I to generate homemade infinite energy 240V with an E-bike Motor

 I to generate homemade infinite energy 240V with an E-bike Motor

Hi! My name is Luke and I built a really fast electric bicycle that I also use as a replacement for my car! Don't worry if you don't know much about bikes or electronics...I don't either. I'll do my best to make this Instructable readable for everyone that's interested.

What is an E-bike, you ask? It's a regular pedal bicycle that has been converted to be driven by an electric motor. The motor can either supplement pedaling or drive the bike by itself (like an electric motorcycle that happens to have pedals). This will be discussed in more detail in the following steps.

Here are some quick stats on this project before we get into the details.

50+ mph top speed

8-speed transmission

Ludicrous acceleration

I don't have any numbers on this yet, but full throttle in a low gear will easily pick up the front wheel (i.e. it does wheelies)

I haven't found any local cars or motorcycles yet that can beat me in a 0-30mph drag race.

45-55 mile cruising range

Battery fully charges in ~4 hours with a standard 120v wall outlet

Custom-built bike

Super light weight, around 55 lb (with motor, battery, etc)

700c x 40c tubeless cyclocross tires

Rockshox air suspension

180mm mechanical disc brakes

So, why build an E-bike? Brace yourself, this is the boring section. Feel free to skip it and move on! If you're here for the long haul, here are the main reasons that I decided to pursue this project.

Ease of commute

I have the pleasure of living in the beautiful town of Fort Collins, CO.

Almost every single street has a bike lane, and tons of people bike for pleasure as well as to commute.

Roads can get pretty crowded, and parking is always tough to find.

An E-bike presents “the best of both worlds”

I can commute anywhere within a fairly large radius around town, usually faster than a car.

I can park at bike racks (which are absolutely everywhere and in less demand than parking spots).

Gas Savings

My only car is a big truck that gets 17mpg on a good day (and 13mpg on not-so-good days).

An electric bike is suitable for 95% of my transportation and is essentially free - I can charge it anywhere there's an outlet.

For the nerds out there, I get the energy equivalent of ~80mpg on the bike.

I carry large panniers (bags) on a rear rack so I can go grocery shopping, carry around big boxes, etc on my bike.

No Tired Legs

I'm currently training for some elite 5 and 10k's (running races), so I'm running anywhere from 90 to 120 miles per week (13 - 17 miles per day).

Oh, you're a distance runner, don't you have plenty of energy?? Contrary to popular belief, us runners actually have less energy because we spend it all running!

So, sure I could just ride a normal bike around, but most of the time I'm just really tired out.

Exploration

I love exploring, but there are some places you just can't get with a car, even a 4WD truck.

I've been living in my tiny house (see instructable here) for 8 months now, and it has a bike rack on the back.

With this bike, I can now drive my house way out into the moutains, desert, etc, then hop on the bike and explore to those really remote places!

Fun

Nothing like zipping past other people while slowly pedaling backwards.

The acceleration is REALLY a lot. Like, drop you off the seat if you're not holding on tight.

Sustainability / Environmental

As a mechanical engineer, this is a big topic for me.

Electricity is not necessarily 100% "free" or "clean", but riding around a light electric bike instead of driving a large truck is obviously an improvement in terms of energy use and emissions.

Time to build a bike. Where to start? This step will outline the design process and some options I considered before finalizing a design. Then the next steps will go into detail about choosing parts and putting it all together.

What kind of bike?

Before you can convert a bike to an electric bike, you need the bike. The two main choices are mountain bike or road bike. Consider where you will be riding, the size of motor you're interested in, and how much pedaling you want to do. In general, mountain bikes are more stable due to wider wheels and heavier frames. Road bikes also generally don't have a suspension system, which means you'll feel every little bump. This goes from being slightly uncomfortable to painful and/or dangerous as you get up to faster speeds. So, I personally think the safer bet is a mountain bike, and you still have tons of options for getting exactly what you want out of the bike.

