review Inmotion V8 - your thoughts and Impressions ... Now with extensive review included

[Keith]

Jason, again I cannot see your photos for some reason but one would hope it's a set of data wires between the BMS and mainboard such that the mainboard alarms/tilts back on any reported battery problem. The only other possibility I can think of would be a lower voltage tap for the lights? The former would be brilliant and yet another reason to buy. The latter not so much!

 

[HEC]

2 hours ago, Jason McNeil said:

and what could be a BMS to CB data interface connection consisting of five wires.

5 Wires - wild guess one would be ground (most likelly possible to verify on both V8 as well as V5F packs) ... first what comes to mind is that each of the four remaining wires is to monitor one set of 10 cells which would imply having 4 separate "sub-packs" instead of one usual 20S4P pack with 10 "quartets" of cells. That would indeed increase the security / reliability if one or even multiply cells go bust in the pack .. And other option would be indeed as suggested by @Keith already pulling the lower voltages from the packs for LED or other purposes (which is though not so healthy for the individual cells as it usaully causes larger imballances). You could probably make some basic voltage measurements against ground on each vire to see which theory is most likely. Other option is the built in dis-/charging protection like temperature or current sensor(s) on top of the built in BMS to allow the controller / wheel to either notify user or to modify the wheel behaviour accordingly and so on. Could be also more precise battery capacity reading. Shouldn't be that difficult to check where exactly the 5 wire lead goes in V5F (and assuming it's using the same setup on V8) to direct our guesses onto right track

Can't wait for @Jason McNeil to receive the test wheel as well ...

[US69]

12 hours ago, Jason McNeil said:

Received the V8 battery pack this morning, need to confirm if this is the final design or pre-production.

There is a standard XT60 male connector, a pair of charging wires on the left, and what could be a BMS to CB data interface connection consisting of five wires. Can anyone think of another Wheel with a similar a similar wire setup?  

 

 

 

Apart from the protective shell, looks very similar to the V5F/+ battery pack

 

Can you try the photos again, please???

[Keith]

51 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

Can you try the photos again, please???

@Jason McNeil I've a feeling only US people can see them, anyone able to confirm that?

[EricGhost]

I see them IT

[maguzo]

16 minutes ago, Keith said:

@Jason McNeil I've a feeling only US people can see them, anyone able to confirm that?

I can see them from France too

[Berty]

In Slovenia as well.

[US69]

Ok...checked again...it seams to be a browser thing, for me at least

 IOS->Safari-> I Can see them

Firefox.-> Ok

Internet Explorer-> Nope :-)

 

[Keith]

25 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

Ok...checked again...it seams to be a browser thing, for me at least

 IOS->Safari-> I Can see them

Firefox.-> Ok

Internet Explorer-> Nope :-)

 

Well spotted @KingSong69, Only I cannot see them in Safari on an iPad, but I can see them in Firefox and Chrome on the iPad 

weird, but OK problem solved, use a different browser ;-)

[Mono]

On 8/3/2016 at 7:23 AM, HEC said:

I doubt it will be 2.5" with such slim shell design. I hope it's a "standard" 16" / 2.125" (for the ease of replacement) instead of 1.95" as on V5F/+.

right, apparently (according to the wheelies on facebook) it is 1.95" 

[US69]

I think this russian Video is not posted yet?

It Shows the Batterie de-Installation, also:

 

 

[Paddylaz]

15 hours ago, Niko said:

right, apparently (according to the wheelies on facebook) it is 1.95" 

Is 2.125 'standard' for 16inches?

I thought all ninebots for instance were 1.7ish and my ips LHOTZ was 2.5

 

[steve454]

9 hours ago, Paddylaz said:

Is 2.125 'standard' for 16inches?

I thought all ninebots for instance were 1.7ish and my ips LHOTZ was 2.5

 

My Ninebot One E+ is 16x1.95.  Maybe not that much difference in width from a 2 and one eighth inch tire.  I am starting to think that a 14 inch tire is not that much difference from a 16 inch.  I really want to get an Inmotion V5F+, I saw a video by EUC extreme where his friend was riding a Gotway 14 inch on trails and had no problem going over large stones and roots.

[Jason McNeil]

Here's a side-by-side of the V8 (top) and the V5F+ (below), it looks a bit wider.

[johrhoj]

16 hours ago, steve454 said:

 I really want to get an Inmotion V5F+, I saw a video by EUC extreme where his friend was riding a Gotway 14 inch on trails and had no problem going over large stones and roots.

EUC extreme is an extremely accomplished EUC rider. Do not take it for granted that what he does, you can do also ... I've seen his vids too  

A 16" wheel will absolutely ride better on rough terrain, than a 14" wheel (when wheels are are otherwise comparable).

