E-Trike Kick Starter Project.

[Pirate88179]

Tommy:

Nice design.  I wish you a lot of good luck with your campaign.

Is that a solar panel on the front of your design?  If so, this is something I have thought about for a long time.  If you drive this to work on a sunny day...why not have it trickle charge while sitting in the sun in the parking lot all day?  I have not seen anyone do this before and I always wonder why.  The panel would not allow you to just drive on the sun but....as I said...it is just sitting there in the sun while you are at work...so why not get a few watts from the sun during this time?

If this is not your intention, you might want to consider this.

Best of luck to you Tommy.

Bill

[MarkE]

Hi MarkE,

I will be able to test the frame and make correction as need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HimcaUKzqxU&feature=youtu.be

Tom

A lamination stack on either side of a pair of square tubes would be one way to stiffen up the X axis. 

[Magluvin]

Nice.

Ive been thinking about the same kinda thing. Been riding ebikes for 7 years now. Have 3 of them. One that I bought in the beginning has near 15k miles on it. Does 25mph, lots of low end torque, 48v. Running sla 14ah  Dura12-14F2 Duracell. Found at Batteries plus Light Bulbs stores, that are the same foot print as 12ah. Heavier than lith, but $150 every couple years if I take care of them properly. Had issues with lith bats back then. And even now, $600 for what I need, I cant say I have many years of faith in them yet. Still hear of people that are not happy with costs of replacing lith batts before their advertized life.


My idea was to make the frame out of pvc tubing and wrap with carbon fiber once the frame is complete. There are pvc tubes with thin walls to reduce weight, but makes a great core for framework. Pvc likes resin also. And the cost of the carbon fiber is not bad really. Had gotten 3 yrds of 4x4 weave, nicer look than 1x1, for about $60.  50in wide.  Possibly a couple hundred to complete a frame covering, depending on the framework. 1x1 is cheaper also. Surfboard resin is glass clear and uv resistant.

Wanted to do a bottom body with flip up canopy also. Needs to be small as wind can blow ya over.

Im working with an Arduino Mega and the tft color touch screen as a controller and info center. All it has to do is intercept the throttle signal and modify it any way you want. Have presets for gradual throttle up or full power, how ever the user want to map the presets. My bike will spin out at quick full on from a dead stop. So a preset for rain would be useful to reduce spin.   

One of my other bikes is a Tidalforce M-750 that I am replacing the stock controller with an Ardiuno/tft. The M-750x can do 30mph, where mine is set for 20mph. All due to programming, but no body seems to be able to hack them, yet. So I will be able to open up the capabilities to what ever I wish on that bike. Has a very strong motor. Will pull the front wheel off the ground, even being a lower power(programmed) model.  Legality in most all 50 states is 20mph max and under 750w/1hp.. The M-750 is 749w and stops accelerating at 20mph. Street legal. Meaning it is considered a bicycle.
Funny. My Trek is 500w and does about 25mph. Can pedal with to about 27 in final gear. Not a racing bike. $450 next to the bottom Trek. Has been very good to me.

there are kits that will do 55mph for 50 mi. Will need a much better bike though. Id say above $1000 to handle those speeds and pressures. My Trek has a pot control to adjust the throttle sig out and a switch to go from low preset to full power. Made it myself with radshack parts and project box.
Will post some pics of the bikes when I find where they are.

Good luck. Will be watching with interest what you come up with. My Trek, the 48v front wheel drive kit was bought on ebay 7 yrs ago and still runs great. Was about $600 on ebay. 500w  48v  15a fuse, about right.  Now you can get 1kw kit for $200 n change, w/o bat on ebay.
If you are going for manufacturing, check out Alibaba for your motors. Thats where all these ebay kits are coming from, and reduce your costs significantly. 

Mags

[TommeyLReed]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the input.

I do plan to do solar panels in the front and maybe in the back also.

This is a better look at the main frame design, I can also make this out of aluminum later on.

I can print this frame out on paper and use a pantograph to trace onto the plywood for each part to build this frame like you see it.

Tom

[TommeyLReed]

Hi All,

What do you think about the E-Trike shirt?

Tom