errantember

So I had my scooter now for about a week. So far, it's been pretty crazy.

When I first got the scooter, I couldn't tell if it was charging or not. The power supply wasn't doing the happy dance when I plugged it in, but at least one time the gauge moved up when I had it plugged in.

This lead to me attempting a 10 mile trip when the gauge read 80%. Eighty percent of 30 miles, the minimum range, should have been 24 miles. As it happened, I barely limped into my destination with scooter almost dead. It then failed to re-charge overnight, being just as dead the next day. This lead to $65 in cab fees, plus another $40 to have the scooter moved home. I also had a minor accident largely caused by my ill-conceived decision to turn off the headlight at dusk when the power was really low.

Twenty minutes after I got home, I found the problem. Just as I suspected, the little plastic connector that links the charger with the plug (inside the bike) wasn't fully engaged. After I fixed this, the charger worked. Suspiciously, less than two hours later, the system registered full. The math for how long it *should* take to charge from empty says it should take 5-6 hours, but we haven't actually *measured* any of that yet. I'd be ecstatic if I were gaining another 5 miles for every 20 minutes of charging. It would greatly extend the range.

So it turns out the initial drama was simply that the charger wasn't making contact due a minor manufacturing (China!) flaw. Despite the meter changing once when I had it plugged in, it had actually *never* charged since I unpacked it. The reading on the odometer when it finally ran out?

Thirty-one miles.

Not bad.

*And* the average re-charge power required is 1.8-2.2 kWH. That means a full recharge, getting me between 30-45 miles, is 10-20 *cents* at Austin Energy rates.

If you include food energy costs, that might be cheaper than bicycling!

Chris, my long-time friend and Austin EV visionary, also solved a mystery about the throttle. It would cut out, seemingly at random, and would then have to be cranked down and back up to restore power. This led to some tense moments at stop lights! It turns out that there's a reason. The brakes are set up like a bicycle (not a motorcycle) and the rear brake, where the hub motor is, is regenerative, meaning it slows down the bike by re-charging the battery. When you're doing this, you naturally can't be running the motor at the same time. The same is not true of the left (front) brake, which operates just like a motorcycle brake. So if you hit the *right* (front) brake while the motor is engaged, it stops. If you hit the left brake, it keeps going.

The bike doesn't come with a manual, so I've had to figure out most of this bullshit on my own. I still don't know why the bike sometime simply won't go when I first turn it on. I also still don't know the purpose of the START button. Whatever it is, it certainly isn't for starting the bike. The bike is ready to go as soon as you turn it on, and pushing the START button causes it to emit a high-pitched keening noise that probably disturbs dogs miles away until the scooter is shut off. The R-20 arrived in a big metal frame. There are instructions online (didn't get the e-mail, had to call) on how to un-crate it, and how to re-attach the handlebars (making their claims of it arriving ready-to-ride false.) There were *not*, however, instructions on how to re-attach the mirrors, which have nearly fallen off in traffic a few times. I think the extra lock washers I saw somewhere in the packaging might fix that problem, but I'll have to figure out how that works on my own or call them.

So far a fairly mixed bag, but things are looking up, and a lot of the Drama is what I get for being an early adopter.

Now I have to figure out how to glue that body panel back on...