Buy, Modify, or Build?

For those on a tight budget, pulling the dusty old mountain bike out of your garage might be the best bet. Craigslist is also a great source for cheap used bikes of decent quality. For new bikes, sites like BikesDirect have some really good deals because they cut out the middle-man retailer. If you find something that's almost what you want, it may make sense to purchase that complete bike and swap out any components you want to upgrade (what I did). Finally, if you're feeling ambitious, you can always just collect all of the parts that make up a bike and assemble them all yourself.

Depending on the size and power of your motor, it's important to make sure that your bike of choice can handle the extra stress and weight of your conversion.

One last thing to mention is that building a bike up from parts is not necessarily less expensive. In fact, it's often more expensive. The tradeoff is that you get exactly what you want and don't pay for anything else.

Motor - Hub motor, mid-drive, or chainsaw?

A hub motor is one that replaces either the front or rear wheel hub (the middle part) and occasionally both wheel hubs. They are generally the lowest cost option, most discrete, and lowest powered. They are commonly sold at power ratings of 250 to 1,000 Watts.

Mid-Drive Motor

Mid-drive motors go - you guessed it - roughly in the middle of the bike. They generally have an extra chain that drives the front crankset, which then drives the rear wheel. One of the coolest advantages of mid-drives is that they let you shift through your rear gears as you could on a normal bike pedal. This gives you a good range of speed and torque for everything from climbing steep dirt hills to cruising along your commute to work.

I've seen mid-drive motors in powers from 750 to 10,000 Watts. There is a practical limit to power here. At some point (I'd like to say it's around 3,000 W), the amount of torque and speed is just too dangerous for a bicycle. Additionally, bicycle components are usually not designed to handle super-human amounts of torque. At the very least, your components will wear faster than normal; At worst, components will break as you ride (think wheel getting bent out of shape, chain snapping, chainring bending, etc). If you really want that much power, I'd suggest a small dirt bike or motorcycle. The motor I got is the "Cyclone 3000" which is rated at 3,000 W. So far that's more than enough speed and torque for me.

Mostly kidding about this one. You certainly can take apart a chainsaw and strap the motor onto your bike to make it go, but it's probably a gas motor (not electric), so it doesn't belong in this Instructable.

First, let’s take a look at tools. The number of tools you will need depends on how much you plan to build a bike up from parts as opposed to buying an off-the-shelf assembled bike. Unfortunately, bike tools are fairly specialized, so in many cases you can’t just “make do” with the tools you already have. Here is what I'd consider the bare minimum toolset for this project:

Metric allen wrench set

Adjustable wrench

Chain breaker

Bottom bracket tool

Crank puller

Socket wrench with metric sockets

If you’re someone like me and bikes aren’t your lifelong passion, I’d suggest getting an inexpensive set of bike tools that covers most of what you need. I got this kit from Luna Cycles for $40. Nothing in it is high quality, but the tools do the job. Compare this to a comparable ~$200 kit from a high quality company like Park Tools, and the value of the cheap kit becomes apparent.

If you’ve decided to buy an off-the-shelf bike and convert it to an e-bike, you can probably skip this step. On the other extreme, you can buy all the parts you need individually and assemble your own bike. There’s also the middle ground of buying a complete bike and upgrading particular components that are important to you.

This last option is most nearly what I did. I bought a decent, like-new mountain bike on Craigslist for $100, then upgraded the fork, brake calipers, brake rotors, wheels, and tires. The complete list of parts and pricing I used can be found here.

So, this is a long and intimidating list. Some things are definitely worth upgrading and getting right (like brake calipers and rotors). On the other hand, I didn't feel the need to spend time and money on many parts, like nice handlebars or a stem. This brings us to the next (optional) step: finding a donor bike parts.

If you bought a mostly or fully complete bike but want to replace some parts, start ripping it apart! Well, use your bike tools and do it carefully. Rather than writing an essay here on how to remove every component, I'm going to suggest you learn what you need as you need it.

