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Review/Background on Heinzman Hub Motors
In North America, Light Electric Vehicle Technologies (LEVT, 208-478-5388, 208-232-3717 Fax, LEVTusa@aol.com) is the Service and Technical Center for Heinzmann Systems.
The estelle.de website run by Heinzmann is a very good reference of technical information on (almost) every option manufactured by Heinzmann.
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Subj: [power-assist] Heinzmann motors
Date: 1/4/01 5:23:20 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: edbike@aol.comGreetings,
The Heinzmann hub motor is the best (and most expensive) hub motor available.
It is used by EVGlobal (originally EVG used the least powerful and least expensive HMann motor, now they use the excellent 36V motor), by Eggston, by Estelle, and is a very well proven unit. Heinzmann has been building this motor since the early 1990's, giving them more experience and longer tenure than any other hub motor company.
The company itself prizes quality and integrity--and their product reflects this.
I have visited the factory, and am very impressed with the excellent quality control and capable engineering and manufacturing staff. (I have also visited several Chinese hub motor factories--there is no comparison.)
Not only is the motor an excellent unit, but it is also available in a wide range of configurations to make use by almost anyone possible or easy.
Good technical assistance is available from the LEVT service center (LEVTusa@aol.com) and from Heinzmann--this is the only hub motor company that has such service available.
Heinzmann does move at their own pace, and they are focused on selling to the OEM market. or retail purchases of these motors, you should contact Total EV, the USA distributor. The LEVT service center sells these motors as an agent of Total EV, and you will find that contacting them directly is your most efficient method: www.ebicycles.com, www.estelle.de
Best Regards,
Ed Benjamin
Managing Partner
CycleElectric International Consulting Group
www.CycleElectric.com
edbike@aol.comSubj: [power-assist] Re: Heinzmann
Date: 10/25/00 12:12:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: LEVTusa@aol.com
Reply-to: power-assist@egroups.com
To: power-assist@egroups.comThe statement about EV Global and the Heinzmann motor is only partly true. EVG uses their own throttle and controller and a lead acid battery. The old 24v EVG had a fairly low power output in spite of the capacity of the motor for more but the new 36v EVG is much higher performance but 36v lead acid is heavy.
The Heinzmann controller and battery set up is very different. It is designed with different goals in mind and is used to customize their hubs to different configurations. Thus you will find on their website the same model number of motor under various rim diameter and voltage headings.
I handle hundreds of service issues per week on various electric assist and light electric vehicle products and feel the Heinzmann is at the very top in performance and quality. When properly set up and configured for the needs of the user it is universally well thought of by its owners. Quality issues associated with may LEVs just don't seem to apply here.
The problems are:
Cost: Figure about $1000 for a complete NiCad kit. (this of course comes with a 2 hour charger and a battery that is probably good for 5 to 6 hundred charges.
- Availability: Total EV is now the only North American importer and they only have 36v rear hubs in stock. This however turns out to be a very powerful and practical unit and they have on order a variety of gearing and output front and rear hubs.
I personally think the 36v NiCad is the way to go for most apps and 24v LAs would be OK for some economy uses.
Glad to hear some interest in these guys.... They're Great!
Best Regards,
Philip Leavitt
Light Electric Vehicle Technologies
877 807 5388Subj: Re: [power-assist] Heinzmann motors
Date: 1/4/01 6:13:54 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: ANDY1@INTERPORT.NET (Andy)I own both the Heinzmann & the Pro Drive & I haven't owned them for long, but I feel comfortable in making some initial observations.
Like everything else in life there is no perfect system available yet, each one has its pluses and minuses and, of course, different people will weight the pros and cons differently. But here it goes....
To me, the biggest negative to the Heinzmann system is the slow start up speed. Its designed in as a safety feature, but I don't get it. Motorcycles, mopeds and the like don't have such a feature, so why does Heinzmann have to have it ? (think liability concerns). Anyway, its very annoying to have to wait from .5 to 2 seconds for the motor to respond.
Of course, price with the Heinzmanns is another negative.
Anther negative is the need to change the wheel whenever you want to go back to foot power. I have my Heinzmann on a recumbent (Bike E's RX model) and I had to splay the front forks quite a bit to get the Heinzmann motor to even fit. Consequently, changing the wheel on my bike is a bit of a hassle.
The Heinzmann's positives are lighter batteries (and consequently longer range per lb of battery) and variable control of power assist and, as Ed had mentioned, it is well made.
I don't have that many hours logged on my Pro Drive setup, but here is how I see it.
The biggest negative to the Pro Drive is the lack of variable speed control. It seemed like it had little, if any, ability to vary the amount of assist you were receiving. To me, this negative alone forces me to rate the Pro Drive as 'less than satisfactory'. I find that having the ability to control the motor's output is extremely useful for many reasons.
[Editor's Note: ZAPworld's simple on/off switch allows you to vary speed using the pulse-and-coast method like astronauts do. ZAPworld's two speeds result from 6-volt and 12-volt power. Following is how the Pro Drive functions.
Subj: Re: [power-assist] Heinzmann motors
Date: 1/4/01 8:43:41 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: colin@bestmail.com (Colin Lewis)
I had similar impressions of the Pro Drive. The throttle position acts more like a cruise control. For example, from a stop, if you move the lever to the "5 mph position" the motor goes full-bore from 0-5mph then drops out. Move the lever to 6 mph and it lurches up to 6mph. In short, you are not controlling the power of the motor, you are controlling the desired speed of the motor.]Of course, the Pro Drive's battery system, being lead acid based, makes it a system that has less range per pound of battery carried. I would like to some day test it and see if the difference is significant or more marginal. On a one battery ride, it was amazing how quickly the Pro Drive's battery gave out.
One of the positives to the Pro Drive is that the motor engages as soon as you hit the throttle. And you literally blast off, its great. And, as mentioned in another email, the Pro Drive has a reasonably painless quick release capability.
By the way, both systems are reasonably noisy and consequently they can be perceived as an annoyance by you and everyone around you.
The Heinzmann uses a throttle which feels great. The Pro Drive uses a thumb trigger and after not too long, it starts to become less and less comfortable to be holding your thumb in that one awkward position.
Bottom line, I prefer the Heinzmann hands down. I do hate the slow start up, but I can't enjoy power assist without a reasonably responsive throttle control and the Pro Drive doesn't have it and the Heinzmann does.
Andrew Waldorf
Subj: Retrofitting Heinzmann motors
Date: 9/24/01 8:07:20 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: carlchat@home.com (Carl Chatfield)If you want the exact dimensions of the Heinzmann motors designed for front or rear wheels, see http://www.estelle.de/e/html/064TECHN.html
I talked to a bike maker (Bike Friday) about retrofitting a Heinzmann to a rear wheel, and it would indeed require widening that portion of that particular frame. This did not seem to be a big deal to this bike maker, though they said they'd surely want to do it with their proper equipment and skill rather then see me do it with a vice and hammer or whatever and bend the frame in an unwanted direction.
I agree with others that retrofitting a Heinzmann into a front wheel would be much simpler, though the front-wheel motored ebikes I've ridden have had a tendency to slip more in gravel or on wet pavement--due to less weight on them, I suppose. I'd still take that route though, as it gives one more flexibility--for example you could swap the (rather expensive) motored front wheel between different bikes without worrying about the matching gears and so on of the rear wheel.