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Any Scooter Experts Out There?

Santa

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Nov 10, 2019
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I have this scooter (Ezip 450) with 2 small lead acid batteries. I want to know if it's possible and safe to change to Lithium Iron batteries and if so, how? Would you need a different charger or controller? Someone on Amazon said this, "You can, just make sure your discharge rate on the Li-ion isn't below the draw rate at full throttle on the scooter. My buddy got a different controller, and the discharge rate was less than the draw and one of the battery's went into thermal and almost caught fire. " https://www.blackbeardpowersports.com/eZip450.html or https://www.electricscooterparts.com/ezipe450scooterparts.html Anybody knowledgeable about this?
 
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Possible? Yes. Safe? That depends on what you consider dangerous. Yes, you need a different charger and you should have a BMS capable of delivering the amps needed for the motor. Both need to match the battery chemistry you end up using. My son has a Razor RX200 with dead batteries. It uses 2, 12v 7ah SLA batteries in series. Motor is 200 watt at 24 volts, I'm considering Li Ion since it's easier to fit the cells, but they need more careful treatment. Lots of ways to make those catch fire. I know my kids will ignore a battery SOC gauge and ride it till it stops, so a BMS with a conservative low voltage cutoff would be required.. You would also want to be checking the pack on a regular basis for puffing cells. I'm also playing with 8 Headway LiFePO4 cells to see if I can make them fit in the battery compartment.
 
Possible? Yes. Safe? That depends on what you consider dangerous. Yes, you need a different charger and you should have a BMS capable of delivering the amps needed for the motor. Both need to match the battery chemistry you end up using. My son has a Razor RX200 with dead batteries. It uses 2, 12v 7ah SLA batteries in series. Motor is 200 watt at 24 volts, I'm considering Li Ion since it's easier to fit the cells, but they need more careful treatment. Lots of ways to make those catch fire. I know my kids will ignore a battery SOC gauge and ride it till it stops, so a BMS with a conservative low voltage cutoff would be required.. You would also want to be checking the pack on a regular basis for puffing cells. I'm also playing with 8 Headway LiFePO4 cells to see if I can make them fit in the battery compartment.
Seems like a lot of work and not worth the effort for me at this time. (I have other pressing priorities). The scooter's like new, so I guess I will just wear it out with the SLA batteries, unless I find someone in person who can show me what to do. I can buy a lithium scooter later...thanks!
 
Yes, you need a new charger, your controller wattage and motor wattage should be the same or even better your controller wattage can be 100 watts higher. For example i have a 900 watt motor and a 1000 watt controller. I have a lithium ion battery with its own charger and my Modified E-zip works fine with that 24v lithium ion battery the cost was more than the 24v AGM lead acid battery. The performance is better though with the lithium but you must make sure it fits and has its own charger and charge cable to the battery with a the proper fuse also the wires must be all the same gauge wire... it is relatively complicated but where there is a research focused will there is a way.. i can help more with specifics.
 
Yes, you need a new charger, your controller wattage and motor wattage should be the same or even better your controller wattage can be 100 watts higher. For example i have a 900 watt motor and a 1000 watt controller. I have a lithium ion battery with its own charger and my Modified E-zip works fine with that 24v lithium ion battery the cost was more than the 24v AGM lead acid battery. The performance is better though with the lithium but you must make sure it fits and has its own charger and charge cable to the battery with a the proper fuse also the wires must be all the same gauge wire... it is relatively complicated but where there is a research focused will there is a way.. i can help more with specifics. Also i agree but do not have one on mine that a BMS with a conservative low voltage cutoff would be nice not required though.
 
Yes, you need a new charger, your controller wattage and motor wattage should be the same or even better your controller wattage can be 100 watts higher. For example i have a 900 watt motor and a 1000 watt controller. I have a lithium ion battery with its own charger and my Modified E-zip works fine with that 24v lithium ion battery the cost was more than the 24v AGM lead acid battery. The performance is better though with the lithium but you must make sure it fits and has its own charger and charge cable to the battery with a the proper fuse also the wires must be all the same gauge wire... it is relatively complicated but where there is a research focused will there is a way.. i can help more with specifics.
Thank you. I will focus on this problem later down the road, but thank you for offer with help for specifics!
 
Thank you. I will focus on this problem later down the road, but thank you for offer with help for specifics!
Since you have experience with these, do you know if its possible to change out the tires to....I forget what they're called, the ones that don't puncture?
 
Yes. I had a bike shop fill my rear tire with that no-flat gel stuff. It's not really needed for the front tire because more weight is on the rear, but yes you can do that.
 
