Balancing batteries is an important part of maintaining pack health. Especially with a battery pack that doesn’t have an active cell-level BMS monitoring every cell. TWIKE 560 currently has three 100-cell stacks which all would need an own balancing connection – a BMS would be adding weight, considerable amounts of cabling and complexity to the setup. Furthermore, one of the really neat features of Dreifels‘ DFC 3.0 controller, being able to completely and physically disconnect the battery from the vehicle when not in use and effectively go to zero amps would be rendered useless as the BMS controller is connected […]
TWIKE 5 (…6) update
It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned anything about the development of next-gen TWIKE’s. My TWIKE is a third-generation TWIKE that went into production over 27 years ago and is still in production today! The first version of TWIKE’s were a human powered recumbent bike for two people, capable of sustaining 50 km/h for 50km. One of the first design studies for this vehicle looked like something from a science fiction novel: If you want to buy a new one, you can do so by visiting the website of the current manufacturer Fine Mobile and press the ‘contact us’ […]
Hello 2019!
What a year this has been – completely destroying my vehicle in an accident, fully rebuilding it during 6 months! Very happy to report that all is back to normal and TW560 is a joy to drive again. Haven’t been blogging in a while as my job at a start-up has been taking up most of my time and I’ve been travelling a lot. This is why my kilometre count for this year is – measured against my usual yearly ~25,000 km – is very low. Keep in mind that 7800 km is more than most TWIKEs worldwide do in […]
Two years in: Testing Dreifels 51Ah Pack Capacity
How time flies – it’s already been 2 years since I installed my 51Ah 17.7kWh LiNiCoAlO2-Cell-based battery pack. For better battery health and less ageing my daily charge is only to 3.8V cell charge, I never discharge below 3.3V and balance the cell packs from time to time. As my daily commute is only around 11% of the total pack capacity, I never see what the real capacity of the pack is and if it has lost any capacity. Using ‘Tesla-speak’ I drive in trip mode only 1-2 weeks total per year. And there, I never really drive the pack […]
TWIKE pilot community – compassion and camaraderie
News of my accident traveled through the grapevines of the TWIKE community at light speed – TW560’s absence was noticed by many during TWIKE Klub’s 2018 general assembly in Berne. I was asked a lot of questions what happened and how TW560 was doing. Out of nowhere I got multiple offers to borrow and drive TWIKE’s for short to longer periods of time – which I gladly accepted as I was in need of an independent mode of transport. Driving various TWIKEs proved to me – yet again – one very important point: There is not one TWIKE like another! […]
Is this the end of TW560?
I haven’t been blogging too much lately – because I’ve been too shell-shocked by an accident I had with TW560. The good news is: I didn’t sustain any major injuries. The bad news is: TW560 wasn’t as lucky. Major structural issues with most of the vehicle – close to everything has to be replaced. Repairs will run up a 5-figure (CHF) bill. More news to follow. (And some other entries that I haven’t had the time to finish)
A hard-top for TWIKE’s?
Driving a TWIKE in summer is grand – take off the Targa canopy and you get the same outside feeling you would get with a convertible car. This is why TW560’s canopy is off for most of any summer. Winter is much less fun. The dark canopy makes the interior a rather cramped and dark place… Well, not so long ago, purely by chance, I met a former pilot who had sold his TWIKE over 15 years ago and told me he had recently discovered a hard-top for his TWIKE in his cellar… If I was interested in having […]
Hello 2018!
I haven’t been blogging too much lately and there are still about 5 entries waiting for completion…I’ll get to why in this post, which is a re-cap of what went on in November and December 2017. First of all, I decided to quit my job after 3 years to pursue a new career in regulatory compliance. After two decades in IT-security it was time to take on a challenge in a completely new environment, at a start-up with me being able to build everything from scratch on a green field – as a result, many evenings were spent on setting […]
To be expected after 17 years…
Once every month, I check my TWIKE’s exterior for potential problems (like this one, or this one) that are easily fixed if detected early and turn can into very costly repairs, if left unattended. This entry shows you another part of your TWIKE you should check regularly – which I haven’t … until now. TW560’s swing steering arm! Seeing this brown colour – very unusual for a TWIKE since all other parts are made of either plastic or aluminium – got me thinking: rust is never a good sign. I’m aware that most of my readers haven’t seen this […]
Post-TDE2017 TLC for TW560 (Part 2/3)
With part 1/3 TW560 taken care of, it’s time to put my focus on two other issues: After just one day of constant wiper usage during a storm in Hungary, TW560’s acrylic windscreen is badly scratched and needs urgent attention. When the sun or lights from oncoming traffic hits the windscreen, I’m almost blind. Lots and lots of dirt in my TWIKE Let’s start with TW560’s windscreen: This is how my windscreen looked like before I started the procedure. Luckily, a few years ago, I found a new method to polish the plastic back to perfection. Another picture […]