Why You Should Care...
The key to energy independence and green technology is better batteries and/or Ultra Capacitors. We have countless ways to generate electricity and nothing but lousy options for storing it. The Nanophosphate Lithium™ cells - from A123 Systems used in these batteries are a peek at what the future holds. These are not the be-all end-all of energy storage, but they are a significant advance in the right direction. What you should keep in mind is that although this bike currently has a range of only 9 miles, it is only 30 pounds of batteries! That’s half the weight of a single car battery. Weight, which used to be a limiting factor, is no longer an issue. In addition, these batteries can discharge and recharge at phenomenal rates! And they can do it thousands of times without wearing out! This is what has been missing from the formula for energy independence. New ultra-capacitor technology is showing promise of even greater range from lighter cells to the point where 30 pounds of ultra-capacitor could propel this bike for 30 miles - and be usable for 10’s of thousands of miles without replacement.
INTRO...
Welcome to DRILL BIKE. Drill Bike is a converted 1981 Kawasaki KZ550 LTD. The heavy chunk of hot flailing steel, aluminum and oil that was hanging in its frame was replaced by a small but powerful state of the art permanent magnet motor. Energized by 12 Dewalt 36 volt drill batteries and controlled by an Alltrax 7234 AXE motor controller, the 220 pound Drill Bike has become a very sporty and nimble commuting bike.
Why Drill Batteries?
There are a lot of terrific electric conversions out there, but they rely on either traditional lead acid batteries or the newer LiFePO4 packs. The DeWalt DC9360 is the only available commercial battery based on the most advanced battery chemistry today, Nanophosphate Lithium™. To date, in order to use these batteries, most people dismantle them and rebuild the cells into their own packs. This seemed a waste of the wealth of built in circuitry on these packs. I use these batteries as is, leveraging their built in BMS to control and balance the pack