Hello All
Well what can I say. eLation V1 (www.elationebikes.com.au) was a mind blowing success. It was not without its faults and limitations though. To be fair to myself I was working with an extremely limited budget and no real idea if this would be a commercially viable winner. A number of compromises had to be made using off the shelf components and parts from other kits. But now that I am comfortable with the concepts and its acceptance I have been focusing more on what i wanted the eLation kit to be at the start.
The eLation V2 kit is based around what I wanted to do but also from feedback from installers and riders. So what will be the eLation V2? If there are any questions or ommissions please feel free to ask on Forum. This is also possibly you last chance for you to offer input on what else may be “nice” to have.
Please note some parts are still being completed as samples prior to prodcution sign off. I still do not have all final bits and pieces but they start shipping today. So photos will not be available until order is a go.
Here goes.
Motor and gearbox.
Motor will be brushless and available in 200W, 300W and 500W. The gearbox will be a planetary gearbox. Final output RPM will be approx 300RPM.
Motor mount.
Will be a “flat plate” design with a few ‘tricks’ to simplify instalation and alignment. This also means it will fit a wider range of bikes including some rear supsension mountain bikes for those who want. There will be two parts to the motor mount. The mounting plate to the bike and the motor plate which will allow fine tuning of chain alignment. The mounting plate to the bike will be secured by a shrouded chain link type system. This means that the mount will attach to non-round tubes and irregular dimensioned tubes. In addition load is spread over more of the bike frame. The bracket is also designed so that if the rider chooses they will be able to mount the motor on the seat tube, the same as EPAC kits do.
Finally there will be an idler arm to maintain drive chain tension.
Cranks and Crank gears.
Crank gears will consist of individual crank rings made of alloy. Supplied sizes will be 22/32/44 for bike gears and 44 for drive. However the design is based around the standard 4 hole BCD64/BCD104mm system. This means that the rider can change the rings to whatever size and quality they wish (including the drive ring). The alloy crank design will eliminate the need to change out the crank spindle (something that is annoying and required by all kits to date). This means that the bike maintains its existing BB system be that sealed cartridge or Ball and Cup. In addition there will be two chain guards. One between bike chains and drive chains. the other outside the drive chain.
Battery Pack and Charger.
Batteries will be LiFePO4. The pack will be a 24VDC 10Ahr and discharge rate of 5C. The mounting location is still to be confirmed as I am waiting for the sample to arrive. It is hoped it will be on the diagonal tube. For those wanting greater riding distance a second pack will be able to be connected direct to system so possible to have 24V 20Ahr battery system.
Charger is a 110-240VAC 3A Balanced type charger. this means that each cell is individually monitored for optimum charge.
I went with 5C batteries (even though they cost a little more) to ensure they could delivery the higher current that would be required at 24V (vs 36V). One year ago I would not have made this decision but with LiFePO4 batteries I believe it is much less an issue, especially with 5C discharge capacity.
Other features.
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Movement sensing alarm. Will give warning if bike is moved and then let loose if moved again. More details will follow.
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Addition of direct connect CycleAnalyst (formerly Braindrain). This will most likely be a cost effective OPTION. Depends on final pricing.
Well I think that covers the main features.
So where to from here for eLation? Version 3!!!
Well not quite, but there is another design on the drawing board and sections of the concept are now being prototyped. Will our advancements ever end? I hope not 
Cheers
Allan
www.elationebikes.com.au