Drive Train - Batteries

Since the Motors & controllers are from Tidalforce, I'm going to get lazy & spec. their battery as well - maybe not lazy, they've put a lot of work into ensuring their components work well together.

This battery, the RMB1 comes as a part of a "carry-on kit" - we won't need the rest of the kit & hopefully we can buy batteries "raw". The ad above is from the Electric Cyclery in California - these guys seem obsessed - & carry an awesome range of vehicles - we should plan to stop in at "alternative vehicle" manufacturers and retailers on route ... hit me up (comment below) if you want us to swing by.

The batteries will be mounted where a traditional chopper's gas tank is - see the sketch (possibly closer to the forks than that) - we'll use at least two batteries parallel to each other at an off-set angle - for asthetic & to "mock" the cylinder heads of ee(R)go's louder ancestors.

How many batteries? It depends ... on ...
- the space we have on the frame (must design the frames first) - but I think we will have space for more than we need.
- the impact of the batteries weight on the performance
- our ability to take advantage of the extra juice ... I don't think it's an issue of more power but we should be able to get more distance out of these ...

Rechargable batteries need to be cooled by the looks of it ... we'll measure their temperature on the run ... where they're positioned, it'll be simple run the exhaust winds from the front turbines over the batteries ... cooling sorted - consider being able to run the turbines in "fan" mode if additional cooling is needed. - note - there's no water on these Bikes!!!

Here's the spec for the RMB1 ...

Battery Configuration:	30 Nickel Metal Hydride “D” cells wired in series
Measurements	13.2 x 4 x 4.5 inches
Weight	15 lbs
Nominal Voltage:	36 Volts
Operating Range:	42-29 volts
Nominal Capacity:	8.5 amp-hrs (306 watt-hr)
Charge time:	3 – 6 hours
Battery Life:	With proper care and maintenance, the battery will retain up to 80% capacity after 400 discharge and recharge cycles

15 lbs !!! only a foot long ... but heavy suckers !!!