WEWHEEL Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Starting this topic to explore offgrid EUC expedition riding with the community. Someone had asked a question recently on solar charging EUCs (related) and I thought it would be interesting to get a broader design/engineering discussion going. To set the stage for the discussion consider the following scenario: 2-3 day offgrid summer ride following converted rail lines covering 350+ miles which means even the Sherman guys will need to top off. Range extension is the goal. The ebike guys are charging while riding using MPPT type chargers (Victron). Not all EUC controllers will support this. Concept includes mounting solar panels on top of Burley Nomad - with a hiking attachment (hip belt). Interested to know of anyone who's explored this..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zopper Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 With ebike, you can do most of the work, let the motor just offset the additional weight and this will give you a plenty of range with a relatively small battery that can be "easily" topped up by solar. But for EUC... I'm kinda afraid that the only meaningful ways are to either have a half day of ride and few days camping and recharging with solar, or to use a power generator and carry it and gas with you. There definitely are ~50 pound gasoline/propane power generators that would be more than sufficient. Actually, they are unnecessary powerful as they could charge 2 or 3 sherms at once. So maybe one can find smaller ones, that will be practical to carry in the two-wheeler[1]. Or maybe you could get someone with a car on the trip as well, and plan the route so the car waits for you at regular intervals for charging. Yeah, suddenly it's no longer the free off-grid ride, but a logistic exercise... [1] I'm not sure this is a good idea either. It will have a great effect your balance and it could easily throw you off. A much safer option would be a two-wheeled barrow you would push ahead in hands and which you could let go in emergency. Imagine what happens when you have this firmly attached to your waist and it hits a stone and jerks back. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoGeorgeGo Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I think the best bet would be building yourself a large backpack battery to charge with. Its going to be very heavy and take up a lot of your inventory space for the trip however. Maybe if you built a trailer of sorts to carry your gear and the extra battery it would be more feasible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockyTop Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I use a 2 foot by 2 foot solar panel to charge my boat trolling motor battery. It is heavy and takes a week to charge the battery back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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