Conversion kit in Ecuador

[Bigbrad2008]

I have a cat trike and live in the Midwest, it is not electrified. I am retiring to Ecuador, have a house on the beach and want to convert my trike. Ecuador has little kit selection, the only one I could find is 38 volt 250 watt hub motor and battery. That is just not gonna work for me. So my questions are, 1) does anyone here know of a source in Ecuador that sells bigger conversion kits or the battery alone? 2) or is my best bet to take the motor part with me and build a battery there? or 3) have the trike converted here and ship by boat to Ecuador or 4) another solution? I know about trikes and ride mine all the time but know nothing about electric trike.

 

[tomjasz]

Contact eBikes.ca and EM3ev.com ask if they can ship kits to Ecuador.

Traveling with a battery is a NIGHTMARE! Shipping a completed bike seems a problem waiting to happen. While living in the USVI and BVI I saw lots of properties totally trashed in shipment. You don't mention which trike or kit you are considering!

Building a battery is another adventure in itself! Without some knowledge and skill, you can end up with nothing more than some crispy cells, or worse yet a fire!

 

[Bigbrad2008]

I already have and they cant

 

[tomjasz]

EM3ev can't?

Which kit are you wanting to use?

Odd that none of the nearly 20 shops, found in a google search, don't have batteries and kits available!

 

[Bigbrad2008]

The motor yes, but not the battery.

 

[tomjasz]

CNE and BTN are two trustworthy China sources. Also try Rechie at Unit Pack power. Greenbikekit is another source.

 

[Bigbrad2008]

A cat trike expedition, I have made a nice carry case for it (with wheels on it) and have flown it to Europe. I was wrong on the Ebike ca thing. The batteries they sell for air travel would work but they only have 36 or 72 volts set up and are ridiculously expensive and not 48 volts. They would be my last option. The kit they sale is like 500 bucks for 36 volts, 400 amp. I would be better off building one myself.

 

[Bigbrad2008]

CNE and BTN are two trustworthy China sources. Also try Rechie at Unit Pack power. Greenbikekit is another source.

thanks, I am trying your sources. So far I get this info, motor yes but battery no. I have found one dealer in Ecuador that has a green kit unit for sale, it is 250 watt, 36 volts hub drive. So far, he won't get a bigger unit from Greenkit.

 

[tomjasz]

A cat trike expedition, I have made a nice carry case for it (with wheels on it) and have flown it to Europe.

I missed that! In that case, I'd go ahead and build, and ship with the battery. Shipping rules are different when a battery is included with the bike. Seems goofy, but true. I can buy a battery from ebikes.ca and avoid hazmat fees by including other bike parts.

Building a battery still means needing to get 18650 cells in quantity. With possible shipping issues.

 

[Bigbrad2008]

I missed that! In that case, I'd go ahead and build, and ship with the battery. Shipping rules are different when a battery is included with the bike. Seems goofy, but true. I can buy a battery from ebikes.ca and avoid hazmat fees by including other bike parts.

Building a battery still means needing to get 18650 cells in quantity. With possible shipping issues.

I know that but it still doesn't matter for me. Can't ship with battery

 

[Dewey]

Could you get the kit & battery imported overland from a neighboring country? eg Binci in Manizales, Colombia, sell a 48v hub motor and battery.
Otherwise Googling around in Spanish I couldn't find a shop in Ecuador with an internet presence prepared to sell a kit larger than 36v with battery eg Bicimotos in Cuenca & Proviento in Quito.
Some shops look like they sell complete 36v ebikes eg in Quito Electrobike & Ecomove, & ENPO in Guayaquil look like they import cheap Nakto brand ebikes also sold in the US.

 

[Bigbrad2008]

I like that overland neighbor country method you suggest. I have contacted the shop in Cuenca and they do have that kit but they sell the entire package and only have the small one. Getting a complete e Ebike in Ecuador is easy. Getting a trike is very difficult. Getting an E-trikebought is impossible. So I was going to take my trike on the plane and get a kit there. The kit route is not easy either. You may have a great solution. Ecuador has high taxes on imported items from many countries but not Colombia and you avoid the plane. Thank you so much

 

[Dewey]

Just a couple of thoughts, you might check with the vendor the width of the hub motor to ensure it will fit between the drop outs of your trike without having to spread the frame, and bring a torque arm in case they don't include one. presumably you'll need to fit the battery on a rear rack, but will you also need an extra long wiring harness to fit the display and throttle to your trike? Probably not but might be worth asking them to measure the length of the wiring and confirm what types of connectors it uses in case you need to bring an extension.

 

[Bigbrad2008]

Great advice again. I have just started communicating with the shop in Colombia. They had a gallery section on web site and low and behold, they had a pic of a trike they had converted. I was like jumping up and down in joy. LOL

 

[Bigbrad2008]

On a related question about kits. I might fly with a 750 or 500 watt 36 volt motor bbso2 and bring 8 ligo batteries with me. They can be taken in plane and I am bringing my Cat Trike as I have it and have taken it around the world. Those 8 batteries are 800 watts total. Question, if I have 800 watts will it hurt either motor? Is either motor better for torgue? From what I read they are the same motor just a different controller and it only impacts speed. Why would I buy 8 100 watt batteries for a possible 500 watt motor? My plans are to get another trike made for the beach, a fat tire trike. That too would have the same type of motor. So if one day I wanted to ride on the road I would put all 8 battery units on the expedition and the next day, all 8 on the fat tire trike. And in rare instances I have a trike riding friend each trike would get 4 100 watt batteries.

 

[JRA]

It's not 800 watts, it is 800 wh's that you can configure to put out 36v to achieve either 500w, 14A, or 750w, 20A, depending on the amount of Amps you set the controller for. This is done via the display function I believe on the BBS02 series motors?

Sounds like you have it figured out and good luck and have fun!

 

[tomjasz]

display function

Controller function.

 

[Dewey]

Controller function.

Tom’s right, you’ll need a programming cable to hook it up to a laptop with the controller software

 

[Bigbrad2008]

Thanks you 2. I will try to get the stuff in Ecuador or Colombia, which is a big hassle. I will most likely get the stuff here and take with me when I fly. I am making 2 trips anyway. The controller must control things, that must be why they call it a controller. By the way I have flown my pedal cat trike around the world and I have made a fancy carrying case with wheels for it using a jumbo duffel bag. I have no clue on electricity. I am disabled a bit (only one good leg and arm,) and have raced with the military racing team that uses a lot of handcycles. They travel alot and I asked about it. Just say racing WHEELCHAIR instead of a trike for disabled and it flies free. Now this motor will be in my regular luggage and if asked, that a motor for my racing wheelchair