darkstar11
I drive a 500 watt TaoTao ATE 501 and it only has a top speed of 20 to 21 miles per hour and only drives 10 miles per charge(I think) Is there any upgrade parts I can get for this scooter so that it can drive 30 maybe 35 miles per hour and get better battery life? I'm tired of being on a street legal scooter/moped and not being able to keep up with average city traffic flow. I hate being tailgated because I'm driving slower. I think it runs on 48 volt batteries and uses three of them. Not sure about the control box because its kinda hard to get to.
Answer
First you have to realize that those 500 watt electric scooters are really just heavy cheap electric assisted bikes. The TaoTao ATE 501 weighs about 200 lbs and that's why it's so slow. If you want any reasonable performance, you use the fold out pedals at least for acceleration, it also recharges the batteries slightly.
I suspect you have a 36 volt system with three 12 v lead acid batteries wired in series. It would be a good idea to have each of those batteries checked out separately. Lead acid batteries can be tricky and it only takes one to be in poor shape for the whole bike to suffer.
The most obvious upgrade you could do is wire in another three lead acid batteries in parallel. Nothing else would need changing but you would have to find a location to put the batteries.
The next possible upgrade is to replace the batteries with expensive lithium ion or lithium polymer batteries which are convenient because they are available in similar voltage levels. Their charging procedures are similar but not identical so you may be able to get away with not changing any of the charging mechanisms. The biggest problem with this is the cost.
A larger motor probably won't do you much good and may require custom fabrication of the motor mounts but you may be able to find a more powerful motor in the same form factor. In general, most electric motors can be operated at higher voltages with the only consequence being overheating of the motor and wires, the wires can be increased to thicker wires and you could try to get more cooling to the motor but this would really only allow you to have short bursts with the possibility of burning something out. Of course doing so means changing the battery layout and adding more batteries.
The best solution would be to upgrade to a proper light weight electric assisted bike but they run about $2,000 or more, roughly double what the scooters cost. Maybe find a used bike and put in a 500 watt conversion kit... At least with the bikes, everyone expects you to be slow.
The 500 watt scooters are not what I would call street legal, just exempt from regulations. It takes a 150 cc scooter to be freeway legal and a 250 cc scooter to actually be safe at freeway speeds and any scooter with more than 50 cc's must be licensed and registered as a motor vehicle. Those I would call street legal once licensed. You might be better off with a 50 cc gasoline scooter, those are usually exempt from regulation too. The old smoky two cylinder ones had a lot of power, about double what the new four cylinder ones have but even the new 4 cylinder ones would be four times the power of the 500 watt electric scooter. If you want to be environmentally friendly, make ethanol from rotten fruits that you get from the grocers for free.
First you have to realize that those 500 watt electric scooters are really just heavy cheap electric assisted bikes. The TaoTao ATE 501 weighs about 200 lbs and that's why it's so slow. If you want any reasonable performance, you use the fold out pedals at least for acceleration, it also recharges the batteries slightly.
I suspect you have a 36 volt system with three 12 v lead acid batteries wired in series. It would be a good idea to have each of those batteries checked out separately. Lead acid batteries can be tricky and it only takes one to be in poor shape for the whole bike to suffer.
The most obvious upgrade you could do is wire in another three lead acid batteries in parallel. Nothing else would need changing but you would have to find a location to put the batteries.
The next possible upgrade is to replace the batteries with expensive lithium ion or lithium polymer batteries which are convenient because they are available in similar voltage levels. Their charging procedures are similar but not identical so you may be able to get away with not changing any of the charging mechanisms. The biggest problem with this is the cost.
A larger motor probably won't do you much good and may require custom fabrication of the motor mounts but you may be able to find a more powerful motor in the same form factor. In general, most electric motors can be operated at higher voltages with the only consequence being overheating of the motor and wires, the wires can be increased to thicker wires and you could try to get more cooling to the motor but this would really only allow you to have short bursts with the possibility of burning something out. Of course doing so means changing the battery layout and adding more batteries.
The best solution would be to upgrade to a proper light weight electric assisted bike but they run about $2,000 or more, roughly double what the scooters cost. Maybe find a used bike and put in a 500 watt conversion kit... At least with the bikes, everyone expects you to be slow.
The 500 watt scooters are not what I would call street legal, just exempt from regulations. It takes a 150 cc scooter to be freeway legal and a 250 cc scooter to actually be safe at freeway speeds and any scooter with more than 50 cc's must be licensed and registered as a motor vehicle. Those I would call street legal once licensed. You might be better off with a 50 cc gasoline scooter, those are usually exempt from regulation too. The old smoky two cylinder ones had a lot of power, about double what the new four cylinder ones have but even the new 4 cylinder ones would be four times the power of the 500 watt electric scooter. If you want to be environmentally friendly, make ethanol from rotten fruits that you get from the grocers for free.
Ezip Trailz Electric Bike for exercise?
Wicked Nic
I'm thinking about buying a used one to mountain bike with for exercise. I would only use the motor if I get too tired to pedal back because I'm just breaking into mountain biking and I don't have the best stamina. Do you recommend this?
Answer
"Do you recommend this?"
No. Mountain bikes are fairly heavy on their own. Much heavier than a road bike due to the fact they usually have suspension parts & some have disc brakes. Now add on an electric motor & you've got one heavy mother. The charge in electric bikes is usually short. It always seems to run out of power in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then what? You are stuck pedaling this behemoth back home under your own power. Yep...that'll give you your exercise for the day!
Do you even plan to go off-road at all? If not, look into a quality road bike or performance hybrid or even a straight hybrid. A person usually tires out from cycling by riding around in a gear that is too high. Thus they are "pushing" on the pedals instead of "spinning" at a rate of 70 - 90 rpm. This is called cadence. By using gears that are easier to "spin" rather than "push" you will last much longer on the bike, build stamina, build your heart, tone leg muscles & reduce body fat with a proper diet. Multiple links below. Please see them all.
"Do you recommend this?"
No. Mountain bikes are fairly heavy on their own. Much heavier than a road bike due to the fact they usually have suspension parts & some have disc brakes. Now add on an electric motor & you've got one heavy mother. The charge in electric bikes is usually short. It always seems to run out of power in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then what? You are stuck pedaling this behemoth back home under your own power. Yep...that'll give you your exercise for the day!
Do you even plan to go off-road at all? If not, look into a quality road bike or performance hybrid or even a straight hybrid. A person usually tires out from cycling by riding around in a gear that is too high. Thus they are "pushing" on the pedals instead of "spinning" at a rate of 70 - 90 rpm. This is called cadence. By using gears that are easier to "spin" rather than "push" you will last much longer on the bike, build stamina, build your heart, tone leg muscles & reduce body fat with a proper diet. Multiple links below. Please see them all.
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Title Post: upgrading an electric scooter any advice?
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Rating: 83% based on 9498 ratings. 4 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming T0 My Blog
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