Hi... a newbie here... searched & found this great site. A 73-year-old Southern California man.

[SunTimeOne]

hello friends... I plan to buy a 1200W servo motor, 48V electric trike/scooter/cart. this battery CANNOT be removed from the e-trike. the problem is i can't charge it from my upstairs apartment. it's heavy and sizeable. no garage. no extension cords are allowed here. so i've been doing some research on portable power stations, aka Power Banks. can anyone answer this one please?-- what capacity power station would i need for this 1200W motor, 48V battery-array e-trike? the trike instructions say the provided battery-array charger has a charge time of 4-8 hours. i don't plan to take long trips here in the city, including hilly areas. but i do need to charge it fairly frequently so i don't get stuck somewhere w/ low power. power stations can be quite expensive also. so i guess i need to have a trade off of charging power vs. cost vs. charging time. thank you very much for helpling me figure out this problem. i don't have much understanding of electrical matters, unfortunately.

 

[dodgeman]

The simplest would be a car battery and inverter. Gel cell batteries might be safer to haul around. I’m not much of an electronics guy so you would need to do the math on if a gel cell car sized battery would have enough juice to charge you trike battery. I’m not sure a power pack, like used to jump start a car would be big enough.

 

[SunTimeOne]

The simplest would be a car battery and inverter. Gel cell batteries might be safer to haul around. I’m not much of an electronics guy so you would need to do the math on if a gel cell car sized battery would have enough juice to charge you trike battery. I’m not sure a power pack, like used to jump start a car would be big enough.

hi dodgeman, and thanks for your valuable opinion on this. you know, i think a lot of people would like to know the general answer to this problem. An electrical outlet is not always available and usable. Extension cords are not always an option. Many people don't have a garage available. Many batteries are not detachable. Traveling, etc. I've been looking into power stations/power banks. these are dedicated power sources to charge up battery-powered devices of all kinds, from smart phones and laptops to small refrigerators. Some people are saying if the power station is powerful enough, then it will work; if not powerful enough, then it won't be good enough. but they are expensive, and others are also heavy and bulky. I'd like to charge up a power station/power bank in my apartment, then take it outside to the e-trike to charge it. leave it charging for several hours, if necessary. do this frequently to keep the e-trike's charge high and ready. this e-trike is 216 lbs and has about a 20 mile range, non-detachable battery array of 48V to power a 1200W servo motor, the literature says. well, let's just keep the conversation going, and see what the general consensus is. thanks a lot, dodgeman!

 

[harryS]

Is this like the carts we see in supermarkets? How do you protect it from the weather and theft if you have to leave it outside?

If theft isn't a problem, I'd suggest an electric bicycle trike, where you can remove the battery and take it upstairs to charge,

 

[SunTimeOne]

Is this like the carts we see in supermarkets? How do you protect it from the weather and theft if you have to leave it outside?

If theft isn't a problem, I'd suggest an electric bicycle trike, where you can remove the battery and take it upstairs to charge,

hi harryS... thank you. it's like a combination e-trike and cargo cart. 1200W servo motor, 48V battery array. one can stand on it or ride on a seat. three wheels of course. I have bike lockup poles outside my apartment, and it would have a high quality XXL cover. yes... it looks like the simplest is to just get around town in the traditional e-trike fashion. this one would be cool, stand up or sit down, sort of like a chariot! I could get a power bank/power station, charge the e-trike outside my apartment. first, charge up the power station in my upstairs apartment, take it down, charge up my e-trike while it is locked to the bike poles and covered. a gated apartment community. interesting, i think!

 

[PedalUma]

This is what a 48V battery looks like. You just bring it upstairs to charge it.

 

[SunTimeOne]

hi PedalUma... oh no... did i forget to clearly say the battery for this e-trike can't be removed? if i did, i'm sorry. the maker says it's installed in the e-trike, and it's unwise to try to take it out. there are several batteries called a "battery array". that's my whole problem! can't take it out. if i could, of course, then there would be no problem for me. i originally had hoped to use an extension cord, but the apartment management here said no to extension cords to the outside of the apartments here. i live upstairs. thank you for your great input on this matter.

 

[tomjasz]

Many batteries are not detachable.

I’ve never seen an eBike battery that couldn’t be dismounted. How odd.

 

[tomjasz]

Replacing the SLA battery with a 18650 cell pack would make the battery easily removed and last much longer.

 

[Dave3586]

hello friends... I plan to buy a 1200W servo motor, 48V electric trike/scooter/cart. this battery CANNOT be removed from the e-trike. the problem is i can't charge it from my upstairs apartment. it's heavy and sizeable. no garage. no extension cords are allowed here. so i've been doing some research on portable power stations, aka Power Banks. can anyone answer this one please?-- what capacity power station would i need for this 1200W motor, 48V battery-array e-trike? the trike instructions say the provided battery-array charger has a charge time of 4-8 hours. i don't plan to take long trips here in the city, including hilly areas. but i do need to charge it fairly frequently so i don't get stuck somewhere w/ low power. power stations can be quite expensive also. so i guess i need to have a trade off of charging power vs. cost vs. charging time. thank you very much for helpling me figure out this problem. i don't have much understanding of electrical matters, unfortunately.

Ask the apartment manager for a charging outlet.

 

[PedalUma]

This is a real case study for why it is good to have an easily removable battery.

 

[Dingo]

I'm new here as well, welcome @SunTimeOne - and I'm also in SoCal! To answer your question, I think you're looking for something like this.
The real question is - what voltage does the battery in the trike need to be charged at? The wall outlet is 120V 15A. Is there a charging pack that comes with the trike that plugs between it and the wall?
And what amperage does it pull?
Knowing the amperage draw while charging will let you figure out how long it will take to charge with one of those power stations I linked to - or if it can even be used.

Why can't you ask the manufacturer of the trike to suggest something other than a wall outlet to charge the thing?!?