Range now < 50km

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memecode
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Range now < 50km

Post by memecode »

When I first bought the VX1 I could get around 62km to a full battery. This was with the bike at 12500ish kms on the clock and after a lithium conversion. No idea when the lithium conversion was done or what the current batteries actually are. It was handled by a previous owner. Now the bike has 29500ish kms and struggles to do 50km... less if hilly or faster trips or carrying a passenger. That's still fine for a lot of trip I make, but thankfully I don't have that 45km round trip to work anymore. It's more like 35km.

Still what to do, what to do. I'd like to explore options on a new traction pack. Who is doing that sort of work?

And if indeed no one is, I'm not super keen on a DIY solution but I do have some basic electronics knowledge, just not much to do with high voltage. Other than "don't touch".

Are there drop in replacements? People talk about Leaf cells a lot.... what about BMS though?

If there isn't a way forward with fixing the VX-1, I'm also interested in what options there are for a modern replacement bike. I do like the amount of storage the VX-1 has, esp with a top box... you can fit so much stuff in there. Most of the newer bikes, esp more motorcycle than scooter, have almost no storage.
memecode
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by memecode »

I managed to get inside the battery compartment:
https://photos.mallen.id.au/folder?n=20 ... %20battery

I'm trying to work out exactly what cells they are...
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coulomb
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by coulomb »

memecode wrote: Sun, 17 Apr 2022, 15:21 I'm trying to work out exactly what cells they are...
They look a lot like CALB (China Aviation Lithium Battery) 40 Ah, as used originally (now replaced) in Weber's MX-5:

Image

battery rack 2_ 007.jpg
battery rack 2_ 007.jpg (448.02 KiB) Viewed 5271 times
The main difference is the barcode number; it has way more digits. But that's probably just a minor production change some time after 2009 when Weber's cells were manufactured.
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antiscab
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by antiscab »

That looks familiar, they are indeed CALB 40Ah cells.
The BMS was likely supplied by me as part of a conversion kit I used to sell, based on the old EV Power cell modules

There's lots of battery options for the Vectrix now.
The biggest bang for your buck would be to use the 70Ah LiFePO4 cells EVworks now sells (about $3500 for 42 from memory)
Your existing BMS can be used, though if the cell modules have elongated M6 holes they'll need to be punched out to M8

If you do go with a new chemistry, Fran has been working on a BMS that properly integrates with the Vectrix can bus.
There's a vectrix whatsapp group (mainly people in Europe) I can send you a link to if interested.
Matt
2023 BYD Atto 3 - 21k km
2017 Renault zoe - 147'000km
2012 Leaf - 101'000km - soon to be trialing a booster battery
2007 Vectrix - 197'000km (retired)
2007 Vectrix - 50k km
antiscab
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by antiscab »

For reference, this is the conversion video I did way back in 2011 showing how your battery is put together and wired up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GERbQs1 ... D5&index=2
Matt
2023 BYD Atto 3 - 21k km
2017 Renault zoe - 147'000km
2012 Leaf - 101'000km - soon to be trialing a booster battery
2007 Vectrix - 197'000km (retired)
2007 Vectrix - 50k km
memecode
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by memecode »

Thanks for your comments antiscab. Seems the 72ah cells are now a bit more than $3500:
https://www.evworks.com.au/calb-72ah-lifepo4-cell
$133*42=5586

But maybe they are cheaper in bulk or something. Or like everyone else are claiming "covid" and "shortages" etc blah blah blah. Sigh.

Yes I would be interested in lurking in the whatsapp group. I'd DM my number to you...
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by memecode »

Well turns out that maybe... maybe... it was the tyre being flat:
Image

So that last range test may have been impacted by that bit of metal in there... I'll have to get it fixed and retest. I don't know at what point I got that.
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by T1 Terry »

Have you tried removing the cells and condition charging them? Charge the cells to 4V each, then load test at 10 amps to measure their capacity. If there are 72 cells in series in there a load of around 2500w would be required, maybe a jug element in drum of water would do the job. The aim is to get 4 hrs at full load before a cell drops below 2.8v under load, so they might need a few cycles to bring them back to a reasonable capacity

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memecode
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Re: Range now < 50km

Post by memecode »

I did manage to get a external repair kit and apply it to the tyre (successfully I think?). But currently on day 3 of the "spicy cold". So haven't been able to retest. Still though the thought of 100km+ range is probably enough to keep investigating even if the range is still ~60km. I'm a little tired of it being so low and having to manage things carefully. I also may or may not be addicted to the EV torque :P

Edit: I retested the range with the tyre at full inflation and it's definitely 50km now. Bugger. Ok onwards with the battery upgrade.
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