Quote from: Altema on September 23, 2021, 02:04:34 PMQuote from: chris1683 on September 15, 2021, 09:52:39 AM
It is not. Here is a photo of the internal motor from my US RadRover purchased in July 2021. It is in fact a 350W Bafang motor disguised in a Rad Power Bikes outer motor casing. Disappointing since it's advertised as a 750W "motor".
I realize it might be able to peak at 750W but it's still a 350W motor any way you slice it.
It's also only rated at a MAXIMUM torque of 45 N.m on Bafang's website. Rad advertises 80 N.m.
https://bafang-e.com/oem-area/components/component/motor/rm-g020350ddc/
That's not the normal motor used in Rad's US bikes, but it is possible your clutch plate was substituted since they are interchangeable, or someone shipped you a EU spec bike despite you ordering a US version. The G020350 is a physically smaller motor.
A genuine Rad 750 watt motor is built on the Bafang 500w core, but is custom wound for higher power using a . There is no reason in the world for anyone to freak out over this, because it will handle 1641 watts all day long and deliver 104nm of torque. I didn't get that off the internet or pre-build data sheets... I'm an engineer and tested it myself. As a matter of fact, the US Rad motor has more torque than the Bolton upgrade motor, and is more reliable.
Whether or not it was the normal motor used in Rad's US bikes, that's what came inside of my brand new RR5. It came in a US labeled box and the controller peaked at 750W which is what the US version is touted as having.
As far as interchanging parts, I find that hard to believe as nothing else on the motor would tell what version that it is. It has no distinct "Rad" labeling on the inner motor itself. The only thing "Rad" about the motor was the custom outer casing that the motor was fitted into.
I would expect any reasonable person to question what they are getting when they open a supposed 750W motor and find a motor in its place that's stamped as being a 350W motor. I just call it as I see it. Rad was given the same photos and they offered no information as to it being a non-US version bike. They also would not confirm whether it was a 350, 500 or 750 watt motor as it was designed, only that their motors can "handle" 750W of power.
Rad went as far as to have Bafang draw up a letter which said the following: "the customized motors made by Bafang exclusively for Rad are rated as 750W geared hub motors based on the testing standard that this customized motor can handle 750W of power input without overheating"
In plain terms, I read that as we can run 750W to it and it won't hurt it, so we can rate it as 750W. That being said, if I take a core 350W motor and run 750W through it, it still doesn't make it a core 750W motor - regardless of whether or not it can safely handle the extra wattage.
Again, this would never be an issue to me except that the motor on my RR5 is stamped as being a 350W motor.
Last I just wanted to share another reply from someone over at Rad's Legal Team regarding this same issue. In the letter it stated "Neither the CPSC regulations on ebikes nor the industry standard (UL 2849, the voluntary industry standard for safety for electrical systems for ebikes) specifies a test methodology for measuring the power input/output of a motor: As a result, both the regulation and the voluntary standard rely on the certification seeker (Rad, in this case) to establish the motor rating."
According to that standard, you can start with any sized core motor - a 350W per say, and if it can handle 750W and not overheat....Hey we can label it as a rated 750W motor and sell it that way! Is it now technically a 750W motor or is it sill a 350W as it was made? That is the real question. If it can handle 1000W is it then a rated 1000W geared hub motor?
