I am still getting conflicting information from manufacturers, possibly because they are trying to sell me what they have, but the one I most trust is the Battery Exchange. What they told me astounded me!!! They sell only SLA, lead acid, Gel cell, etc, not Lithium. At the end of the discussion I thanked him for not doing business with him. We both had a chuckle. He told me no batteries he has would be good and lithium are the best so I will have to buck up the extra for Lithium. Probably because they will last about 10X as long and have a much better discharge rate.
I have also been looking over my plans (all four of them) and decided to go with the single rear wheel. It will be of a heartier nature as about 350 lbs will be resting on it.
The bottom line: Tricycle weight bare bones: 150 lbs.
Tricycle weight with electronics: 300lbs
Tricycle weight with full load: 700lbs
Expect 50 km/h before pedaling
Want, but do not expect 70km in 3 hours stop and go driving - varying speeds with load of 500lbs (hey, I'm losing weight).
I had stumbled onto a site that offered need little 3000W motors at a good price and light weight, but that may be over doing it.
Or possibly 48V, 800 - 1000W motor with 2000W's worth of battery.
The Controller they offer with regenerative braking, programmable, Cruise control, Anti-theft Lock, electronics failure, etc.
Now I'm probably shooting pretty high for range even with regenerated breaking so I have come up with one solution. One trike creation I saw had a Honda gas generator on it to recharge the batteries on the go. I'll go one step further. How about a small 30cc gas motor attached to a 20 or 30amp 12v alternator. Ya think? So I burn .5 litres of gas for 70km, or more. I'm still ahead of the game. Wild ride, eh (I AM ......CANADIAN)!!
I guess it comes down to power needed and the amps (horsepower) to get the job done.
What say you?
Garry
