Motor Efficiency Discussion

I’m thinking it would be nice to collect some real world efficiency data. We have many different drives in the community. I propose we do a “motor efficiency challenge”. You’ll do a normalized run and report your consumption to a Google Form. We’ll then compile the data and make some stats. We just need to figure out what the “normalized run” should look like. How about something like this:

  • choose a route with a smooth surface, as flat as possible
  • at least 1 km distance; you should know the total distance exactly
  • start and finish at the same location (either do a circuit or go back and forth)
  • do 3 runs:
    • 20 km/h constant speed
    • 30 km/h constant speed
    • 40 km/h constant speed
  • measure the consumed Wh for each run

The values to report then could be (examples in italics; bold is what I think are the critical pieces of info):

  • measured consumption
    - 20 km/h: 13 Wh/km
    - 30 km/h: 15 Wh/km
    - 40 km/h: 17 Wh/km
  • motor
    - Maytech 6355, sensored, 190 kv, 14 poles
    - Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 6374, unsensored, 149 kv, 14 poles
    - TB DD motor, 6374, sensored, 72 kv, 28 poles
  • wheels
    - black TB thane 110mm
    - Superstar Hubs, 165mm pneumatics, 70psi
    - Bergmeister Hubs, 141mm pneumatics, 60psi
  • drive:
    - belt drive, 14:62 gear ratio, 15mm belts, 1WD
    - Avio MK2 gear drive, 13:43 gear ratio, 4WD
    - TB direct drive, 1:1 gear ratio, 2WD
  • battery pack:
    - 10S5P Samsung 30Q
  • loaded weight (rider + gear + board):
    - 90 kg
  • outside temperature:
    - 15 Celsius

Is that a good idea? Any suggestions on the “normalized run” or the type of data to collect? I believe that for the data to be useful, it’s necessary to make some trade-offs between the level of detail and the density of the data, such that there’s a chance to do reasonable grouping and averaging.

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