hello peeps,

i am planning to buy the ezip trails this weekend and i want to add more speed and increase range. so, will buying an additional batt pack do the trick or whatelse do i need to buy for me to achieve optimum capacity of this bike? also, up to how many hours of batt life will it add? Thanks.

Well, if you're planning on adding a second OEM battery pack, no. What might help a bit with added speed (but only about 1-2 MPH) would be a second, bigger battery that has more amp hours. I built a 2nd battery using Thundersky LIFEPO4 cells this spring. It's 24V 20AH, not the 24V 10AH of the OEM pack. It's got a lot more energy and I can get another 1-2 mph with it, but honesty, I prefer to go slow and use power assist for the many hills here. I don't ride with the throttle pushed to the max. If you want speed, DrkAngel has a mod that involves changing out the left-hand freewheel that the motor uses. Try that mod first. I would also suggest that you consider building your own LIFEPO4 pack. You can get Thundersky cells at a reasonable price from US distributors like Elite Power Solutions in Arizona. You can also build a case for them that will fit into the Currie rear rack so you can use the original OEM and a new, more powerful LIFEPO4. http://www.ecoforumz.com/electric-bi...-me-build.html

I totally agree with MB. Buying a second OEM pack is a waste of good money. I wish I could have gotten a refund for my OEM packs when I bought my 2 EZips last year. Don't waste your money buying OEM batteries. Buy 2 Thunder Sky 12v 20ah batteries at Elite Power Solutions Elite Power Solutions Then build yourself a box that fits the EZip battery carrying rack and you will be very happy. A lot more happy then you would be with OEM packs because 1 TS pack will give you more range then 2, 3 or maybe even 4 OEM packs.

Links to the best speed options!

30MPH EZip - IZip!

E-Zip Mountain Trailz 1 year 1600 miles - report. EZIP

20mph+ from EZIP 24 volt OEM pack!

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EZip Engineering 101

Will these TS batteries require a different charger than the OEM supplied by Currie?

There are a few things that kill lifepo4 cells. The worse 2 are over charging and over discharging. To keep things simple for you I would recommend you buy the packs with balancers. This will protect them during charging. And yes you can continue to use the Currie charger but it will limit the max recomended charge from 29.2v to 28.4v. And of course it's a small charger so it will charge slowly. But theseare all good things and will actually extend the life of the pack. As for over discharging I would recommend installing a CellLog8 monitor and cable with an alarm. Total additional cost is about $30.

Keep in mind you still have to be able to mount this packs to the bike. In my situation I dismantaled the packs and reconfigured them to fit a custom case I made that fits into the Currie rear wheel rack. Od some have mounted them on top the rack.

Bob

EDIT....Here's a new pack that was posted on another forum. http://www.eco-wheelz.com/catalog/li...ezip-p-284.php
Personally I think it's a rip off. It's only 6.4ah and sells for #399.......THAT's INSANE !!