 I to generate homemade infinite energy 240V with an E-bike Motor

Hi! My name is Luke and I built a really fast electric bicycle that I also use as a replacement for my car! Don't worry if you don't know much about bikes or electronics...I don't either. I'll do my best to make this Instructable readable for everyone that's interested.

What is an E-bike, you ask? It's a regular pedal bicycle that has been converted to be driven by an electric motor. The motor can either supplement pedaling or drive the bike by itself (like an electric motorcycle that happens to have pedals). This will be discussed in more detail in the following steps.

Here are some quick stats on this project before we get into the details.

50+ mph top speed

8-speed transmission

Ludicrous acceleration

I don't have any numbers on this yet, but full throttle in a low gear will easily pick up the front wheel (i.e. it does wheelies)

I haven't found any local cars or motorcycles yet that can beat me in a 0-30mph drag race.

45-55 mile cruising range

Battery fully charges in ~4 hours with a standard 120v wall outlet

Custom-built bike

Super light weight, around 55 lb (with motor, battery, etc)

700c x 40c tubeless cyclocross tires

Rockshox air suspension

180mm mechanical disc brakes

So, why build an E-bike? Brace yourself, this is the boring section. Feel free to skip it and move on! If you're here for the long haul, here are the main reasons that I decided to pursue this project.

Ease of commute

I have the pleasure of living in the beautiful town of Fort Collins, CO.

Almost every single street has a bike lane, and tons of people bike for pleasure as well as to commute.

Roads can get pretty crowded, and parking is always tough to find.

An E-bike presents “the best of both worlds”

I can commute anywhere within a fairly large radius around town, usually faster than a car.

I can park at bike racks (which are absolutely everywhere and in less demand than parking spots).

Gas Savings

My only car is a big truck that gets 17mpg on a good day (and 13mpg on not-so-good days).

An electric bike is suitable for 95% of my transportation and is essentially free - I can charge it anywhere there's an outlet.

For the nerds out there, I get the energy equivalent of ~80mpg on the bike.

I carry large panniers (bags) on a rear rack so I can go grocery shopping, carry around big boxes, etc on my bike.

No Tired Legs

I'm currently training for some elite 5 and 10k's (running races), so I'm running anywhere from 90 to 120 miles per week (13 - 17 miles per day).

Oh, you're a distance runner, don't you have plenty of energy?? Contrary to popular belief, us runners actually have less energy because we spend it all running!

So, sure I could just ride a normal bike around, but most of the time I'm just really tired out.

Exploration

I love exploring, but there are some places you just can't get with a car, even a 4WD truck.

I've been living in my tiny house (see instructable here) for 8 months now, and it has a bike rack on the back.

With this bike, I can now drive my house way out into the moutains, desert, etc, then hop on the bike and explore to those really remote places!

Fun

Nothing like zipping past other people while slowly pedaling backwards.

The acceleration is REALLY a lot. Like, drop you off the seat if you're not holding on tight.

Sustainability / Environmental

As a mechanical engineer, this is a big topic for me.

Electricity is not necessarily 100% "free" or "clean", but riding around a light electric bike instead of driving a large truck is obviously an improvement in terms of energy use and emissions.

Time to build a bike. Where to start? This step will outline the design process and some options I considered before finalizing a design. Then the next steps will go into detail about choosing parts and putting it all together.

What kind of bike?

Before you can convert a bike to an electric bike, you need the bike. The two main choices are mountain bike or road bike. Consider where you will be riding, the size of motor you're interested in, and how much pedaling you want to do. In general, mountain bikes are more stable due to wider wheels and heavier frames. Road bikes also generally don't have a suspension system, which means you'll feel every little bump. This goes from being slightly uncomfortable to painful and/or dangerous as you get up to faster speeds. So, I personally think the safer bet is a mountain bike, and you still have tons of options for getting exactly what you want out of the bike.

Buy, Modify, or Build?

