| Sociable Tandem Electric Hybrid Recumbent Trike | |
| By Warren Beauchamp | |
| 5/08/08 I have been riding the electric bike to work a couple times per week for the past month or so. Often it's raining or too cold. I'm thinking about an all weather 2 seat side by side electric tricycle. I saw a tiny Saab Sonnet 2 seater sports car on the way home from vacationing in Wisconsin, and I can't imagine that this vehicle would be much smaller. Vehicle law says that a three wheeled vehicle can be licensed as a motorcycle. This means that I could build a relatively lightweight pedal and electric powered vehicle, that could legally run at high speeds, while using the rather lenient motorcycle specifications. |
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I'd
really like to make something with a slick body, which would require a
custom frame. I'm thinking something less than 4 feet wide, and probably
9 feet long.
The body would be mostly Coroplast, and the
widows would be Vivak plastic, except for the front windows which would
be
"AR". That stands for Abrasion
Resistant. It is essentially Lexan (Polycarbonate) with a scratch
resistant coating applied to one or both sides. |
| Side View For crash protection. I'm thinking several layers of 2" foam in the front and rear, Plus 1 layer of 2" foam in the doors. It's not much but it will operate using the same principle as a bike helmet. |
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5/19/08 Top View This fully suspended vehicle would use light duty motorcycle wheels and brakes and a tube steel frame with roll bar. The doors would open in gull wing fashion to allow easy entry. Windows would be plastic. |
| Because this will be a relatively large and heavy vehicle (200 lbs with batteries?), it will need a fairly powerful motor. Maybe something like this 5000 watt hub motor for $750?. | |