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Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
Tue Apr 23, 2013, 05:40 AM Apr 2013

1685 MPG

Yep, that's the EPA equivalent mileage I'm getting on my electric recumbent bike I posted about here a few weeks ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11282343

The EPA says a gallon of gas is equal to 33,700 watt hours of electricity and I've now had an opportunity to measure how much juice my bike uses, 20 watt hours per mile. Divide it out and you get 1685 mpg.

Even a moped has a really hard time breaking 150 mpg, so my ebike is roughly ten times as efficient in energy use per mile as a moped.








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ConcernedCanuk

(13,509 posts)
1. Studied your link for a bit.
Wed Jun 12, 2013, 07:27 AM
Jun 2013

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I'm a retired Automotive and Truck mechanic, so everything you have done I understand, and can do if I wish.

However, I live 8 miles out of town, so a 16 mile round trip. Also part of the roads are very rough, and hilly - so I would need something with a longer range to be suitable.

Out of curiosity

Is that an old Mercedes in the foreground?



just wondering

CC

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
2. 66 Chevelle
Wed Jun 12, 2013, 10:23 AM
Jun 2013

It's been partially restored for a hot rod, a family member of mine has an LT1 engine for it and all but has run out of money to finish it so it got to primer and got put aside until finances allow which may be a while longer.

Since I put that post up I've made a different battery at 48V and a little over 8Ah and the speed and range have both increased somewhat. I just got back from about a twenty mile ride and I still had roughly 3 Ah left in the battery but I pedal a lot, particularly uphill.

Really the battery is the biggest single cost by a considerable margin, I want 48V about 20-25 Ah when I finish my pack but I'm doing it a bit at a time. There's an seller on Ebay that has salvaged Samsung laptop cells that are about as cheap a source of battery storage as you're going to find but you need nearly $250 worth with shipping to make a really strong 48V pack and you have to put it together yourself and you'd need about a $100 charger. The main thing about doing yourself is you end up with a maintainable pack, if a single cell (out of 96) goes bad it's easily replaced. The purchased packs unless you spend about twice that money are not particularly reliable and not always maintainable if you have a bad cell.

I've got over a thousand miles on the drive with the new battery now and other than a couple of loose connections before I redid the entire electrical system I haven't had any problems with it.

For rough and hilly roads I'd go with something with a 24" or smaller wheel (for climbing torque) and a decent suspension as well as balloon tires. The more hills you have to deal with the smaller the drive wheel should be for good hill climbing but it cuts your top speed. The "gearing" is fixed with a hub motor so varying the wheel diameter is the only way of changing effective gearing. My rear wheel is 21" in diameter with the balloon tire on the rear, I have about a quarter mile long steep dirt/rock driveway to negotiate going in and out and it handles that quite well at about 8 or 9 mph and half throttle or so.







 

ConcernedCanuk

(13,509 posts)
3. CID?? -curious ole mechanic like to know
Wed Jun 12, 2013, 11:30 AM
Jun 2013

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LT1's ranged from 265 to 400 CID

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Small-Block_engine#LT-1

I had a 283, put a 4bbl on it and dual exhaust - 2" pipes in my 66 Chev Impala convertible.

took the "slush bucket" 2- speed auto out of it and replaced it with a 3-speed 400 turbo-hydramatic.

That thing would rock! - and corner real well; being a convertible - it had a stronger frame, and a low centre of gravity.

Bought a 67 Pontiac 2+2 hardtop shortly afterwards, 283 - but that thing drove like a dog - wouldn't corner worth a damm - nearly lost it once - centre of gravity being so different.

Yeah, I like cars.

CC

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
4. Lots of small blocks, only a few LT1
Wed Jun 12, 2013, 01:07 PM
Jun 2013
LT-1 from a 1970 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Years: 1970–1972
The LT-1 was the ultimate 350 cu in V8, becoming available in 1970. It used solid lifters, 11:1 compression, the '178' high-performance camshaft, and a 780 CFM Holley four-barrel carburetor on a special aluminum intake, with rams' horn exhaust manifolds in the Chevrolet Corvette, Delco transistor ignition and a low-restriction exhaust factory rated at 370 bhp in the Corvette, and 360 bhp at 6000 rpm and 380 lb-ft at 4000 in the Camaro Z28[8] (the NHRA rated it at 425 hp for classification purposes). Redline was 6500 rpm but power fell off significantly past 6200 rpm. The LT-1 was available in the Corvette, and Camaro Z28. Power was down in 1971 to dual-rated 330 bhp, 255 nethp and 360 lb-ft of torque with 9:1 compression, and again in 1972 (the last year of the LT-1, now rated using net only, rather than gross, measurement) to 255 bhp and 280 lb-ft.
The "LT1" designation was later reused on a Generation II GM MPFI "350" small block engine in late 1991, the LT1.


This is the earlier engine short block that has the forged crank and rods with Brodix aluminum heads, Norris stainless roller rockers, Edelbrock high performance hydraulic cam and intake package, 650 Holley with two Weber Powerplates, it's been blueprinted and the lifter valley ground smooth among other tweaks I don't recall.

I used to be into cars pretty heavy, had 65 GTO, 70 Road Runner, 66 Sunbeam Tiger, 63 Lotus Elite, 62 Satellite vert with a 413 and so on..

Now I get my gearhead fix from batteries, controllers and brushless motors.



IDemo

(16,926 posts)
6. You'd have to figure out how many calories you burn per mile
Sun Jul 21, 2013, 05:02 PM
Jul 2013
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm

A person riding a bicycle at 15 miles per hour (24 km per hour) burns 0.049 calories per pound per minute. So a 175-pound (77-kg) person burns 515 calories in an hour, or about 34 calories per mile (about 21 calories per km).

A gallon of gasoline (about 4 liters) contains about 31,000 calories. If a person could drink gasoline, then a person could ride about 912 miles on a gallon of gas (about 360 km per liter). Considering that a normal car gets about 30 miles per gallon, that's pretty impressive!
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