same, but in parallel they can sometimes be different.

For now the scooter's range is acceptable. We're currently dealing with near-worst-possible-case-scenario range numbers, and as things warm up it will be even better. For now my current strategy of looking for as many places to plug in as possible is the best mitigating factor. When the batteries go we can discuss upgrading the batteries to a different technology to improve the range. It would be nice to be able to do about 30 or 40 miles without having to even think about charging it. Building the charger into the scooter with a motorized electric retractor is probably the next project after the hot metallic pink paint job. It's utility would be *hugely* boosted by not having to constantly fuck with the charger.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

It's also worth noting that the front shocks that EVTAMERICA sent me appear to be the same as the ones they replaced. On the back ones are noticeably bigger. However, because the back ones were so weak originally, the original front shocks probably wore out faster, since they had to handle a larger percentage of the load. I don't really know how to test the shocks to see if I *really* needed to change them, and I've kept all four original shocks just in case.