It's going to depend isn't it?AMPrentice wrote: Do others agree that 2nd and 4th are the best gears for most setups?
eg. 2:1 and 1:1?
which motor?
peak torque?
desired top speed?
what diff ratio?
what RPM gives the best efficiency? what is going to be the 'cruising' or average speed?
desired performance, acceleration or top speed?
low speed acceleration or high speed acceleration? (or with 2 gears both)
what peak RPM do you want / can you run?
Are there big hills or steep driveways around your place?
I think a more useful guide would be what is the value (in terms of equivalent gear ratios) of having peak torque available from 0 rpm? if you could definatively say having peak torque available from zero revs means you don't need first gear (assuming the E motor has equivalent peak torque*) then this would give a good starting point, people could map what speed that would get them at peak RPM and or peak power and if they want to go faster or be able to accelerate quicker (at higher speeds) then they need another gear, pick the gear that gives reasonable power at this point but can continue on...
Or if you can't or don't want to change on the fly (whilst moving) pick a high range that allows you to takeoff but also reach the desired top speed, although acceleration might suffer.
Or you could pick the 2nd gear so that at the selected cruising speed the motor is at peak efficiency.
* if your E motor had 2 x peak ICE torque and 2nd was 2:1 you might get away with 1:1, or adjust similarly for whatever E motor you select.