Recently, we modified a new electric tricycle to add a custom rear seat for kids. The electric tricycle was the EW-54 by E-Wheels, which is a fun and very capable electric cargo tricycle with a 17 mph top speed and 25 mile range. It sold by High5Scooters.com in Clearwater, FL, which is west of Tampa on the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, the EW-54 comes with a very large rear basket as shown below which can easily carry anything from pets to a shopping cart’s worth of groceries.
Recently, a mother of two small children asked High 5 Scooters if we could make up something that would allow her to take her two kids with her on short trips such as to a friend’s house or to the beach.
We thought it was a worthy idea and so a project was borne to modify the EW-54 to safely carry two small children behind an adult rider.
After some minor trial and error, a seat was designed and built for two children and installed in place of the large wire basket. See photos below. The seat is all wood as are the wheel coverings. The latter were added to keep small hands out of the spokes! And finally a seat belt was also added to keep the children securely aboard the trike.
As you can see from the pictures below, it came out pretty well. The customer was overjoyed as were we!
When riding three wheels vehicles you don't have to worry about tipping over because no balancing is needed, so if you are nervous about riding a two wheel e-bike or if you forget or never learned how to ride a bike, this could be a good option for you.
Tip: to gain even more balancing you can lower the seat of the trike, it lowers the center of gravity which is especially helpful in the case of the electric tricycle.
Because there are three wheels you don't have to worry about falling over, but because most of these vehicles don't lean you do have to worry about tipping over. I think these are fine vehicles for people with balance problems, but they shouldn't be misrepresented.
"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"
The three wheel electric scooter is gaining popularity among baby boomers that are not quite ready for a full mobility type scooter. One out of four Americans is a baby boomer, making them the largest population group in U.S.
It looks nice, but you DO need to keep balance in mind! Such vehicles are EASILY tipped over, if a turn is made on a hillside, and the users fail to shift their weight to maintain balance! The false assumption that having 3, or even 4 wheels removes such concerns gets hundreds of people killed and injured every year! Any vehicle such as this, with a high percentage of weight considerably above the axle line, must be operated with balance in mind, to avoid accidents!-Don't beleive me? Take it up a steep hill, and 1/2 way up, make a turn into a driveway or cross street, and upset is likely if you do not shift your weight to the outside of the turn!--Bob Curry
Robert M. Curry