Yes. I had a bike shop fill my rear tire with that no-flat gel stuff. It's not really needed for the front tire because more weight is on the rear, but yes you can do that.
Interesting about the front tire. Do you think you could just buy over the counter "no-flat tire repair gel" and do it yourself?
 
I just started working on a couple ezip 500's , gotta fix the tires. have at least one good set of batteries. hoping to buy/build a lithium pack for one.
 
I used these: https://www.batteryclearinghouse.com/products/3-7v-8ah-200a-lithium-ion-power-spim08hp

For these:

scooters.jpg


The pouch cells are big for their AH ratings...so I had to rearrange the controller and switch mountings to make everything fit. I let the neighborhood kids ride them and they have a ton of fun...but me? Blew the front tire on the green one last night and tore up my foot on the pavement (wearing flip-flops). :rolleyes: Now I need a new tube also...
 
I used these: https://www.batteryclearinghouse.com/products/3-7v-8ah-200a-lithium-ion-power-spim08hp

For these:

View attachment 4930


The pouch cells are big for their AH ratings...so I had to rearrange the controller and switch mountings to make everything fit. I let the neighborhood kids ride them and they have a ton of fun...but me? Blew the front tire on the green one last night and tore up my foot on the pavement (wearing flip-flops). :rolleyes: Now I need a new tube also...
Did you change the controller? How many of those batteries did you hook up and did you connect them in series? Sorry about your foot.
 
I just started working on a couple ezip 500's , gotta fix the tires. have at least one good set of batteries. hoping to buy/build a lithium pack for one.
Will you let me know how to do it, maybe make a video?
 
Did you change the controller? How many of those batteries did you hook up and did you connect them in series? Sorry about your foot.

I used the stock controller on the green one with a 6s pack and it worked like stock. 7s would have worked too but space was tight, and the balance charger I use only goes up to 6s anyway. With 6s the controllers low voltage cut-off should still work and save the batteries from going too low, but I'm running a low volt alarm anyway so the kids know when to head home.

I did try 10s just as a high speed test but that tripped the controller's overvoltage shut off, so I temporarily bypassed the controller with a 30 amp relay. Much faster but it wanted to wheelie every time I hit the throttle (on/off only). After a few minutes the relay fused itself closed and was stuck full speed...and I had bypassed the off switch when removing the controller, so that was an interesting ride.
 
I used these: https://www.batteryclearinghouse.com/products/3-7v-8ah-200a-lithium-ion-power-spim08hp

For these:

View attachment 4930


The pouch cells are big for their AH ratings...so I had to rearrange the controller and switch mountings to make everything fit. I let the neighborhood kids ride them and they have a ton of fun...but me? Blew the front tire on the green one last night and tore up my foot on the pavement (wearing flip-flops). :rolleyes: Now I need a new tube also...
Many questions: Can you tell me how you connected the batteries and what size wire? Can you show me a close up? Also, you said you used the stock controller. Does that mean you just used the one the scooter came with? Where exactly is the charge controller? What do you charge them with? TY
 
Many questions: Can you tell me how you connected the batteries and what size wire? Can you show me a close up? Also, you said you used the stock controller. Does that mean you just used the one the scooter came with? Where exactly is the charge controller? What do you charge them with? TY

Heading out on the boat so have to be brief. Yes, using the controller the scooter came with. It's in the same compartment as the battery. I put the cells in series with just nuts and bolts (not sure if I took a pic before taping it all up with Kapton tape, will look). I used 10 or 12 awg (?) coming out of the battery to an xt60 connector for the main supply, then added a barrel connector that exits the side as a charge port. . I also added balance wires to balance charge with a balance charger and install a low voltage alarm.

Some of the parts:





This was before adding the charge ports and tidying up the wires...

pouch cells.jpg
 
Heading out on the boat so have to be brief. Yes, using the controller the scooter came with. It's in the same compartment as the battery. I put the cells in series with just nuts and bolts (not sure if I took a pic before taping it all up with Kapton tape, will look). I used 10 or 12 awg (?) coming out of the battery to an xt60 connector for the main supply, then added a barrel connector that exits the side as a charge port. . I also added balance wires to balance charge with a balance charger and install a low voltage alarm.

Some of the parts:





This was before adding the charge ports and tidying up the wires...

View attachment 4970
Thanks for taking the time! Ship ahoy!
 
I did something similar with my son's Razor scooter. Originally it was two SLA 12V in series to make 24V. I just took out the two batteries and in it's place am using a cordless drill battery. The ones I used were the Kobalt 24V from Lowes. There is a adapter that they sell on Ebay.

1586887976916.png

The adapter comes with the two wires and that is connected to the original wiring using butt connectors. Then just pop the battery on the adapter and that's it. I take the battery out when son is done playing with it and charge it with the charger that comes with my Kobalt power tools.
 
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