For those on a tight budget, pulling the dusty old mountain bike out of your garage might be the best bet. Craigslist is also a great source for cheap used bikes of decent quality. For new bikes, sites like BikesDirect have some really good deals because they cut out the middle-man retailer. If you find something that's almost what you want, it may make sense to purchase that complete bike and swap out any components you want to upgrade (what I did). Finally, if you're feeling ambitious, you can always just collect all of the parts that make up a bike and assemble them all yourself.

Depending on the size and power of your motor, it's important to make sure that your bike of choice can handle the extra stress and weight of your conversion.

One last thing to mention is that building a bike up from parts is not necessarily less expensive. In fact, it's often more expensive. The tradeoff is that you get exactly what you want and don't pay for anything else.

Motor - Hub motor, mid-drive, or chainsaw?

A hub motor is one that replaces either the front or rear wheel hub (the middle part) and occasionally both wheel hubs. They are generally the lowest cost option, most discrete, and lowest powered. They are commonly sold at power ratings of 250 to 1,000 Watts.

Mid-Drive Motor

Mid-drive motors go - you guessed it - roughly in the middle of the bike. They generally have an extra chain that drives the front crankset, which then drives the rear wheel. One of the coolest advantages of mid-drives is that they let you shift through your rear gears as you could on a normal bike pedal. This gives you a good range of speed and torque for everything from climbing steep dirt hills to cruising along your commute to work.

I've seen mid-drive motors in powers from 750 to 10,000 Watts. There is a practical limit to power here. At some point (I'd like to say it's around 3,000 W), the amount of torque and speed is just too dangerous for a bicycle. Additionally, bicycle components are usually not designed to handle super-human amounts of torque. At the very least, your components will wear faster than normal; At worst, components will break as you ride (think wheel getting bent out of shape, chain snapping, chainring bending, etc). If you really want that much power, I'd suggest a small dirt bike or motorcycle. The motor I got is the "Cyclone 3000" which is rated at 3,000 W. So far that's more than enough speed and torque for me.

Mostly kidding about this one. You certainly can take apart a chainsaw and strap the motor onto your bike to make it go, but it's probably a gas motor (not electric), so it doesn't belong in this Instructable.

First, let’s take a look at tools. The number of tools you will need depends on how much you plan to build a bike up from parts as opposed to buying an off-the-shelf assembled bike. Unfortunately, bike tools are fairly specialized, so in many cases you can’t just “make do” with the tools you already have. Here is what I'd consider the bare minimum toolset for this project:

Metric allen wrench set

Adjustable wrench

Chain breaker

Bottom bracket tool

Crank puller

Socket wrench with metric sockets

If you’re someone like me and bikes aren’t your lifelong passion, I’d suggest getting an inexpensive set of bike tools that covers most of what you need. I got this kit from Luna Cycles for $40. Nothing in it is high quality, but the tools do the job. Compare this to a comparable ~$200 kit from a high quality company like Park Tools, and the value of the cheap kit becomes apparent.

If you’ve decided to buy an off-the-shelf bike and convert it to an e-bike, you can probably skip this step. On the other extreme, you can buy all the parts you need individually and assemble your own bike. There’s also the middle ground of buying a complete bike and upgrading particular components that are important to you.

This last option is most nearly what I did. I bought a decent, like-new mountain bike on Craigslist for $100, then upgraded the fork, brake calipers, brake rotors, wheels, and tires. The complete list of parts and pricing I used can be found here.

So, this is a long and intimidating list. Some things are definitely worth upgrading and getting right (like brake calipers and rotors). On the other hand, I didn't feel the need to spend time and money on many parts, like nice handlebars or a stem. This brings us to the next (optional) step: finding a donor bike parts.

If you bought a mostly or fully complete bike but want to replace some parts, start ripping it apart! Well, use your bike tools and do it carefully. Rather than writing an essay here on how to remove every component, I'm going to suggest you learn what you need as you need it.