Seeking advice on an Electric trike project

O

oldbikeguy

New member
I want to build a trike and I am considering the electric differentials sold on eBay. The trike I am building has a small C cab van body on it and will not have pedals. Think of a small Tuk Tuk. Does anyone have experience with electric differentials? Thank you.
 
I've not owned one but have seen a few which I could only describe as a child's toy. Do you have a link to the ones you are considering?
 
What is the intended use of what you are building as that will largely determine if the parts are adequate.
 
THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the replies. They have been very helpful. I am now considering using a 1000 w front hub motor. What do you think
 
I doubt that the trike axle above would have a long life pulling an adult. A front hub motor is a much better idea. You can then build any type of axle arrangement you want at the rear. It will be easy to get all three wheels suspended if desired. As stated the batteries above are no good. You'll realistically want a lithium battery of some description. Lead or gel batteries fade consistently as they discharge so halfway down they have less grunt. Lithium give the full volts until nearly empty. The size you want will depend on the power and how far you want to go. Lithium ion batteries are the most energy dense and will last around 500-800 charge cycles before you notice a drop in range to about 80%. Lithium iron phosphate or LiFePo4 are slightly less energy dense but will charge for a few thousand cycles. Most bike batteries use Lithium ion. If you want LiFePo4 you'll lilely have to make one. If using a 48V 1000W motor you'll need a battery with a BMS output of 20A to feed it. Note that is A not Ah. Ah (amp hours) is a measure of the battery's stamina or how far you'll go. A (amps) is a measure of the battery's max output at any given time. A mini Tuk Tuk will likely be heavy so a 1000W 48V motor will likely max out close to 25mph and if you have steep hills maybe 10mph there.
 
If you go with a 1000 watt front hub motor it might be wise to use steel front forks and also torque arms to keep the motors axle from widening the cutouts on the forks. Safety first.
 
Good point there Hugh. Front hub motors will rip apart an alloy fork as they use the axle to rotate against. Alloy won't take that abuse.
 
Hugh said:
If you go with a 1000 watt front hub motor it might be wise to use steel front forks and also torque arms to keep the motors axle from widening the cutouts on the forks. Safety first.
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Thanks Hugh. Do you think this fork would suffice (see above)
 
Thats a nice looking fork, I'm a fan of springer front ends. While obviously I cant say without an inspection of one of those it appears to be decent. As long as all the pivot points are robust enough should be good. The Monark name has been around for awhile and the forks and cutouts for the axle are steel. I would buy that for myself if I was planning a chopper type build.
 
Hugh said:
Thats a nice looking fork, I'm a fan of springer front ends. While obviously I cant say without an inspection of one of those it appears to be decent. As long as all the pivot points are robust enough should be good. The Monark name has been around for awhile and the forks and cutouts for the axle are steel. I would buy that for myself if I was planning a chopper type build.
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Thanks for the speedy response. Do you think the front hub motor is the way to go or do you think a motorized differential would be better with upgraded batteries. I will not be installing pedals of any sort. I am a complete newbie
 
I am very much into home made bikes especially from Brad's excellent plans. And powering them with e assist as well. I currently am running a Bafang BBSHD on my fatbike, and a BBS02 on a homemade 2 wheel recumbent. Both mid drive motors. And now this spring for the first time a small 500 watt geared front hub motor on the delta trike. I have no idea how it will actually work and feel. Honestly I can't give you an opinion on what you plan, my suggestion is lot's of research keeping in mind their is lots of info out, some of it is misleading or someone's opinion.
I don't know where you live but take a look at Golden Motor.ca. They sell both front hub and the differential units. I do have a 1000 watt rear direct drive hub motor from them, called the Magic Pie, it certainly did not inspire me with it's reliability but it was pretty fun when it did work. Maybe it would be wise to find out what the tuk tuk type units use and go from there.
 
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