During the summer I had continued work on my bicycle, looking to increase its range and usability by adding an electric motor. Unfortunately this failed, and I set the project aside and disassembled all of the parts. This disassembly is where I pull the Arrow reference from, alluding to the scrapped Avro Arrow project that could have given Canada a technical superiority among western air forces. There was a flaw though, and it came from the energy source - which on my bike is the battery.

After working with a merchant to receive a motor, controller, and the rest of a kit (except the battery) we determined that if I were to order I should go for the limit. At that voltage though it would require multiple 12v batteries, and since I was using some sealed lead acid ones that I already owned I thought it would be simple. The following problems arose:

First, after the bike and kit were merged the likely battery mounting points wouldn't work because of the awkward shape of the frame on the bike. This was ignored until that point, but I believed a solution would come and I continued with testing.

Second, while testing I discovered the HUGE flaw in my judgement. I matched the voltage, but didn't match the amperage. This meant that I could twist the throttle a little but it would cut out and stop. The batteries were 7amp and the motor was rated for 20amp. I tried some 12amp batteries I had, and luckily they worked to nearly full throttle.

Third, After having to switch to 12amp batteries a saddle style container was able to hold the batteries, but this greatly increased the weight. At the time it just negatively hit performance, but then in the fall of 2009 Ontario regulations regarding eBikes were amended to include a weight limit. I was over the Ontario weight limit, but it didn't matter because the range was tiny with such huge batteries.

After all of that I scrapped the project, reset the configuration on the bike, and packed away the motor kit. Although other battery technologies that are lighter exist it is unlikely that my current budget could work to acquire one. I have looked at upcoming technologies, especially news about the Samsung/Bosch partnership, although their technologies will take years to come to market.

If anyone knows how to max out a 12v 7amp battery to appx. 36v 20amp using transformers then please let me know. I have looked into it, but my skills are lacking. That is a very dangerous upconversion for a lead acid battery, and I like my limbs.