[HEC]

On ‎10‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 3:27 PM, KingSong69 said:

It Shows the Batterie de-Installation, also:

I'm sorry to say so but it's anything but "simple". Using tools, removing tiny screws, unclamping fragile clamps on cover ... and oddly shaped battery pack full of sharp and inconvenient edges to carry around. This is not "field" friendly battery swap for sure! I've mentioned earlier to @Jason McNeil that I really hope that battery swapping on V8 is a core design feature (being such highly promoted as such) rather than last minute slap on but sadly it seems to be the latter  

While I doubt that IM would be able to do anything about this till release maybe they'll look into this for the next revision of the V8 once they'll start receiving all the complains from customers about broken off cover clips (and nails), lost screws and damaged battery pack as well as backpacks carrying spare packs. IMO swappable battery pack means no tools, not having your fingers or other body parts chewed on by the wheel and battery pack safe and comfortable to carry around. Currently IM unfortunately failed in all 3 points here ... To "resolve" this debacle the side panel needs to be removable without need of any tools and without risk of damaging it first few times it's taken off so it needs to have some "quick release" though still safe not-rattling mechanism, Battery needs to be again removable without tools using either velcros or some push to release / eject mechanism. Finally the battery pack (while its overall shape can be hardly changed without major overhaul of the whole wheel) needs to be trimmed off all sharp edges and flaps maybe even coated with thin rubber surface to make it more shock proof while both mounted in the wheel as well as carried around as a spare. Then and only then can IM advertise the V8 as a wheel "with swappable battery" as by their current definition almost any wheel has swappable batteries ...  

[nomad]

It's probably the most swap friendly battery yet though and probably it can be swapped by the user without breaking warranty. If they keep the form factor later down the road they could release higher capacity packs as battery technology develops, basically upgrading your then old v8 to a v8+. In the long run replacing a worn out tire would be the other problem.

[HEC]

9 minutes ago, nomad said:

It's probably the most swap friendly battery yet though and probably it can be swapped by the user without breaking warranty. If they keep the form factor later down the road they could release higher capacity packs as battery technology develops, basically upgrading your then old v8 to a v8+. In the long run replacing a worn out tire would be the other problem.

Well there are actually wheels with easier battery swap like some KS-14's as well as some modified wheels like ninebots and so on. I'd not really worry about warranty as you're still about to replace or fix tire and tube and you'll get to batteries on almost any wheel much sooner before reaching the tires

The point I was trying to make with V8 battery swap rant was that it was advertised as one of the main features prior release which though is not living up to the expectations.

[Jason McNeil]

@HEC in complete accord with your view expressed here. There's some strong advocacy going on behind the scenes advocating this position. If they want a stab at dominating the 16" sphere, this feature needs to be properly thought-out and designed. 

To me it's so inexplicable that they could be this close to making something outstandingly brilliant & sort of not follow through on this vital element. Don't despair just yet, I'm optimistic that something may come through.... Fundamentally, Inmotion are a good company that listens to their Customers.

[houseofjob]

@Jason McNeil any confirmation on whether the first shipments of your V8 stock are coming with fast chargers? something along the lines of ~2.5A or slightly greater? (also, any clue what the USB-looking connector on these is called?)

Also, does your V8 proto have the same hole alignments to possibly mount the V5 trolley handle, if we're not feeling the built-in?

Thanks as always!

[Jason McNeil]

No word yet on the fast-charger, panel-design is not going to change for this initial release (Inmotion say that an experienced user will take 3 minutes for a battery swap), not possible to mount V5 foldable handle—I actually suggested that n a future release, they use the practically perfect V5 handle instead of the inferior integrated one, since there's really no benefit, as far as I can see, and then reuse the internal space for a 60 cell pack.... It's a big change, so not holding out hope in the next couple months.

[Keith]

9 minutes ago, Jason McNeil said:

I actually suggested that n a future release, they use the practically perfect V5 handle instead of the inferior integrated one, since there's really no benefit, as far as I can see, and then reuse the internal space for a 60 cell pack.... It's a big change, so not holding out hope in the next couple months.

I must confess I'd really envisaged the V8 being a bigger version of the V5F with fancy lights thrown in and more range therefore an ideal 16" wheel. The V5F bits that are missing, handle, lights, padding seem to be the very bits that make the V5F stand out. To then also fit the same size battery seems a really missed opportunity. The lightened construction, higher voltage, general high quality certainly still  make this feel like it is a next generation wheel but I guess I'll be waiting a while :-)

[US69]

1 hour ago, Jason McNeil said:

No word yet on the fast-charger, panel-design is not going to change for this initial release (Inmotion say that an experienced user will take 3 minutes for a battery swap), not possible to mount V5 foldable handle—I actually suggested that n a future release, they use the practically perfect V5 handle instead of the inferior integrated one, since there's really no benefit, as far as I can see, and then reuse the internal space for a 60 cell pack.... It's a big change, so not holding out hope in the next couple months.

as this 480wh batterie in terms of fastcharging is not other than a 340wh pack...a 20s2p pack...so just 2 parallel packs...i would not recommend any higher charge rate than 2 amp here...

[HEC]

56 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

as this 480wh batterie in terms of fastcharging is not other than a 340wh pack...a 20s2p pack...so just 2 parallel packs...i would not recommend any higher charge rate than 2 amp here...

Why? MH1 cells are rated for safe 1C fast charging which means 3.2A for 1P packs and 6.4A for 2P packs. 4 - 5A fast charger will be perfectly safe, even 6A will be still well within the specs.

[steve454]

On 8/11/2016 at 10:33 AM, Jason McNeil said:

Here's a side-by-side of the V8 (top) and the V5F+ (below), it looks a bit wider.

ll

Judging by the ample space between the tire and shell, it looks like a 2.25 tire or even wider would fit easily.  The tread looks more off road style on the v8, but the tread of the V5F+  looks good also.