Motor torque

[towtruckguy]

I just bought an 2006 Miles ZX40 with 50mi.  I like the car but I have two concerns.  1) the motor has very little torque what can I do to correct
that?  2)the batteries only go about 15 miles on a charge, I was told this is because there're new, is that true.  Thanks for the help

[Jim]

The batteries should provide improved range after a few weeks of operation, as long as you keep them charged up every day.

If you live in an area where the winters are cold, range (for lead acid batteries) can be drastically reduced - especially when the temps get down into the low 20s (Fahrenheit) or below. The only way to avoid this reduction in range is to keep the batteries warm, either by keeping your vehicle in a heated garage, or by wrapping the batteries with 110 volt battery warmers such as Kat's model 22300, rated at 160 watts. They can be purchased at NAPA for about $50. This particular warmer is about 6 feet long, but there are shorter versions also available. Then there are also battery warmers that the batteries sit upon, rather than wrap around. Just do a Google search on "battery warmers" and you will find lots of info about the various types of warmers.

If you decide to use battery warmers, just plug them in every time you plug in the battery charger (in cold weather).

As far as low torque is concerned, that can be caused by a lot of things. Check with your Miles dealer and/or the Miles home office.

[Paul]

It doesn't have much power. Looking at the web site the XS40 has only 14 horsepower (48 volts, 275 amps) and the XS40S has only 30 horsepower (72 volts, 400 amps.) With a series wound motor the torque is tied to the amps the controller will dish out. It looks like the 2 models I quoted are running the same motor (same continuous current rating) so it likely you could use a 400 amp controller to improve the low end torque by about 50%. 

[Monermaje]

To answer this you have to specify how many poles there are on the motor. The result on a 2 pole motor is much different from a 12 pole.