Latest News

Updated 28th May 2009

Lithium battery test

I borrowed a set of fancy lithium batteries for testing this week. The whole 66v unit weighed in at about 50kg. 60v of our lead acid batteries would take 5 units at 31kg each, that's 155kg making this unit over 100kg lighter. A 100kg saving in an EV is quite significant. And boy, did you feel it. Higher top speed, better acceleration and they should increase the range by about 30%.

These would really be the way to go, if not for the cost. Luckily, the costs are coming down all the time, and when current Green Machine owners replace their battery sets in 5 or so year's time, lithium batteries should be an affordable option - I can't wait. If deep pocketed buyers want them, we can source and fit 48volt sets.

Lithium batteries in Green Machine T&C, 50kg for 66v - over $4000 worth!

Regular, lead acid set. 124kg for 48v - $1200 worth.

Green Machine 'non-stop driving' record broken

A keen Green Machine owner turned up the other day, he had travelled over 65km non-stop (in the rain) to visit on his heavily modified Green Machine Solo. This sets a new non-stop record for Green Machines, exceeding my own personal best by nearly 20km.

You may notice he's located the steering head back where the seat should be, and is sitting in the tray. This has lowered the centre of gravity and provided more comfort for a '6 foot plus' driver.

He's also (and don't try this at home!) fitted a second 650 watt motor and controller - he didn't tell me he was going to do that when he bought them. There's bigger batteries installed to provide the necessary power for two motors. Ordinarily, I limit the top speed of this model to 20km an hour, however this particular one cracks along easily at 40km/h and is quite happy on even the steepest of hills.

Needless to say, his warranty is now void.

Madness or magnificence?

Two motors where there should only be one.

Battery charging time again.

Once a month we charge all the batteries we have on hand. I charge them in sets of 4 for the 48v machines and 5 for the 60v machines. This way they become a family from the start and they seem to stay more evenly charged.

Batteries on charge, this is 3 sets of 4.

The extra battery question again

Some Green Machine owners just love to tinker, and that's fine with us. But I need to stress, we can't guarantee your motor or controller if you add an extra battery. We've done a little work on the subject, in fact the old 48v prototype is running at 60v at the moment, but we haven't run one long enough to be able to say if it's safe or not. The practice is not recommended.

What's wrong with this picture? 6 x 12 = 72 (should be 60v) that's what's wrong