Sondors first impressions

You would think that since the battery is one of the most important components on an Ebike... A detailed care and maintenance booklet would be included... I just read it is not good to store Lipo batteries at full charge... is that right... Will/can the charger stop before full charge?? Hybrid car manufactures limit their batteries to the middle capacity usage... never over charging or over discharging... but it's more of a warranty saving based decision... I think...
I gleaned a lot of info from this... not the bible, but pretty comprehensive.... Samsung must have some guidelines post... http://www.rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/
 
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I am new to this so am a little confused by adding an odometer. How would I attach that to my bike
If you want ride metrics (no watt or amps), $20. and you're good to go! Available at Walmart, less than 10 min. install.

 
There is a simple way to estimate safe range you have on most ebikes. There's been much written about how many watt hours are used per mile and most seem to fall in the 15-20 wh/mi. So a 10 amp hour, 36 volt battery = 360 watt hours (10x36=360), divided by 15 watt hours per mile give you a range of 24 miles and 20wh/mi would be 18 miles.

Simple? Yes. Close enough to get a safe range.
 
You would think that since the battery is one of the most important components on an Ebike... A detailed care and maintenance booklet would be included... I just read it is not good to store Lipo batteries at full charge... is that right... Will/can the charger stop before full charge?? Hybrid car manufactures limit their batteries to the middle capacity usage... never over charging or over discharging... but it's more of a warranty saving based decision... I think...
I gleaned a lot of info from this... not the bible, but pretty comprehensive.... Samsung must have some guidelines post... http://www.rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/

LiPo are pouch batteries, lithium polymer. They are sold for remote control models, but experimenters use them for ebikes a lot. They should not be stored at full charge. The cells (lithium ion of various chemistries) in ebike batteries are less sensitive.

Normal chargers for ebikes offer no way to limit the charge to the 90% recommended. That may double the life of a battery pack.

Try Battery University, online. batteryuniversity.com/
 
My suggestion is for anyone who bought one of these sondors ebikes, is to take the time and read info on endless sphere.com you need to learn about the basics of your ebike, motor, battery, etc.

ElectricBikeReview.com also has a whole section devoted to these very topics, too - and one particularly enlightening on motors with cool images of the guts of various styles of motors, especially good for folks new to ebikes!
 
You would think that since the battery is one of the most important components on an Ebike... A detailed care and maintenance booklet would be included... I just read it is not good to store Lipo batteries at full charge... is that right... Will/can the charger stop before full charge?? Hybrid car manufactures limit their batteries to the middle capacity usage... never over charging or over discharging... but it's more of a warranty saving based decision... I think...
I gleaned a lot of info from this... not the bible, but pretty comprehensive.... Samsung must have some guidelines post... http://www.rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide/
@scmike the Samsung cells are not LiPo or lithium polymer cells-- they are Lithium Iron Phosphate or LiFePO and all batteries should be stored full. Empty or low batteries will degenerate more quickly if stored for several months causing the Battery Management System to prevent charging or use due to low voltage. BMS doesn't have a way to know the difference between 'I need a charge' and 'I have something wrong' so it defaults to 'there's a problem' with the one exception being BionX's new deep sleep batteries. Nonetheless, it is better to set a digital timer to come on once a week, or at the very least once a month, for an hour or two max to do a light or trickle charge to keep the battery in peak condition while in storage. I'm with you that ebike dealers and owners both need better information about the care of Lithium Ion batteries.
 
ElectricBikeReview.com also has a whole section devoted to these very topics, too - and one particularly enlightening on motors with cool images of the guts of various styles of motors, especially good for folks new to ebikes!

Thanks George and Ann,
I will check it those out... Hopefully we will get out RadRovers soon... I will definitely... study up and learn how to properly charge/maintain the RR Samsung battery pack... Especially since they are almost half the cost of the bike...
 
There are free phone apps that utilize the GPS to gives you speed, range, even a map of where you have ridden. Strava & Mapmyride and few others.
 
Owners have already put their personal touch on them. What do you guys think?

rear rack and basket.jpg


fender.jpg
fender2.jpg
 
I'd live without the front basket myself but the rear rack loss good and will be handy! Make sure to post the brand and model, that stuff can be hard to locate for a fat bike!
 
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Looks great @vincent713 Rack, fenders and removable basket are nice. I use a removable basket at times too, after all why drive to the store when you can bike:)
 
Powerme - it's not my bike, belongs to one of the owners from Facebook. I think he got the basket from Amazon but not sure which model. Indeed the fenders & rack looks nice, he said it took a lot of mod to make it fit and look that good.

J.R. - I made my front basket fixed by removing the hardware and used zip ties. Totally agree with the trip to the store, it's a good excuse to take out the bike. :)
 
Here's a report from an owner on a no pedaling range test:

No pedaling range test results:
average speed=13-16mph, more details to come once I post GPS data,
range= 21.8 miles
rider weight=161 lb.,
tires=15 PSI,
weather=temperature 92F, 1-2 mph headwind out,
course=fairly flat rough paved road, 2 miles out,2 miles back,
bicycle condition=less than two weeks old, approximately 70 miles total,
battery condition=fully charged, 9 battery charge cycles.

The guy had a video and showed his computer. 21.8 miles without pedaling is very impressive!
That's him on the lower left.

range test.jpg
 
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That seems right for 15 mph. 15 watt hour per mile +/-. Very believable stats, don't know how anyone for or against Sondors can argue with that. Thanks for the update @vincent713

Most ebikes will fall in that 15-20 wh/mi.
 
I wish people would stop hating and just focus on the bike which is why we're here right?
Court did a review on the Sand Viper similar to Sondors and only got 13 miles range I think?
 
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