Initial GMAC Regen Ride Report
I by no means claim to be a regen expert, just want to share my experiences playing with Regen on the new CA3 3.2 beta software. Most all of what I report here is simple physics when you think about what is going on but many might not have realized (like myself) how it might manifest itself in real life riding.
I do not have brake cutout switches or any desire to use them. I hate them on any ebike I have ridden.
I have both a 52v 13.5ah and 52V 17.0ah pack. I setup the Phaserunner to limit regen current to 7amps which limits regen power to about 350watts. I could go higher (up to 1C).
Regen if your pack is fully charged will not be effective if the phaserunner is setup to not overcharge the battery.
I setup my CA3 for both Backpedal Regen and Regen based off the AuxD input (what is used to change PAS levels).
I could never get Backpedal Regen to work either in position mode (the more you backpedal the more regen) or throttle mode (backpedal engages regen which can be modulated with throttle). The erider BB is a 1 wire setup which means that it cannot sense rotation direction so that is the likely explanation. I have an email to Grin to confirm.
The AuxD setup just allows negative assist levels (regen of course) and is very intuitive to use (although not convenient in all situations). It can be setup so it reset to the power on default assist level when coming to a complete stop which I have done. I initially setup 5 regen levels
Level 1 - only slightly noticable (and power (which is positive) in display seems the same as power when coasting)
Level 2-Level 5 - all levels are -350watts, the higher levels seem to reach 350watts quicker but Im not 100% sure on this. Braking at -350 watts is significant but not enough to lock the rear wheel. I got up to 30mph going downhill on a 6% grade and -350 watts took probably a football field to stop (AUW of rider an bike is around 300#).
So next step is to go to 10 regen levels to have more fidelity. I doubt I will up the Phaserunner regen max power as I dont see how I would need that much braking on a button. The button just seems more of a way to limit downhill coasting speed which seems about right at 350watts. We will see how I use it in the future
An interesting thing about negative assist levels, you can theoretically charge your bike if you pedal with negative assist although its not fun (I tried it).
Simple stats from todays ride:
21.7 miles, 15.6mph average speed, 1250ft elevation.
7.1% regen at .52ah regen ( I used it alot, probably not more than 3% on typical rides)
Really bummed about the lack of backpedal regen
An interesting thing I tried was 350watts regen and just throttle use. Obviously, the throttle signal overrides the regen but it re-engages when your off the throttle so you have something similar to 1 pedal driving in electric cars.
