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alias_sqbrBy sheer chance I met a guy who adapts cars and motorbikes to use lithium batteries as a side business. I asked if he did wheelchairs and he offered to take a look, in the end I decided not to go for it but thought people might find it interesting.
He spent a while poking through parts lists to find a combination which would fit the space and give me the amperage the chair needs, this could all be different with different chairs or a scooter. Also I may be confusing amps and volts etc, for some reason I find electronics really confusing. It's possible other mechanics (electricians?) could do a different setup with different specs, especially since wheelchairs aren't his speciality.
The overall cost was about $1500. About $900 for the batteries alone, I think. Ordering the parts would take a while, but the installation would take a few hours at the house.
He wasn't sure it would give me significantly more than the 10-15km I currently get with a brand new acid battery, and unless I paid an extra for a fancy new charger it wouldn't charge all that much faster. Also he'd have to do a few cludges to get everything to work, including gluing a simple "amps drawn" guage to the side of the controller which I would have to reset at the start of every trip. I'd have to watch the guage and remember the number that meant "about to run out of juice" because my only other warning would be the chair coming to a complete and utter stop.
The advantage is that the batteries wouldn't degrade. Currently my batteries last maybe a year if I'm lucky, and cost about $600 to change. Which sucks, but given all the downsides lithium doesn't seem like it's worth the change right now.
I haven't mentioned his name since the only contact I have is his Facebook, but if anyone wants his details I'm happy to pass them on. He's friendly and enthusiastic and his electric motorbike didn't explode or anything :)
He spent a while poking through parts lists to find a combination which would fit the space and give me the amperage the chair needs, this could all be different with different chairs or a scooter. Also I may be confusing amps and volts etc, for some reason I find electronics really confusing. It's possible other mechanics (electricians?) could do a different setup with different specs, especially since wheelchairs aren't his speciality.
The overall cost was about $1500. About $900 for the batteries alone, I think. Ordering the parts would take a while, but the installation would take a few hours at the house.
He wasn't sure it would give me significantly more than the 10-15km I currently get with a brand new acid battery, and unless I paid an extra for a fancy new charger it wouldn't charge all that much faster. Also he'd have to do a few cludges to get everything to work, including gluing a simple "amps drawn" guage to the side of the controller which I would have to reset at the start of every trip. I'd have to watch the guage and remember the number that meant "about to run out of juice" because my only other warning would be the chair coming to a complete and utter stop.
The advantage is that the batteries wouldn't degrade. Currently my batteries last maybe a year if I'm lucky, and cost about $600 to change. Which sucks, but given all the downsides lithium doesn't seem like it's worth the change right now.
I haven't mentioned his name since the only contact I have is his Facebook, but if anyone wants his details I'm happy to pass them on. He's friendly and enthusiastic and his electric motorbike didn't explode or anything :)
no subject
Date: 2014-11-15 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-11-15 04:35 am (UTC)Yeah! At least we know the shape of the problem now.