How do you recognise the Van Raam electrical system?
The motors, batteries, controller, Smart Display and software of the Silent System have been developed by and for Van Raam, especially for our special needs bikes. From time to time, Van Raam bicycles are fitted with a different electrical system. This can have very negative consequences, which we would like to warn everyone about. In the article 'How to recognise the Van Raam electrical system' you can read about 7 features and functions to easily identify a Van Raam bicycle with pedal support (delivered after June 2016).
What is the range (distance) of a bike with power assistance ?
Check: What is the range (distance) of a battery driven bike?
What is the range (distance) of a battery driven bike?
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question. A number of factors determine the range, including speed, sort of pavement, wind, the weight of the driver, the status of the battery, tire inflation and the acclivity. Therefore the battery range varies between 50 (if everything is negative) and 70 km/ h (if all is positive). Read
how many kilometers a Van Raam E bike battery lasts.
How much does it cost to fully charge a Van Raam e-bike battery?
The costs of charging a battery are relatively low. Below you will find an overview of how much energy is needed to charge a battery:
- Cube Normal: 0,51 kWh
- Cube Heavy: 1,05 kWh
- Slim: 0,60 kWh
Multiply the amount of energy needed with your current electricity price per kWh to find out how much it costs to fully charge your battery.
Can I later add an electrical engine?
This is no problem at all. At any given Van Raam bicycle an electrical engine can be added, even after several years. It is not possible to use an electric engie power assist on the Husky and Walking Support City.
Which kind of electrical engines are there?
Van Raam has since 2011 an own electrical pedal support called Silent System. The motor, battery, controller, the Smart Display and software are developed by Van Raam. The Silent System is developed for the rehabilitation sector. The Silent system is characterized by: simple use; powerful motors; modern and efficient electronics; high quality and safe batteries; personal adjustable support, adjusted to the handicap; cycling forwards and backwards with active pedal support. The Silent electrical system is an 36 Volts system and delivers a maximum 18 ampere.
Until mid 2012 Van Raam has used Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (NIMH). From 2012 Van Raam uses Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries. The tricycles of Van Raam have an Cube Li-Ion battery and the Balance, tandems and wheelchair cycles have a Slim Li-Ion battery. The high quality batteries are manufactured in Germany and can be used for many discharge cycles. The Li-Ion batteries have 2 years of guaranty with a maximum of 500 charge cycles. The batteries have a high capacity, on several bikes it is possible to use 2 batteries with a maximum capacity of 1784Wh.
Read more about electric pedal support.
What kind of battery types are used?
Van Raam now uses Lithium ion cobalt batteries on the Silent system. Until mid-2012 nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries were also used.
The tricycles and the Fun2Go double rider from Van Raam have lithium ion batteries of 36 volts and 10.7 or 24.8 amps / hour called the cube battery. The Balance, wheelchair bikes, rickshaw Chta and the tandems have a 13.6 volt 36 amp / hour lithium ion cobalt battery called the Slim battery. The batteries are manufactured at BMZ in Germany, the special software is also made in Germany together with our engineers.
The lithium ion batteries will certainly last many cycles. A charge cycle is needed to fully recharge an empty battery. If you recharge the battery, which was empty for 25%, four times you still have used only one charging cycle. At 400 charge cycles (full discharge) the capacity of the battery decreases slightly. The lithium ion cobalt batteries have 1 year warranty with a maximum of 500 charging cycles. You can recharge the battery when it is not fully empty.
A battery of 10.7 A / h is fully charged in about 2.5 hours. If your radius of action is approximately 30 km with a fully charged battery, your battery is garanteed till 15.000 KM.
The wheelchair bikes with the Heinzmann system have two parallel batteries of 36 volt 9 amp hour batteries (total 18A / h).
When you’re not using the electric engine of the Silent system, the battery goes into sleeping mode after a few days. This to protect the battery. You can activate the battery by connecting it to the charger for a few seconds. Or you can take the bicycle for a ride and press the on / off button while cycling to turn on the system.
What is wrong when all the lights of the control pannel are flashing?
If the buttons 1, 2 and 3 are all flashing then there is a fault in the sensor, if all the lights of the battery indicator are flashing (red, orange and green lights below) then the system is overheated. If the system is cooled down, this error will disappear.
How much heavier is my bike with pedal assistance?
The weight of your bike will increase when you have power assistance. The total added weight of the motor, batteries and other materials, depends on the type of motor and battery. This varies between 9 and 15 kg of extra weight.