Simply saying: Different technology, Brushed - more power, Brushless - more range.
Now More Deeply: The brushed engine has a "brush" inside it and the disadvantage of it is less efficiency, therefore less range. The brush will eventually wear out, and need to be replaced, but you can expect for that to happen around 4-5 years away even on a high volume use. Replacement brush is easy to replace and the service will be offered.
The "Brushed" has one major advantage which is more power (torque).
The brushless motor is more sophisticated, has more wires going out and works similar to gas engine in the manner of coordinated ignition in the gas motor as oppose to a coordinated change in magnetic field in the brushless electric motor.
The Sparrow is a brushed engine that is the cheapest and simplest. I use the sparrow (36V 25A "Brushed") for my personal use and it never let me down.
The distance variates between 10-30miles for a single charge for 10Amph batteries for the following reasons:
1) Speed and range are inversely proportional. The faster you
go, the less distance you'll go on one charge.
2) Smooth and high pressure tires will give better range than
knobby and low pressure tires. Estimate is 20%-30% more.
3) Rider weight, the heavier the rider the more energy used for acceleration and more friction with the ground = less range.
4) Hills: long or steep, hills take a lot of power.
5) Temperature: colder batteries shorten range (SLA batteries).
6) You can upgrade to 12Amph batteries and increase your range by 20%.
7) Pedaling: a bit of unsweaty pedaling especially on takeoffs will increase range dramatically.
8) The Brushless engines (Road runner, Phoenix) are more efficient over the Brushed (Sparrow). Estimated about 30% (But even so, I measured 25miles with mild pedaling and 17miles without pedaling on a 15mph average speed using my Sparrow).
Great question, the answer is well covered in the products page, based on real life experiments.
Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries, the same type you have in your car.
Around 5 cents of electricity cost per charge.
Motor: 6 months
Batteries 6 months
Controller: 3 month
Chinese charger (standard, comes with the kit): 1 month
Soneil Charger: 1 year
Yes. Let me start by saying that those systems are electrical and usually require no maintenance at all. Cases that require service are extremely remote, but......
beyond the generous warranty, the wholesaler of these kits has a big portion in the manufacturing chain. He will offer a full free repair and exchange service within the warranty. In case of need he will give you service for charge if needed outside the warranty frame. The name of the wholesaler is "Evdepot", located in KS and his website is www.evdepot.com. In most cases I'll be at your aid, you are welcome to contact me.
A full installation guide and user manual will come with your product as well.
Yes, very easy and No, no special tools. The installation guide included will aid you in making the installation even easier, only basic tools are necessary. In case you are local (live in Vero Beach Florida area)and not handy or just lazy, I'll offer you a full installation service, please contact me for details.
Based on the manufacturer, around 300 charge cycles. SLA batteries "hate" to be left uncharged, and it's a good practice to charge it as much as possible on every opportunity (It can be left connected to the charger and it will stop automatically when full). In real life you're more likely to get about 100 cycles out of battery set. New set of batteries will cost 80$-150$, depends on the model.