Hi folks
Will the SP140 powertrain be sold without the frame? If so, any ideas on pricing and when?
I’d like to fit it to a different frame.
Thanks
James
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Great question James, Pls someone let us know… I have quite a few pilots that have learned on low hang point cages who want to buy the SP140 for a conversion kit… hopefully we can find a way to come up with some ideas.
Congratulations on the future successes of OpenPPG’s Electric SP140.
Thanks, Barry
What you guys might need to do is make your own conversion.
You can buy the same motor here. You need the 40kv version:
You can buy an sp140 battery and after that you just need to wire it up and find a throttle.
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Any idea where to buy a proper throttle?
I did not find one that you can actually buy.
Either it is very cheap stuff (e.g. from skateboards) that I would not use for flying or stuff that is not ready for delivery yet (like the PPG Smoke Smart Throttle ).
Looks like the electric is in stock. I can at least add it to the cart.
Don’t get confused by a webshop button - I was thinking the same 
Thus I asked about shipping a few weeks ago and at that time it was not clear if it would be available this year at all.
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hello, all you need is a standard throttle or cameleon 2/3 and connect it to a linear potentiometer. a tension spring and a return spring depending on how the handling should be. i always set it like the spring pressure on petrol ppg. also from the distance. so i was able to fly about 50 pilots with my e ppg without someone having noticed a difference when accelerating to a petrol ppg. only at thermik eppg do i use my different throttle system which has a utility model protection at the german patent office in munich. However, this is only useful for thermal / ascent eppg. if you want to see pictures of components (poti, electronics etc.) i can make some.
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Ya if you guys just want a motor that fine, thats not were most of the cost is, after shipping your looking at around $1200 for the motor.
Im just going to break down the price here and this is one of the main reasons a conversion kit doesn’t make much sense, if the main goal is to save money by using an old frame.
$1200 for the motor after shipping
$1750 for the ESC after shipping
$1850 for the battery making one yourself or buying one already made on the market
$450 for harness
$320 for a prop
$150 for a charger as you still need that if its your first electric paramotor
Then you need a throttle controller, i dont know if i would pay $700 like the one linked above but if you make one or can find one that you can buy that is not to janky probably be around $150-300
So that put the cost so far around $6000 then shipping for the battery, harness, prop, charger, controller maybe another $150 if you can not pay for the battery shipping.
And all that is not including the frame cost, and lets say you have Parajet Mavric frame your really like and its what your learned to fly on so your comfortable with it. And you are willing to take your gas motor off it and sort of cannibalize it. You still have to make some sort of mounting system for not only your motor but your battery. If you dont mind not being able to quick swap the battery out then you can probly just weld the battery in place and cnc out a bracket for the motor.
Then your will have to prop down to a smaller prop from the 140cm because it wont fit the frame, so your losing power and a bit of efficiency.
Its just the frame is really one of the lowest cost components for us. The majority of the cost is in everything else, and i know its seems like if your got everything but the frame it would save you 2-3k because that how all the gas paramotors are. The motors for ice units are around 2k and so with a little subtraction that mean there frame must cost from 2-4 thousand if you subtract the harness, gas tank, and prop.
Heck if i could buy an electric power system like the ice paramotor manufactures can for 2k will i could easily be selling units for around 3k. Maybe i should start making gas paramotors, because they are charging a lot for there frames out there.
So short answer James is, the frame is really one of the lowest cost parts for us so a conversion kit would make much sense cost wise, and the work to have it retain the features i just don’t really see it being very worth it. Like if the frame you have currently is like super special to you and you can see yourself flying anything else than ya sure i can get you that components you want. Just doesn’t make sense for most people.
Anyway shoot me a message if you want a part or couple parts.
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Thanks for that detailed answer Paul! That’s a big help
Just so you have an understanding of my reasoning - I like the features of the Skytap Angel frame, and was hoping to combine the Angel frame with the SP140 powertrain, but from what you’re telling me it seems that it doesn’t use the same mounting points as a standard ICE? So I’d have to fabricate some mounting for the motor, battery, esc, etc.
Now of course everyone has their own opinion on what constitutes safety, and what is good or bad about individual frames, so I’d rather not get into that discussion here. However the Angel frame is $4600USD for frame & harness, which as you said is a lot!
On the flipside, the SP140 drivetrain components you listed are half the cost of a competitors e-PPG drivetrain like EXOMO, so clearly you’re doing a great job here!
I totally understand that it doesn’t make economic sense to make a conversion kit, however would you consider making a video that goes into more detail on the frame?
Also if you have drawings/cad/dimensions for the SP140 that would be a huge help for me to decide if I want to embark on this project of trying to assemble my own.
I haven’t ruled out just buying an SP140 kit, once I complete my training perhaps I’ll have a different view on frame safety, but as a noob the Angel appeals to me.
Thanks again for all your work bringing this together!
James
Paul,
Thank you for your time answering all my questions…I would rather just buy your unit… that said, I’ve learned on low hang points is it possible to put J-Bars on the SP140 cage?
or I will get a set of high/low hang point risers. Anyway looking forward to your thoughts.
Thanks, Paul
hi, how did you get to this statement? have several years of experience in building commercial eppg? have you flown both systems and evaluated the data? the certificates for the battery, motor esc compared to aviation tests? the product liability and manufacturer liability sums compared? compare the statics tests of the materials used? the duration of the manufacturer warranty compared?
You should only write price comparisons on the internet if you really compare everything …
I’m not saying that the expensive product automatically has to be better. but experience clearly says that everyone can only cook with water. that is, when someone has a cheap product and adds everything missing to an expensive product and uses the same material of the quality that in the end both are the same in price.
the only possibility that someone can be “cheaper” is if he does it as a hobby in small numbers. and has no additional wage costs for employees, has no taxes to pay like larger companies. overall you don’t need expensive insurance and there are no multi-year guarantees on batteries and technical components.
that should always be mentioned.
There’s no question that the SP140 components are half the price of EXOMOs - that information is available online.
So with this in mind, I think you missed the point of my post.
I never said the SP140 is better, or even equal to EXOMO. I was only commending the OpenPPG team for their efforts in bringing this product to market.
I would love a comparison between the two units, so I can better understand the differences, benefits, drawbacks, etc. However information is scarce which is exactly why I posted to ask questions (about the frame in this case)
If you’d like to share your thoughts on the benefits of EXOMO I’d be happy to hear it.
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It’s okay to compare numbers. i don’t do that when the products are completely different. everyone their own opinion 